Why was CBGB allowed to die?
No venue is as synonymous with an era of unbridled musical creativity as CBGB. A staple of the New York City music scene in the 1970s and 1980s, continuing to play a role in the local cultural environment until its closure in 2006. It was the foremost incubator for the area’s acts in its heyday. Without it, the timeline of popular music as we know it would be completely different. The sonic landscape before us would be marred by the liminal spaces left behind by some of the club’s magnetic influences and definitive heroes. From Ramones, Blondie and Madonna to Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags and Dadadah, the pull of this 350-cap venue was immense.
Famously, CBGB, as we know it, was founded by Hilly Kristal on December 10th, 1973, and formed out of the ashes of his East Village nightspot, Hilly’s, which he closed following noise complaints. After the failure of his old venture, Kristal focused on his new venue, CBGB & OMFUG, which stands for “Country, Bluegrass, Blues, and Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers” at the soon-to-be historic site of 315 Bowery, Manhattan. A somewhat confusing name, it was not meant to be for food lovers, but instead what Kristal described as “a voracious eater of music”. In time, voracious would come to be an understatement.
While he intended it to have a general theme of country, bluegrass and blues, due to the August 1973 closure of the Mercer Arts Center, which was the previous spiritual home of the city’s new music, unsigned bands started flocking to CBGBs to play their original sounds. This included the likes of Ramones, who played their first shows there, as well as Suicide, Blondie, The Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith, Misfits, The B-52’s, The Cramps and more.
Given a place to refine their efforts, these groups would become pioneers of the punk and new wave movements. Later, bands from across the world would play, and in 1977 The Damned took to the stage at CBGB, making them the first British punk band to play in America, with acts such as Elvis Costello and The Police following in their footsteps, also keen to grace its doors and certify their status across the Atlantic.
As the times changed, so did the band’s taking to CBGB’s stage. In the 1980s, after punk and new wave had arrived and morphed into many different subgenres, the venue would find itself housing the nascent hardcore scene. Agnostic Front, Beastie Boys, Cro-Mags, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today and many others would regularly play there.
During this era, the venue would expand its reach, with the storefront next to it becoming the café and record store, CBGB Record Canteen. It would later be converted into the art gallery and second performance space, CB’s 313 Gallery, which opened its doors to acoustic, experimental, folk, and jazz as a counterbalance to the heaviness and frequent violence next door.
313 would also become storied by hosting the weekly Goth night, Alchemy, where many notable acts hung out. Yet despite having such a tremendous impact on the city’s cultural footprint, CBGB would be served a fate that is every venue’s worst nightmare.
Was CBGB allowed to die?
In short, no, but the tide was too all-encompassing to be stemmed. A tale as old as time, the story demonstrates landlords’ control over their tenants, including those with more cultural significance than most.
In 2005, CBGB was sued for $90,000 in rent allegedly owed to its landlord, the Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC), on top of its monthly rent of $19,000. Kristal refused to pay until a judge ruled it legitimate, claiming that he had never been informed about the rent increases that had accrued over the years.
The judge ruled that the debt was false and the BRC hadn’t properly billed the rent increases and also suggested that the venue be declared a landmark. However, he did tell BRC’s executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt that he did not need to renew the lease, which was on the verge of expiring. The BRC man was set to appeal the decision.
Anticipating Rosenblatt resisting negotiation on the lease, Kristal agreed that the rent should rise, but not to the $55,000 he believed the BRC wanted. While it may seem like a landlord vs tenant issue, it wasn’t quite as simple a story as you’d expect.
The BRC was a non-profit organisation housing the homeless above CBGB, and you might expect them to work together, but as the BRC only had one commercial tenant and a huge responsibility to everybody else under its roof, it raised the rent to $35,000. Unsurprisingly, nearly doubling the monthly rent meant Kristal had no other option but to agree that CBGB would leave the premises on September 30th, 2006.
CBGB wasn’t allowed to die per se, but the efforts of those close to it were insufficient despite its cultural importance. Even Kristal’s plans to move it to Las Vegas never materialised. After it was announced that the venue was closing, many bands who were there during its heyday played there, hoping to keep it open. These included multi-night shows by Bad Brains and an acoustic set by Blondie.
The final show was broadcast live on Sirius Radio and took place on October 15th. It was by none other than the ‘Punk Poet Laureate’ Patti Smith, helped by Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea and Television’s Richard Lloyd. As her final track, she played ‘Elegie’ and fittingly named the musicians and other significant figures who had died since playing there. An emotional way to close the book on the venue; after that show, CBGB closed its doors as the home of New York City’s music.
What happened to CBGB?
Of course, as a cultural touchstone, CBGB tried to have a rebirth of sorts. After closing, the venue stayed open as the retail store CBGB Fashions, but its tenure was short, and it moved to 9–23 St. Mark’s Place on November 1st. It then closed in the summer of 2008. Tragically, Kristal had already passed away by this point, dying from complications of lung cancer on August 28th, 2007.
A protracted legal battle ensued between Kristal’s ex-wife and daughter, who both vied for the $3million CBGB estate. It was settled in June 2009, and his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, received most of the funds after credit and estate taxes were deducted.
What is CBGB now?
In 2011, anonymous investors bought up the remaining CBGB assets, including original interior and intellectual property. As for the location itself, 315 Bowery, in April 2008, fashion designer John Varvatos opened a store there. He wanted to open a store at the location that respected the former CBGB, with stickers on the walls and much of the graffiti in the toilets preserved, as some of them were playbills found behind a wall from the club’s 10th birthday in 1983.
Showing just how far the CBGB brand reaches culturally and commercially, in December 2015, a rebranded CBGB ‘reopened’ at Newark International Aiport from distinguished New York chef Harold Moore. The name would also live on in the form of the CBGB Festival in Times Square and Central Park on July 7th, 2012. It showcased hundreds of bands at venues across the city and premiered many movies about rock music.
So, what happened to the iconic awning? The second one, which was hanging when the club closed, was moved into the lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, where it rests among many other pieces of memorabilia. Those hoping to catch a glimpse today will be disappointed to find the black John Varvatos awning hanging there, next to the door of the BRC.
What happened to 313 Bowery?
In 2008, the Morrison Hotel, a SoHo art gallery focused on music photography, opened a second location at 313 Bowery but closed in 2011. Following that, popular fashion brand Patagonia occupied it until late 2021. Then, in September 2022, it was reported that art gallery Spazio Amanatia was opening there.
