Post #202124 by donhonyc on Wed, Dec 7, 2005 8:55 PM

Well, it's official-CBGB will cease to exist at it's current and original location of 315 Bowery by this time next year. The official closing date will be Halloween 2006. An appropriate date to set after over 30 years of being the legendary rock spot it has been. After just reading my original rant on this thread it sounded like I may have been a bit indifferent about the club closing which wasn't the case. I wanted it to stay for good. I still think it's not the same place it was 30 years ago, but I still believe it should stay. Anyway, the agreement that Hilly Kristal and the Bowery Residents Commitee came to was that CBGB could stay until October 31, 2006 and will pay close to the market value rent of $35,000 until that time.

It's a little heartbreaking to know that it won't be there next year. Not just because of it's history but because CBGB represents and embodies an important element of New York City life that unfortunately the vast majority doesn't really care about anymore. It's hard to believe for someone like myself that has lived in New York for two decades how much this town has changed. I thought New York was always going to be dark, scary, and wierd and would never change much. Not that long ago, if you wanted to drop out of society, you had two choices; you could become a mountain man OR you could live in one of many neighborhoods in New York City, the East Village (where CBGB is located) being one of them. Once you planted yourself in those environments, you were basically unplugging yourself from the 'normal' world beyond the 5 boroughs. I guess New York by default it will always be a funky place, but it seems that over the last 10 years or so it has lost it's potency in those departments. It's gone from 'Grit to Gloss' to quote an article I saw in the Times recently, and CBGB was a huge part of that grit. Without it the landscape of this town will be further genericized, and being generic is NOT what New York City is supposed to be about.

Apparently Hilly is looking for an alternate location here in town for CBs, and is also considering a Las Vegas location.

I wasn't around for the heyday of CBGB-Ramones, Dead Boys, Talking Heads, etc. But I did see some really cool shows there including one that stands out which was about 4 or so years ago. Great night, the bands were Zen Guerrilla, The Go, and Nebula. Loud and amazing. Some other shows of note were Mooney Suzuki, Band of Susans, The Voluptous Horror of Karen Black (New Year's Eve into the 21st Century), Chesterfield Kings, and very recently Ric Ocasek of The Cars doing Cars songs and new songs from his latest album.

"They" win: The suits have had a major handle on rock and roll for a while, but after CB's is gone it's ALL corporate rock and roll from here. Truly the end of an era.

Regardless of what has happened or not happened there it's a great space with a real dingy rock and roll club vibe. If you are a rock fan and are going to be in New York City sometime between now and Halloween of next year, I suggest you go in and take a good look at the place. There may be other shithole clubs around the country but this was the original, and they ain't really makin' them like that any more.