tonic closes in nyc

[jff]

Well yea....

 

I am guessing few club owners can afford the buildings they are in when a neighborhood starts to change or gentrify. I am always shocked that even retail businesses, long term ones at that, find it difficult to actually purchase their places of business. The best solution is to buy a building, but clubs are usually not in a position to do that.

 

LouieB

 

They're not proposing the club buy a building. They're proposing a commuity arts collective raise money to put a down payment on a building, and then continually raise funds to pay the mortgage.

[jff]

Yeah, I can blame him for Times Square, but the Lower East Side? That's less clear to me. I suppose he got the ball rolling.

No they haven't. Don't get me wrong -- I love DMG and I applaud them for throwing their hat in the ring, but they haven't. Their solution is to put "the building...in the hands of the collective". Do you know how much money it would take to buy the building that tonic was housed in (which was, let's face it a piece of crap)? I certainly don't. Once they've raised the money (which I bet they can't), how does a collective manage the day to day? Fix the leaks? Who runs the business? Who makes the decisions about whether the tenants stay true to avant-garde roots or branch out to more popular music? Everyone who contributes $$ will have an opinion, and likely, an agenda. And this assumes that the collective could even raise enough money. The collective needs lawyers (if a not-for-profit is formed, to negotiate the deal, etc.) This is an enormous undertaking. Do you really think this is a solution that could work in reality? I'd love it if it could, but I just don't see it. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

 

Again, they're not proposing buying the building they're currently in.

 

Eyedrum in Atlanta has successfully done what they're proposeing. Granted, real estate in Atlanta is peanuts compared to NYC. Eyedrum has survived through grants and non-profit status. That's alwasy an option for the folks in NYC.

[quarter23cd]

So the doors are finally closing on Tonic, eh? Put another check mark on my list of places I'm glad I visited before they closed.

 

As for the sadness of the occasion--yeah, the music will inevitably move somewhere else--closing a club does not necessarily signify the end of a scene. But, at the same time, yeah, when a place like this close it is increasingly hard to believe that too many others will be lining up to fill the (obviously unsustainable) void.

 

NY real estate is a pretty intense thing. For everything that I love about NY, there is an equally-long list of things I hate about NY. Funny how that works. I would not, at all, ever, want to do business there. Cheers for a good run for Tonic, tho.

[LouieB]

They're not proposing the club buy a building. They're proposing a commuity arts collective raise money to put a down payment on a building, and then continually raise funds to pay the mortgage.

Not all that different really. Someone has to pull together a down-payment and pay a morgage payment each month. Either way someone has to have some cash. On top of it an owner has to deal with the rest of the building, etc. The Velvet Lounge here actually managed to raise funds for the build-out, but they are still renting as far as I know. Buying a building is no small matter, particularly in a large city with high property values and rising taxes.

 

LouieB

[MattZ]

They're not proposing the club buy a building. They're proposing a commuity arts collective raise money to put a down payment on a building, and then continually raise funds to pay the mortgage.

 

Again, they're not proposing buying the building they're currently in.

 

I understand. I spoke a bit carelessly. I didnt mean the club should buy the building. I meant that getting a group of people together to buy a building in NYC is a headache of ridiculous proportions. If its a decent building, you'd probably need millions. Assuming you could get that much money (which I doubt you could), how would you structure how the building is managed on a day-to-day basis (leaks, shoveling snow, etc.)? How is the club in the building managed? How is fund-raising done? Which lawyers get hired to structure the real estate deal? Who forms the not-for-profit? Who dedicates themselves full time to the task? How many full-time employees are needed? Everyone that contributes $$ will want a voice in all of these issues. I know I wouldn't want to contribute 1k and then find out that the "collective" has decided to do something I disagree with.

 

That was my point... I think its an interesting idea, but I just don't see how it could work in reality. I'd be interested to learn more about the example you gave in Atlanta.

[jff]

Not all that different really. Someone has to pull together a down-payment and pay a morgage payment each month. Either way someone has to have some cash. On top of it an owner has to deal with the rest of the building, etc. The Velvet Lounge here actually managed to raise funds for the build-out, but they are still renting as far as I know. Buying a building is no small matter, particularly in a large city with high property values and rising taxes.

