Features
NYC Club Scene Grows
The Bowery Presents’ Jim Glancy told Pollstar that the NYC live music scene is very much alive and well despite the loss of venues like CBGB.
“With CB’s and Bottom Line going away, a lot of people think ‘Oh my god, the club scene in New York is crippled!'” Glancy said. “It’s as vibrant as I’ve seen it in 15-20 years of being here.”
A testament to that is both the Bowery Presents and Live Nation have plans to open new clubs in the Brooklyn area in the new year.
Glancy said his company has secured the lease for the Northsix nightclub in Williamsburg in the a goal to renovate and reopen it as the Music Hall of Williamsburg next spring.
“Our plan is to take over the venue February 1” Glancy said. “We will close down briefly for renovations with the intent for [the club] to do for the Brooklyn music scene what the Bowery Ballroom did for the Manhattan scene.”
Glancy added that booking policies for the new venue would be the same as for the 250-capacity Mercury Lounge, 500-capacity Bowery Ballroom and 1,400-capacity Webster Hall.
Live Nation is in the process of renovating the former Gramercy Theatre in NYC into a 600-capacity nightclub that will begin hosting concerts in January, according to the New York Times.
LN’s Sam Kinken told the Times the company will also be involved in booking shows at the 300-350 capacity Luna Lounge, set to reopen in Williamsburg at the end of the year, as well as the recently opened 325-capacity Rebel nightclub in Manhattan.
Pollstar‘s attempts to reach Kinken were not immediately successful.
One other new venue called the Box, which owner Simon Hammerstein expects to open by the end of the year, will offer theatre and music performances, the paper said.