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Posted By	Discussion Topic: Wetlands NYC closing it's doors
lyneday	posted on 08-03-2001 @ 11:17 AM
Psychopath Registered: Oct. 00	July 30, 2001 Vanishing Wetlands of the Musical Sort By NEIL STRAUSS Rahav Segev for The New York Times Wetlands, club central for post-Grateful Dead bands, is to close in September. Join a Discussion on Popular Music Related Sites These sites are not part of The New York Times on the Web, and The Times has no control over their content or availability. wetlands-preserve.orgeter Shapiro knew the life of the club he owns, Wetlands, was drawing to an end when he saw scaffolding and other signs of urban renewal slowly working their way northward along Hudson Street in TriBeCa. Last week the construction frenzy finally reached the doorstep of Wetlands, at the corner of Laight Street, and the office building that houses it was sold to an architect and a group of local residents who want to convert the space into apartments. The club, which was on a short-term lease, is to announce today that it will be closing in mid- September. For music fans, already reeling from the loss of a number of clubs in a city whose administration is seen as hostile to night life, the shuttering of Wetlands, which opened in 1989, is a major blow. "They called the other day to say they were closing their doors, and I was devastated," said Marc Brownstein, the bass player in the electronica-fueled jam band the Disco Biscuits. "I've been going to the club since its opening, when I was in high school, to see this band called the Authority. I was so amazed. It seemed like the biggest, most prestigious venue in the country. When I got a band, our only goal in life was to play Wetlands." Nowadays the Disco Biscuits perform at far bigger clubs, like Irving Plaza and Roseland, but they and scores of other bands credit Wetlands, which holds 500 people, with nurturing them to national success. The club remains best known as ground zero for post-Grateful Dead jam bands, and the place that kick-started Blues Traveler, the Spin Doctors, Phish, the Dave Matthews Band, Joan Osborne, and Hootie and the Blowfish. To concertgoers, the name Wetlands evokes not just a room and a sound system, but a wide-reaching genre of semi- improvisational music and a dedicated audience of neo-hippies, who are often at the club as late as 5 a.m., watching the explorations taking place onstage. For many of these late-night revelers, Wetlands is a way of life. Joe Sarkis figures he has attended more than 900 shows at the club. "It was my home," said Mr. Sarkis, known in the live-music world as Concert Joe. He is best known for trying to get in the Guinness Book of World Records for attending the most live-music shows in a single year (though Guinness has yet to create such a category). When he hit his 1,000th show one year, Wetlands staff members prepared a ribbon outside, which Mr. Sarkis broke as he entered the club to introduce the night's performer, Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane. "Most people get thrown out of a club," Mr. Sarkis said. "Wetlands is the only club that I ever got thrown into. They said that I had paid more than anyone else to enter the club, and I didn't have to pay anymore. I told them I was paying anyway, and two bouncers picked me up and threw me in. Wetlands was the only place that ever let me in for free." In recent years the club has bred a new generation of jam bands, many of which dip deeper than their predecessors into eclectic musical styles, like bluegrass, electronica, funk and jazz. These bands include the Disco Biscuits, Moe, the New Deal, Lake Trout, Sound Tribe Sector Nine, Soulive, the Slip, Carl Denson, Deep Banana Blackout and String Cheese Incident. In addition to jam- rock, however, Wetlands attracted other genres and their cult followings, from hard- core rock to ska to hip-hop. Even Oasis, Pearl Jam, Sublime, Rage Against the Machine, the Wallflowers and Counting Crows all played their first New York shows there. "People think of Wetlands as a new-hippie thing, but they did a lot of hip-hop too," said Richard Nichols, who manages the rap act Roots. "Other clubs are regimented and corporate, and Wetlands was way more free-flowing and relaxed. It was actually one of the best sounding rooms in the city." Peter Moore, the architect who engineered the purchase of the building, said he was trying to help the club find a new home, perhaps alongside a youth hostel that is being built in a nonresidential neighborhood. Speaking of the building's future residents, Mr. Moore said: "They weren't going to buy the building unless Wetlands left. They go out to clubs. They don't want to go to clubs within their own building." In the ground-level corner of the building where Wetlands sits, an engineer who designs microscope parts plans to open an office. So, Mr. Moore said, the club has gone "from head banging to head examining." Wetlands was opened in February 1989 by Larry Bloch, who returned to Manhattan after a decade in California to rear a family and, with no prior experience, start a club. For eight years he created a tightknit family of bands, fans, environmental advocates and loyal employees. In the mid-90's he announced that he was leaving the world of night life to spend more time with his son. He spent nearly two years searching for a successor willing to carry the environmental torch as well as maintain the musical legacy of Wetlands. He found Mr. Shapiro, a freshly matriculated Northwestern film student with absolutely no experience in running a bar or club. "I made it easy for Peter," said Mr. Bloch from his home in Brattleboro, Vt., where he owns an ecologically minded clothing store and activist center called Save the Corporations. "He was young and naïve and idealistic. It seemed more likely that somebody young like him would have a chance to learn and become more aware of the environmental and social conscience issues. Most of the people wanted to buy the name and good will of Wetlands. They didn't want to commit to what he committed to." Among those commitments were to illuminate the club with only energy-efficient light bulbs; use recycled paper for business cards and stationery and in copy machines; allow groups like Greenpeace, Amnesty International and the Rainforest Action Network to meet and recruit at the club; and to have paid employees run the club's environmental center. Mr. Shapiro had only just made his final payment for the club this month when he discovered that he would have to close it. He said that he planned to bring back some of the bands that made Wetlands famous (and that Wetlands made famous) for a closing week blowout. Afterward, Mr. Shapiro; the club's booker, Jake Szufnarowski; and longtime manager, Charley Ryan, will be looking for a new Manhattan space, which they hope will house a bigger and better Wetlands. But as any promoter can tell you, with resistance from community boards and city licensing authorities, opening a club in Manhattan is a challenge. "It's a drag," said the guitarist Warren Haynes, a club regular who has performed there with Gov't Mule and the Allman Brothers Band. "It was such a friendly atmosphere, and we loved playing there. I'm going to hate to see it go." I just can't believe all the things people say. Why must I deal with this shit every fucking day. ever stop to think ..... and forget to start again??
American Fing Psycho	posted on 08-05-2001 @ 7:23 PM
Psychopath Registered: Jan. 01	That sucks. It was a great place to see a show "Hey i never said I was a good drunk" "I don't hate the seals. I just hate the enjoyment they give to people." Bachman

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