 

LouieB

 

Clearly there's a big difference between a club (in the case of Tonic, two people, plus a doorman and a bartender) and an arts collective, which could incorporate music, dance, theater, film and all manner of visual arts. I'm not saying it'd be simple, but it's definitely do-able with some coordinated efforts and a board of directors put in place to take care of the mundane hassles all property owners must deal with (which Eyedrum in Atanta has managed to do). I'm pretty sure the DMG guys know a hell of a lot more about real estate in NYC than anyone on this board, and they seem to think it's within the realm of possibility.

 

Look, there's a lot of money floating around and it's not all in the hands of corporations and the heiresses of railroad and hotel tycoons. Medeski Martin and Wood make a lot of money. Bill Frisell makes a lot of money. John Zorn makes a lot of money. I'm not suggesting that these folks "owe" a donation to this effort, but I suspect they would be hapy to give a donation, as would thousands of other artists and supporters of the arts. Anyone who is wealthy has to unload a hefty chunk of money every year either through donations or through the establishment of a charitable foundation to decrease their tax burden. Why not donate to creating a venue for the arts that's not constantly threatened? There's probably a foundation that exists specifically for this purpose.

 

Kind of odd that I'm the optimist for once.

[jff]

That was my point... I think its an interesting idea, but I just don't see how it could work in reality. I'd be interested to learn more about the example you gave in Atlanta.

 

http://www.eyedrum.org/

 

I was incorrect in stating that Eyedrum owns their property, so the comparison is not really fair. They do not own, they have a long term lease.

 

Regardless, if the DMG guys think it can be done, I refuse to shit on their idea. The questions you raise about who's going to do this and who's going to do that...well, those are problems that will have to be dealt with by responisble adults, and not flakey kids in bands. Look how many records Zorn has released on his label and look at how much globe-trotting is required of people like Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, etc. It's almost miraculous that those folks are able to keep up with being career musicians, and yet they make it happen. The people in the scene that Tonic represents tend to be highly motivated, extrordinarily hard working, responsible adults who know how to get things done. I think part of the reason you guys think it's a doomed idea is because you've been led to believe that people in the music and arts world are flakes.

[Deaf Ro]

This thread is funny. Do people really think there isn't a single nonprofit arts group in NYC that owns their own property? Or that thousands of people in this city and across the country don't already give millions of dollars every year to support the arts? You would think the DMG people had never visited BAM, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Issue Project Room, Joe's Pub, Miller Theater, The Stone, The Kitchen, The Living Room, you get the point?

 

Read this article by the music critic of the New Yorker in this week's issue and tell me if the DMG letter doesn't sound the slighest bit hysterical: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musi...crmu_music_ross

http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/04/16/070416on_ross

 

Then browse these listings to see 200 musical events that are happening in NYC in the next 30 days alone:

 

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events

http://events.nytimes.com/gst/nycguide.htm...&submit.y=9

[MattZ]

Look how many records Zorn has released on his label and look at how much globe-trotting is required of people like Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, etc. It's almost miraculous that those folks are able to keep up with being career musicians, and yet they make it happen. The people in the scene that Tonic represents tend to be highly motivated, extrordinarily hard working, responsible adults who know how to get things done. I think part of the reason you guys think it's a doomed idea is because you've been led to believe that people in the music and arts world are flakes.

 

That's not why I think its a doomed idea. I just think that running your own (very small) music label when you are musician is one thing. Hiring several people with a passion to run a not-for-profit, owning a building, and fund-raising are very different propositions. And with bldgs in NYC selling for millions, I am just skeptical. I am not shitting on the DMG idea. I love the idea. I am just doubful that it's anything more than an idea. John Zorn opened his own club pretty recently, right? The Stone? I haven't been there yet. So maybe it is possible. But a club as one man's vision and a building owned by a collective are two entirely different things. Right down to the fact that I bet Zorn has complete say over decisions being made at his club and everyone in a collective will want a say.

