Derek Sitter, left, owner of Volcanic Theatre Pub in Bend, and sound engineer Phil McIntire pictured in the west Bend venue. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin

Volcanic Theatre Pub in Bend has canceled live shows that had been scheduled for this week and next, including a two-night CD release stint by Rogue Valley reggae act Indubious, which had been planned for Tuesday and Wednesday. Volcanic has been closed since October amid the high COVID-19 risk in Deschutes County.

Throughout the pandemic Volcanic owner and operator Derek Sitter has been patient, erring on the side of caution rather than risk, and making upgrades for the pub’s reopening, which was to start with the Rogue Valley reggae trio.

The venue suffered another setback on April 8 when Sitter attempted to apply for a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a federal program providing emergency assistance to venues such as his 8-year old music and theater venue, located in the Century Center. Sitter describes the process as nerve-wracking, as it requires much in the way of documentation and attachments in order to avoid fraudulent claims, he said.

“You have to dig up all your old receipts for your soundboard, and you have to show your floorplan and you have to show your audience space,” he said. “It’s like 70 questions in, you’ve already got 45 documents attached.”

Even more anxiety-inducing: If you make a mistake and click the wrong box, a venue can be declined immediately.

As it turns out, the mistake was not his, but rather the site’s inability to accommodate the deluge of applicants. Sitter was a good ways into the process when it crashed. A longtime actor and emerging filmmaker, Sitter is now prepping for when the portal reopens.

“It’s kind of like doing a play: learn your lines, do your homework for the character, know all your objectives,” he said. “If you’re prepared, you’re prepared.”

Sitter also said the grant program is critical for the survival of small venues such as his after more than a year of lost revenue.

In the meantime, he’s booking shows in the hope that VTP will again be able to host live performances.

“I’m booked every weekend of May and June, and I’ve already got tons of holds that I haven’t announced for July,” he said. “These include touring artists.”

Among them, SoCal punk greats Agent Orange in August. Reverend Horton Heat, Electric Six and others are also scheduled for later in the year — that is, if things open up again.

Sitter did not seem hopeful as of Tuesday.

“It’s not going to happen,” he said with a resigned chuckle. “The contingencies in these contracts that we’ve been booking was that we’re going to be operating at full capacity. Well, come August, you know damn well we’re not going to be full capacity. … I don’t see that happening until 2022, actually — we won’t see that elbow-to-elbow people in Volcanic.”