Tag Archives: cbgb

Rock Lives at NYC’s R&R Hall of Fame Annex


The Beatles!

It has been pretty freezing ass cold in NYC these past few weeks. But I don’t think you could have asked for a more beautiful mid-winter day on Sunday, and it certainly was perfect weather to uncover your head, strip down to maybe one or two layers and make the trip down to Soho to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex. Because it is no secret that I like to Rock. Geoffrey snagged a few discount tickets on Goldstar, so I met him and his friend Susie outside the Annex and we got ready to rock like nobody’s business.

Our visit began in a small theater with a fifteen minute film featuring live performances and notable quotes from many of the artists ensconced in the HOF. My favorite clips were The Beatles, The Who and The Doors. They did show a live clip of Queen (I saw them five times back in the 70s), but it was from after Freddie Mercury cut his hair off and started looking like one of the Village People. So it did not yank my chain quite as hard as it would had it been one of those satin-jumpsuit-wearing Freddie clips. Anyway, when I saw Jim Morrison in his leather pants singing, “Come on baby, light my fire,” like the immortal Sex God that he is, well, I got a little teardrop.

Continue reading Rock Lives at NYC’s R&R Hall of Fame Annex

CBGB Gingerbread House


Image Source

If you remember the old CBGB rock club located at Bleecker and Bowery in NYC, then you know that the above Gingerbread rendering of the club’s former façade is pretty spot on. These days, the space is home to the John Varvatos men’s clothing boutique, which is still worth a visit even if you can’t afford the $500 sweaters they sell.

RIP Hilly Krystal

Hilly Krystal

RIP Hilly Kristal

Former owner and founder of now-defunct pioneering rock club CBGB, Hilly Krystal, died yesterday, August 28th, 2007, of lung cancer. He was 75 years old.

Second Scariest Toilet In Rock

I will always remember CBGB for its super scary toilets (pictured above: the Men’s Room)! At least they were not as “Trainspotting-esque” as those at The Continental!

The End of An Era: CBGB Closes Its Doors

Ramones 1975 CBGB Bob Gruen
The Ramones Standing Outside CBGB in 1975, Photo By Bob Gruen. Worth a Thousand Words, at Least

This past Sunday night, a few of my more rock-savvy friends went downtown to the place where Bleecker Street meets The Bowery for the final concert performance at CBGB before that legendary club closed for good. While I’m not generally a huge supporter of people who don’t pay their rent (and think they can get away with it), it’s a shame that club owner Hilly Kristal made the tragic mistake of thinking he’d be bullet proof to eviction in a town where real estate is more precious than gold or diamonds. But that’s hardly the point anymore. Continue reading The End of An Era: CBGB Closes Its Doors