 

On to more important things:

Is anyone going to the John Zorn final show at Tonic? Apparently "dozens" of guests. I will try to be there. You know Baptista, Medeski, Ribot, et al will be there. And the proceeds are going (in part) to Zorn's club.

[jff]

You would think the DMG people had never visited BAM, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Issue Project Room, Joe's Pub, Miller Theater, The Stone, The Kitchen, The Living Room, you get the point?

 

How many of those places are rented? Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center are probably the only places on that list that are safe for the long term.

[LouieB]

This thread is funny. Do people really think there isn't a single nonprofit arts group in NYC that owns their own property? Or that thousands of people in this city and across the country don't already give millions of dollars every year to support the arts? You would think the DMG people had never visited BAM, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Issue Project Room, Joe's Pub, Miller Theater, The Stone, The Kitchen, The Living Room, you get the point?

I totally agree. The reason clubs close down (wasn't Tonic a club???) is because it is simply a place of business subject to the economic ebbs and flows of any business. Heck CBGBs is (was) an internationally famous club and it closed down. (So did Lounge Ax!!!) No one stopped that from closing down. Venues come and go, it is all part of it. Not for profits have a benefit of tax deductions, etc. to attract donors, many times really big donors. Really big not for profits (Lincoln Center) have a wide and varied fund raising strategy to make sure they stay open year after year. Clubs are like corner stores, they come and go.

 

LouieB

[Deaf Ro]

I totally agree. The reason clubs close down (wasn't Tonic a club???) is because it is simply a place of business subject to the economic ebbs and flows of any business. Heck CBGBs is (was) an internationally famous club and it closed down. (So did Lounge Ax!!!) No one stopped that from closing down. Venues come and go, it is all part of it. Not for profits have a benefit of tax deductions, etc. to attract donors, many times really big donors. Really big not for profits (Lincoln Center) have a wide and varied fund raising strategy to make sure they stay open year after year. Clubs are like corner stores, they come and go.

 

LouieB

 

Exactly. The false nostalgia that gets cooked up for places like CBGB and Tonic is almost always by people who haven't been to these places in months, or years, if ever. So they closed - big deal. My heart goes out to the owners but they had a good run of it and will have left their mark on the city's music history, which is not something many people can say. You don't have to be an economist to know that a club booking 30 shows a month at which 50 people are in the audience and paying $8 to get in will have a hard time surviving, and not just here. The rent is only part of it; on any given night, Tonic was competing with at least 25-30 other musical events going on in the city. At the end of the day, if they couldn't pay their bills, that probably also says something about the demand for their product. Clubs and restaurants and small businesses open and close every day in NYC, and everywhere else. It's part of what makes New York great - that the city is constantly in flux; that countless people arrive and leave every day; that you yourself can leave and come back to find the place looking nothing like you remembered. Is the proliferation of Starbucks and Duane Reade pharmacies a good thing? Of course not. But people who talk about NYC being like Disney World are obviously not seeing how you could go to three different musical events every night for a year in this city and still not scratch the surface. That's never going to change, and talking about if an arts group rents their space or owns the building is completely beside the point.

[MattZ]

... The false nostalgia that gets cooked up for places like CBGB and Tonic is almost always by people who haven't been to these places in months, or years, if ever. So they closed - big deal...

 

Right. Or maybe its not false nostalgia, but instead fans of a unique venue that are actually sorry to see it disappear. As are the artists who sponsored fund raisers in the past to try to help keep a FOR PROFIT venue open because it was friendly to the fans and friendly to the musicians. Tonic had a vibe to it that was different than most other venues in the city these days. You are right, no place -- no matter how cool the vibe is -- is going to survive in Manhatan on $8 tickets sold to 30-40 people per night. Especially when there are 20 other concert options competing against it. But why can't I be bummed about that? I like Tonic.

 

Also, as was mentioned above, it seems that places like Tonic are closing not so much because there is competition from other music, but because property owners believe that they can sell their building or their land to a Banana Republic or a Duane Reade for much much more money. There is nothing wrong with that on its face. Its capitalism, and I dont know that I'd do anything differently if I owned the Tonic bldg. And yes, like you said, you can go find the music somewhere else. Until that somewhere else doesn't exist anymore in Manhattan because Banana Republic on Ave D and 3rd street is always going to attract more foot traffic than a place with Cyro Baptista whirling a plastic pipe over his head.

