Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar Closes Doors In Greenpoint

Brooklyn, New York’s Saint Vitus Bar located in the Greenpoint neighborhood is closing its doors permanently. Throughout its tenure, which took place from 2011 to 2024, the bar hosted special club shows including performances by Megadeth, Anthrax, Deafheaven, Killing Joke, Carcass, Against Me and a post-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction “Nirvana reunion” that included surviving members Dave Grohl, Christ Noveselic and Pat Smear with vocals by Joan Jett, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and St. Vincent.

Located at 1120 Manhattan Ave., the venue was closed during the middle of a show back in February by the New York Department of buildings. The Gothamist reported that city spokesperson Andrew Rudansky said the venue was operating as “an illegal eating and drinking establishment” while the space was only to be used “for a commercial store and for the storage of machinery.”

Organizers continue to stage events at venues close to where Saint Vitus existed including Knockdown Center and Elsewhere.

The venue had a massive impact on the local metal scene, bringing in top talents since it opened its doors. It pulled its inspiration from Coney Island High and CBGB’s with the goal that a lot of different scenes could play the room. When they first opened their doors, co-founders George Souleidis, Arty Shepherd and David Catillo never expected to have the impact they did.

“It was pretty much Arty [Shepherd] and George [Souleidis] wanted to start a bar,” David Castillo, co-owner of Saint Vitus and the venue’s booker, told Pollstar back in 2020. “They came from Matchless and had been bartending and are both musicians. I’ve been in charge of the calendar and booking since the day it opened. I bartended on Tuesday nights and booked some shows, which quickly turned into booking a lot of shows. There wasn’t a plan to be this crazy venue.”

During the pandemic, a Kickstar aimed to raise $15,000 for COVID relief in order to support the club while it closed its doors. In the end, it received $130K in donations.

Castillo explained he felt the intention of the room is what drew so many artists to consider doing an underplay at their venue. “We didn’t do anything except create a cool room with quality and do it earnestly. You can see the intention in the room as soon as you walk in. They’re playing cool music, everything is fucking black and now there are pictures on the wall of people who have played – Matt Pike from High on Fire, John Tardy from Obituary, Chelsea Wolfe, Greg [Puciato] from Dillinger Escape Plan. YOu know where you’re at. We just tried to build something with intention. It’s gone way crazier than you can ever imagine, honestly. Nobody needs to play Saint Vitus, really. But if they want to do something interesting, on a smaller scale, for their fans, however these different situations arise, we’re a good option.”

Read: Saint Vitus’ David Castillo on Booking Strategies, Community & Raising $130K