With CB's recent departure and CMJ fast approaching, today was a capital time for the New York Times piece on the changing face of NYC's rock clubs. And NYT says: Prognosis positive! The article's author grabbed a quote claiming "there's a renaissance of venues in New York" and profiled the situation like so:
But CB?s is leaving a rock scene that, despite some high-profile departures, is as healthy as it has been in decades, with new clubs dotting the map from Midtown Manhattan to Greenpoint and Park Slope in Brooklyn. For every Bottom Line or Fez or Continental that has shut down or quit live music in the last couple of years, a Rockwood Music Hall, Union Hall or Studio B has opened up ? and maybe a Fontana?s or Club Midway as well. And in the next few months, at least five major spaces are set to open, giving the city?s rock infrastructure its most substantial expansion in years.
Among the new venues mentioned are Live Nation's Rebel (anyone been?) and their soon-to-be opened spaces in Gramercy (unnamed) and Williamsburg (Luna Lounge), a new Joe's Pub styled LES space, and the Mercury-Bowery group's plans to redesign Billyburg institution Northsix. These names may be foreign to you non-New Yorkers, but then, a lot of you guys are coming in for CMJ, so Northsix, Mercury, and Bowery will be your stock and trade.
But we wanna know: What's your favorite rock hall? Maybe something up-and-coming, maybe the best venue in your city, or maybe the best place you've been in your life -- your call. And tell us why! We vote Rockwood for intimacy and acoustics, Mercury for British buzz band shows, Bowery for everything but their $12 vodka-Red Bulls, and Knitting Factory for loving Love Is All.