[Deaf Ro]

I hear ya, and I always liked going to shows at Tonic too. The false nostalgia thing had more to do with CBGB, which had plenty of people howling about it who hadn't seen a show at the place in years, if ever. I just wish people spent half as much time going out and supporting artists and interesting concert presenters as they do lamenting Disneyfication, etc.

[LouieB]

Exactly. The false nostalgia that gets cooked up for places like CBGB and Tonic is almost always by people who haven't been to these places in months, or years, if ever. So they closed - big deal. My heart goes out to the owners but they had a good run of it and will have left their mark on the city's music history, which is not something many people can say.

The more I thought about this, the stranger this thread becomes with people freaking out over the closing of one club. Tonic has been in business, what? 9 years? If the Village Vangard closed that would be something, but this is just run of the mill stuff. When one club closes, another usually starts to book acts that would have played there. (I assume the Knitting Factory is still open and going strong...) There was alot of crying when Lounge Ax here in Chicago went out of business, but other venues picked up the bookings and bands kept playing Chicago. It is sad to see a space that means alot to people (which Lounge Ax certainly did, but so did a number of other joints that went out of business here in Chicago over the years like Earl of Old Town, Quiet Knight, Amazingrace, and all the classic old clubs of the 50s and 60s that are a bare memory anymore), but somehow the music scene here continues to thrive and even new venues have picked up some incredible vibes and acts (Schubas and of course the Hideout...).

 

In the main, clubs are not cultural institutions, they are businesses. If Carnegie Hall suddenly was shuttered or Lincoln Center, that would be an issue. If a club has a significant enough following, it wll reopen under different and more stable circumstances. Frankly the Velvet Lounge here is the best example of that. The old club was in business far longer than Tonic (20 years I believe) and support from the music community for a space that caters to free jazz groups was so strong, both from the fans worldwide and the musicians, that they raised money over the period of a year to reopen at another spot. I was in the Velvet on nights when only Fred Anderson, a bartender and a dozen patrons were in the place. Somehow there was enough buzz when it was going to close to rally the troops to reopen in a new space. That's how it is done.

 

LouieB

[Hodie]

but somehow the music scene here continues to thrive and even new venues have picked up some incredible vibes and acts

I don't think that anyone expects the music scene in NY to die because Tonic closed. I think people associate clubs with the shows they saw there, and if they were great shows, they feel genuine (not false) nostalgia for the place.

 

There are very real worries about what happens to the world of small music clubs when real estate costs go up and giant bland conglomerates start amassing all the venues, but when individual clubs go down, my own hand-wringing generally isn't about that, it's about the loss of a place where I got to experience something great.

[jff]

I received my weekly newsletter from Downtown Music Gallery this morning. Below is this week's lengthy installment of the Tonic closing saga. I believe raising millions of dollars and purchasing a building is a more likely scenario than the pure fantasy they are now proposing:

 

Dear DMG Newsletter Subscriber

 

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THE MESSAGE THAT FOLLOWS OUR INTRODUCTION.

 

It is extremely important that as many of you as

humanly possible attend the below-mentioned

demonstration and press conference to be held

this SATURDAY APRIL 14th at TONIC, 107 Norfolk

Street (between Delancey and Rivington Sts.)

BEGINNING AT 11 AM

 

We know that a great number of you on this list

are not geographically located in NYC; indeed,

many of you are in other countries. But your help

can also be invaluable in embarrassing and

exposing the blindness of those whose inaction

politically and financially have led to

threatening the future well-being of what is

known the world throughout as uniquely American

contemporary musical forms. Musical forms which

have attracted immense attention the globe over,

filling large arenas - yet they will remain

stillborn, without the places neccessary to

perform it here in New York so that it may

ultimately may be readied for showing an

expectant and vastly interested world audience.

