CBGB's is almost gone

[Travis In Austin]

This story brought back a lot of great memories. I had a chance to catch a few different shows there and always had a great time. At least, I think I had a great time.

CBGB hosts last concert before eviction

By JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment WriterMon Oct 16, 2:47 PM ET

The final chords reverberated off the black, sticker-covered walls of CBGB as the grungy, iconic club toasted the end of its 33-year residence in New York. Rock poet Patti Smith headlined the Sunday night concert, CBGB's last before eviction by its landlord the Bowery Residents Committee, a homeless advocacy group that owns the property. The club will close Oct. 31.

Hundreds of music fans packed the small downtown club Sunday, while reporters hovered outside. The mood was both somber and raucous at CBGB, hailed by many as the birthplace of punk.

"This place is not a ... temple," Smith said during the concert. "It is what it is."

She refused to wax nostalgic, instead claiming at a pre-show news conference that doubled as a sound check that "CBGB's is a state of mind" that will carry on elsewhere for a new generation. She later noted with relish that CBGB, at 33, was the same age as Jesus.

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea surprised the audience, joining Smith's band for much of her second set. Having turned 44 at midnight, he was treated to a loud, enthusiastic "Happy Birthday" by the band and crowd.

Much of the concert was filled with reminders of changed times. Sirius Satellite Radio broadcast the show live, and digital cameras populated the audience.

Nevertheless, Smith often struck a '60s vibe, urging change and awareness of issues such as the disputed treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. She sang covers of the Who's "My Generation" and the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" with obvious parallels to CBGB.

The club was founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973 and over the years helped spawn the careers of such acts as the Ramones, Blondie, the Talking Heads and Television. Though its glory days are long gone, it has remained a symbolic fixture on the Manhattan music scene.

The crowd paid tribute to many of the bands forever connected to the club including several chants of "Hey ho, let's go!" from the Ramones' classic "Blitzkrieg Bop."

Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads were on hand, as was E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, who had battled to keep the club open during the protracted dispute over its future.

The Bowery Residents Committee's decision not to renew CBGB's lease when it ran out in August 2005 sparked protests, tributes and vigils for more than a year. Kristal recently gave up his legal fight to stay.

Though weary from his battle with lung cancer, he remains combative about his club's exodus from the Bowery, and said Sunday he was "very disappointed" in Mayor Michael Bloomberg for not saving the club.

Still, he says he remains focused on "generating the energy" for CBGB, which he plans to move to Las Vegas. It's very much alive as a brand, too. Kristal will transplant its store, CBGB Fashions, to a new location a few blocks away on Nov. 1.

"I'm thinking about tomorrow and the next day and the next day, and going on to do more with CBGB's," Kristal said Sunday.

Frantz said he and his wife, Weymouth, had to attend the finale because CBGB is like the "center of gravity for us." He reflected on the club where the Talking Heads got their big break.

"It just had a super cool ambiance or electric vibe ... even though it was pretty much a dump," Frantz said.

With a capacity of barely 300, CBGB was founded as a place of freedom for different musical acts. Smith said Kristal "always gave us a job, just like tonight."

"He was our champion and in those days, there were very few," she added.

Though its letters stand for the music Kristal originally planned to present there country, bluegrass and blues it quickly came to represent the physical epicenter of early punk and the storied downtown scene of 1970s New York.

Smith's final encore was a quiet poem listing many of the musicians who have died in the years since they played CBGB, but perhaps the more fitting send-off came right before it. The band played the punk staple "Gloria," verging back and forth between choruses of "Gloria! G-L-O-R-I-A!" and "Hey ho, let's go!"

The crowd shook its fists high for the Ramones' classic an anthem to CBGB and so much more.

[oldbuckster]

ROCK TAKES ANOTHER HIT.......one by one they slowly fall by the wayside.......

[Amy]

Our Marketing Meeting room is affectionately named CBGB. Sad indeed.

[kaiser SET say]

Not quite on the same order of magnitude but I had the same feeling of lose when they closed down the Armadillo in Austin. Not the Punk sanctuary CBGB was but the Armadillo provided several generations a place to let it all hang out and for many a great band to entertain[]

I'm with you Rob on the bastions of Rock slowly dwindling away but alas we all still have our memories to sooth those cranial crevices[]

[Travis In Austin]

Not quite on the same order of magnitude but I had the same feeling of lose when they closed down the Armadillo in Austin. Not the Punk sanctuary CBGB was but the Armadillo provided several generations a place to let it all hang out and for many a great band to entertain[]

I wish you hadn't reminded me of the Armadillo, it was almost erased from memory, and don't forget Liberty Lunch.

Travis

I'm with you Rob on the bastions of Rock slowly dwindling away but alas we all still have our memories to sooth those cranial crevices[]

[Cal Blacksmith]

Uh, I guess I am out of it but I had to read your post just to figgure out what the CBGB was[:$]

I guess it is on a par with the shutdown of the "Golden Bear" out here. It was a small, beach side R&R hole in the wall that MANY great artists who went on to fame and fortune, played at. They both will be missed.

[fini]

Uh, I guess I am out of it but I had to read your post just to figgure out what the CBGB was[:$]

I know what you mean! I thought it was kind of like the heebe jeebes (which I think I've got).

[Travis In Austin]

Uh, I guess I am out of it but I had to read your post just to figgure out what the CBGB was[:$]

I guess it is on a par with the shutdown of the "Golden Bear" out here. It was a small, beach side R&R hole in the wall that MANY great artists who went on to fame and fortune, played at. They both will be missed.

CBGB's is world famous. It is regarded as the birthplace of punk and later new wave in the United States. The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith all started there and were able to break into national fame by virtue of their playing there. It would be the equiv. of the Whiskey in LA or the Fillmore in S.F., only it was more specialized towards punk and new wave.

The CBGB's stands for Country, Blue Grass and Blues, which was the format originally planned, but things have a way of taking their own course and that never happened.

Travis

[Cal Blacksmith]

I guess that is why I never heard of it, not into punk and later..... or metal or rap or soft rock or disco or soft jazz.

The Golden Bear in H B, closed about 15 years ago. Lots of 60s stars were launched from there. I guess you never heard of it so we are even[]

[Travis In Austin]

I guess that is why I never heard of it, not into punk and later..... or metal or rap or soft rock or disco or soft jazz.

The Golden Bear in H B, closed about 15 years ago. Lots of 60s stars were launched from there. I guess you never heard of it so we are even[]

Ah you are wrong my farrier friend. I have been to The Golden Bear many, many times. I went to law school in So. Cal. and graduated in 1986, the year they closed. I even got to know Chuck and Rick, although I knew Chuck much better becasue he was closer to my age. I heard that Chuck died, if so he was young. The first show I saw there was in the '70's, The Runaways! Just about every great band in the '60's went through there. While I agree with your first post about that location, that a lot of super great acts performed there, I cannot recall any band being launched from there. Would have to be someone very local like Oingio Bongio, Busboys, or someone like that.

Travis