Jumaane Torrence knows the importance of innovating and then sticking to your guns. That’s what he’s done with his entertainment venue/nightclub Tempo, which celebrates its six year anniversary this Friday, July 22 with a show by Rudy Currence and Ida Divine.

“I think the main thing we can attribute our success to is having a vision beyond the norm,” Torrence explains. “A lot of venues, promoters and establishments kind of piggyback what others are trying to do instead of carving a niche for themselves in the market. My goal here was to just study the market and see what was missing and try to fill a void, and in doing that create your own culture and carve a niche.”

Tempo’s niche is based on their focus to bring in a variety of top performers and artists, instead of just opening the doors and offering drinks and a dance floor.

The club, which is 25 and up, is strict when it comes to the age requirement and their dress code, which prohibits such pieces of apparel as ball caps, jerseys and T-shirts. Torrence points out that it’s important for patrons to know that everyone is held to the same expectations.

Tempo’s success hasn’t been lost on the competition, which at times has tried to copy their formula.

“That’s been our challenge since the day we opened, and that’s why we always try to stay ahead of the pack. There are a lot of venues that have piggybacked our concept, and most of them have failed,” Torrence says. “A lot of venues have opened up saying they’re going to be 25 and up, with dress requirements, and then after the first couple of months they pretty much drop all their standards and pretty much let anyone in just for an extra dollar.”

While Tempo’s success is due in part to staying true to their original concept, Torrence still realizes how important it is to not become stale.

“We don’t want to change our target audience, but instead, to keep them coming back by providing new and fresh ideas for them.”