 

Make no mistake - this is a grassroots struggle,

which by its very nature cannot be controlled or

called off. Each and every one of you,

everywhere, can help to pass this along: contact

your journalists, broadcasters, ... and, yes,

government officials. Write letters. Write

e-mails. Make phone calls. If you have the ear of

someone important, bend it to thee now. Anything

short of crime must be employed to pierce the

bubble of an otherwise indifferent public media

and attention.

 

It is time for our own city's administration to

realize that this amazing metropolis is a

destination for world travelers precisely because

they arrive here to experience what is uniquely

NYC culture, so many artists with so many starkly

different and uniquely creative outputs - and NOT

to enjoy the NY retail outlet of some national

brand, or the local station of Clear Channel. It

is time for this city's leaders to stop

championing the incidental and maudlin over the

unique and vital!

 

It is time for our own city's administration to

realize what the true meaning of the phrase

'Quality Of Life' means to its CITIZENS - and not

to the NON-VOTING princely minority from other

states and countries who buy 3rd home apartments

in newly-built condos as amusements.

- it should NOT be a catchphrase for

exterminating the culture of its inhabitants as

though it were really a euphemism for a can of

RAID.

 

"It doesn't pay a free market to have a socio-eco

conscious unless it is embarrassed or penalized

into it" - Annette Peacock

 

IT is definitely time to start embarrassing our

government via our 'free' press - and penalizing

our elected officials by removing them from

office, those who have created this cultural hell

in our own beloved city, in our own neighborhoods

which they would never deign to spend a minute in

either way!

 

-- Bruce, Mannylunch, Mikey IQ, Chuck, & DJ Jon Hall at DMG

 

 

***********

 

NEW MUSIC CULTURAL CRISIS:

 

Musicians and Friends:

It is time to Claim what is our Right!

 

COME to TONIC

Saturday April 14th

FROM 11 a.m. until...

 

107 Norfolk Street

(between Delancey and Rivington)

 

WE MUST DEMAND:

AN ADEQUATE, AFFORDABLE SPACE, CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE LES!

TONIC IS BEING HANDED OVER TO THE REALTORS.

 

WE ARE MAKING AN APPEAL TO THE CITY, TO EITHER

GIVE US THIS SPACE OR ONE COMPARABLE IN SIZE FOR

THE USE OF AVANTJAZZ/NEW MUSIC/INDIE COMMUNITY.

 

WE CAN NOT LOSE SUCH AN IMPORTANT HOME!

YOUR PRESENCE - YOUR MUSIC- YOUR VOICE - YOUR ART - IS ESSENTIAL.

 

SHOW THE CITY YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING.

 

DON'T LET REALTORS DECIDE NEW YORK CITY'S CULTURAL FATE!

 

STOP THE LOSS OF IMPORTANT VENUES, ONE BY ONE

FORCED TO CLOSE BY RENT INCREASES AT AN ALARMING

RATE.

 

STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE L.E.S. AS A CENTER OF

DIVERSE & VARIED & UNIQUE CULTURE.

 

Tonic is scheduled to close on Friday, April 13th, 2007.

 

On Saturday April 14th, the day after, we will

gather to fight the eviction of this crucial

venue, the diminishment of our livelihoods, and

the destruction of our culture by peacefully

resisting. Please join us.

 

 

The musicians - and their sizable audiences - are asking:

 

1. that the city council adopt a general

principle similar to the "european cultural

exception": that nyc's new music and experimental

jazz/indie musical culture is a unique asset, an

essential part of the city's history, economy,

and identity, and not to be left entirely at the

mercy of market forces.

 

2. that the city recognize the damage done to its

cultural heritage and status as a 'cultural

capitol' by the displacement of venues central to

new music and experimental indie/jazz, and act

now to protect those venues still left from

displacement either through funding sufficient to

allow them to withstand the explosion of

commercial rents, or by legislation forcing

landlords to restrict rents of culturally

valuable venues, or both.

 

3. that new york city use its right of eminent

domain to seize the space from which tonic has

been evicted, turning its management over to a

confederation composed of the musicians and

activists who have worked in and supported the

space up till now and other established

non-profit new music presenters. That the city

purchase the sound equipment currently in place

in the club from the former owners, for the

purpose of leaving it in place for future use.

