Back in April we had shared the at the time breaking news about Webster Hall being acquired by the folks who run Barclays Center and AEG Presents and if you missed that post please click HERE to be fully up on the story. It was a revelation that surely shocked the masses but not long after the announcement, it was pretty much steady as she goes and music loving folks just kept heading to the venues inside the building for the diverse variety of entertainment programming being offered. Those outside of NYC might not know that there were “3” distinct clubs making up Webster Hall with the massive Grand Ballroom, the midsize Marlin Room at Webster Hall and the intimate Studio at Webster Hall. As a patron and a scribe I’ve been to all three venues on numerous occasions but have to say that the kinds of shows I’ve been reporting on have generally been relegated to the two smaller sized rooms instead of the larger main space. So the curiosity in the back of many NYC patrons was when will the new ownership begin to show its presence and what will get done to the place as we know it and that stuff started making the rounds yesterday but I wanted to do some checking first before blindly sharing. The venues pending closure was addressed on social media by the General Manager Gerard McNamee with this statement:
Ladies and Gentlemen/Friends and Family: Sad but true, the legendary and world-famous Webster Hall has been sold and will close as we know it for its final club night on Saturday August 5th, 2017, which just so happens to be my birthday, which is certainly somehow apropos. It will be closed for an undisclosed period of time for demo, reno and transition to corporate ownership under Barclays/AEG/Bowery Presents. I highly recommend that you all stop by before the end of this era to pay your respects to the Ballingers and the building for providing us with a lifetimes worth of memories. There are only 12 club nights left. Please come celebrate our rich 25 year history of being the biggest, baddest and longest running nightclub in the history of New York City.
The Scoop: The name of Chuck Schuldiner is one of legend in the Metal world for his innovative technique and skillful displays of brutality in his band Death. Formed way back in 1983 by the guitarist, the band paved the way for the still growing Death Metal scene and while not its first provider of mayhem, Chuck is often referred to as “The Father Of Death Metal” based on his incredible contributions. The band released seven studio albums and Chuck also had a group called Control Denied which he helmed after Death’s disbanding and sadly in 2001 we would lose this talented musician who died of pneumonia while at the same time was dealing with brain cancer. His music would never be forgotten and now in 2014, musicians who had been a part of Deaths rich history will unite and perform in honor of Chuck to bring us the brutality once again. This years event is called “The Swamp Leper Stomp” and it shall also offer up some material by Obituary, Massacre and Rivers Of Nihil. Cooler still is the means to put a couple of lucky PiercingMetal fans into the Best Buy Theater thanks to their marketing mavens. Read on for contest details. Continue reading Win A Ticket To See “Death To All” @ Best Buy Theater On 11/30/2014→
Or “The Nokia Theatre Times Square is now The Best Buy Theatre”
You might recall a recent blog posting where I welcomed back to the world of live performance the venerated Rock concert venue Irving Plaza. Of course, the space had never truly gone away per se, but after running under that name for many decades, it’s purchase by Livenation found it restamped as “The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza”. You had to admit that it was quite a mouthful but that whole tale can be better examined HERE. Now where was I? Oh yes, the discussion about the venue formerly known as the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. Depending on your age and concert visiting habits, you might only have known this space as the Nokia Theatre because its been that way since early 2005 but before it was converted into one of the cooler places to catch a live band it was a movie theater called the Loew’s Astor Plaza. During its time in this manner it hosted up to 1500 movie lovers and boasted to the world how it had the largest single screen in New York. That was pretty cool, and if my memory serves me correctly I had seen a couple of the Star Wars and Star Trek films here before the conversion. Moving on, I loved when this opened up as a concert venue because now it would fit over 2000 people and depending on the concert would often sell out. The venue is owned by AEG Live (a very well-established concert promoter) and it’s title reflecting its advertising sponsorship. The bright corner sign positioned above 44th and Broadway on Times Square could be seen for blocks depending on your direction of approach and often informed the Metal Republic of sad occurrences such as performance cancellations.