 

 

They are calling on landlord William Gottleib

Inc, West Village based owner of over 75

properties to:

 

A) forgive tonic's 50,000 debt. forcing John and

Melissa, former owners of tonic and parents of a

one month old baby to pay this debt which means

they will be forced to sell the club's sound

system and other technical equipment.

These assets were paid for by donations and

benefits put on by working musicians.

According to musicians and protest organizer marc

ribot: "this money would be a drop in the bucket

for William Gottleib Inc., which controls well

over 100 million in assets. it will be a serious

loss to the community that fought to raise it."

 

donate the space now occupied by the club to

a confederation of musicians non-profits

committed to the continuity of one of the

L.E.S.'s [Lower East Side] most important

cultural centers.

 

 

For the last nine years Tonic has been at the

center of NYC experimental music. When the

tsunami of rent increases and mal-development

engulfing the LES forces its closure, NYC will

have lost the last avant-jazz/indie/new music

club in Manhattan with a capacity over 90. A

vibrant community of musicians and fans worked

for years to maintain Tonic -- raising over

100,000 dollars through benefit concerts and

donations to pay off debt, fund repairs, buy a

sound system, and keep the club open in

devastating times such as following 9/11/01.

 

We're taking action now to dramatize the market

failure of which Tonic's closing is a symptom,

and to ask that the city save this home for us or

provide a minimum 200 capacity, centrally located

venue for experimental jazz, indie, and new music.

 

We want for ourselves and the communities around

us the right to stay around long enough to enjoy

the culture we've created, not harassment and a

bum's rush into eviction the minute real estate

decides we've made the neighborhood 'safe' and

'cultured' enough for them to cash in.

 

This is where we tell the landlords, developers,

and the city: Enough. Genucht. Basta ya!

 

Coming on the heels of the closing of CBGB's,

Sin-e, Fez, The Continental, and numerous other

varied downtown venues, the closing of Tonic

represents the shutting down of NYC's most

important live music experimental jazz, indie,

and new music scene.

 

This wave of live music space closings

constitutes a market failure. The downsized or

geographically marginal venues arising in the

wake of the established club closings are not

generating enough to maintain the economic

viability of this scene. If there is not

immediate and sufficient PUBLIC INTERVENTION,

either in the form of limiting rents, or

supplying alternate space and funding - or both -

New York City will lose an essential part of its

heritage, culture, and economy.

 

"My band plays some of the biggest festivals in

Europe...Meanwhile there's only one club I can

play in New York and it's about to close."

Steven Bernstein, Trumpet player and leader of

Sex Mob and the Millennial Territory Orchestra

(NY Times)

 

According to Patricia Nicholson Parker, organizer of the Vision Festival:

"We have come together to say we deserve a space

and in essence, we have already paid for our

space. Musicians contribute to the economy of

this city every day with world class

performances. In the case of Tonic, many

musicians came together and invested in the

space. Through benefits and organizing they

raised significant sums of money (100+ grand) for

the venue, Tonic. The city needs to acknowledge

this. It is good for the city and good for the

artists and their audiences that the city make

available a musician-friendly community

club/space which holds up to 200 audience

members. It is important that it not be in the

outer boroughs but be centrally located in the

LES where this serious alternative music has been

birthed and where it can be easily accessed by

audiences."

 

 

The Mostly Mozart festival is a wonderful

experience for many new yorkers. However, it is

neither an export nor the type of music

representing New York City's musical cultural

abroad. europeans can travel to Salzburg or

Vienna to hear Mozart. New York's indigenous

forms, however, are being presented every night

of the year in cities throughout europe, asia and

around the world. new music/experimental

indie/jazz has support abroad completely

disproportionate with its profile in nyc, as even

a brief visit to http://www.europejazz.net/ , the

european jazz network website will confirm. And

tourists from abroad can and do travel to new

york to hear it in its local setting.

 

But all this depends on its having a local

setting: including a viable new indie and

experimental music nightly club scene. its not

only culturally barbarous, but also incredibly

short sighted economic policy that the

internationally and critically recognized value

of this music should be without an adequate, well

advertised, and easily accessible showcase in its

place of birth: one funded well enough to be able

to both nurture new talent and present

established musicians.

 

 

***********

 

In addition...

 

OPEN LETTER to the Musicians, Staff, and Fans of Tonic - PLEASE READ!

 

When Tonic closes today [Friday 13th 2007], we

will have a lost a great club, and the last avant

jazz/indie/new music club in manhattan with a

capacity of over 90,

presenting music on a nightly basis.

 

Tonic's closing is not an isolated event: Coming on the heals of the closing

of CBGB's, Sine, The Fez, the Continental, this wave of club closings,

downsizings, and displacements to Brooklyn constitutes a market failure.

 

But we don't have to accept the diminishment of our musical culture.

We're organizing a response, and we intend to fight for the viability of new

music/ indie/experimental jazz traditionally based in the LES. We don't intend

to let Tonic's eviction pass without making some serious noise.

 

We hope you'll join us at Tonic on Saturday 14th April starting at 11 AM.

If you'd like to help out or be kept informed of

upcoming events, please sign up for the mailing

list by sending an email to:

 

indy_music_action-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

 

and if you just want to keep up to date with what we're planning, you should

go to:

 

http://www.takeittothebridge.com

 

 

We are an ad hoc coalition of musicians and

audience/supporters of new/ experimental

jazz/indie music. We represent a racially and

culturally diverse community united in our desire

to preserve the cultural legacy and future

viability of the progressive jazz, experimental

rock, and new music historically based in

the LES.

 

Thank you,

Marc Ribot

[LouieB]

Things must be really bad in NYC if this is the only club that offers this type of music that seats over 90 people. Chicago has at least three venues like this that have free jazz shows on a regular basis (the new Velvet Lounge, The Hideout and the Empty Bottle {although not so often at the Empty Bottle any more}) and several loft spaces that I suppose qualify as the afore mentioned smaller spaces of less than 90 people. Did I forget to mention the Hot House, which is similar and not for profit. (Doesn't the Knitting Factory present this type of music?)

 

Tonic may want to talk to the Velvet Lounge folks and see how they relocated. The Velvet Lounge relocated after a long fund raising effort that raised a few hundred thousand and didn't include buying a building. Did the Tonic folks not see this coming??

 

LouieB

[jff]

(Doesn't the Knitting Factory present this type of music?)

 

 

LouieB

 

From what I've heard the Knitting Factory has been booking mostly indie rock, rap, ska and some fairly big name shows (Graham Parker, Benvento-Russo Duo, Paul Green's "School of Rock"), and has not been hosting the types of shows that it once was known for.

 

I checked the KF website and did not recognize the names of most of the bands. Their concert listing looked to me like any typical club catering to local and touring bands and the occaisional higher-echelon band. Maybe someone from NYC could chime in on this.

[LouieB]

From what I've heard the Knitting Factory has been booking mostly indie rock, rap, ska and some fairly big name shows (Graham Parker, Benvento-Russo Duo, Paul Green's "School of Rock"), and has not been hosting the types of shows that it once was known for.

 

I checked the KF website and did not recognize the names of most of the bands. Their concert listing looked to me like any typical club catering to local and touring bands and the occaisional higher-echelon band. Maybe someone from NYC could chime in on this.

Yea, things might have changed. The Empty Bottle used to do weekly improv/free jazz and hosted a great fest each year, but that seems to have pretty much stopped as well. Considering everything, I think that the audience for this type of thing is perhaps smaller than it used to be. The Wednesday night series at the Hideout is amazing, but never crowded.

 

LouieB

[MattZ]

I checked the KF website and did not recognize the names of most of the bands.... Maybe someone from NYC could chime in on this.

 

Yes, times have changed at KF.

[MattZ]

Update:

 

The last night at Tonic was a fun evening of musical chairs improv led by John Zorn and Marc Ribot.

 

The next day there was a demostration and several musicians showed up to protest the closing. To make a long story short, the landlord wanted the venue completely empty before taking possession so Marc Ribot and Rebecca Moore got on the stage and refused to get off, until they were arrested. Brooklynvegan did a pretty nice job with the story and the photos if anyone is interested, but here are two highlights: