2014 was a year marked by music venue death, with 285 Kent, Glasslands, Death by Audio, Spike Hill, Goodbye Blue Monday, and even the Roseland Ballroom falling through the Veil. And 2015 doesn't look very promising so far—LES stalwart Cake Shop says it too will crumble into dust, unless some music-loving Daddy Warbucks manages to heavily invest.

The tiny-but-powerful decade-old venue posted a message on Facebook yesterday documenting a dire financial situation. A soundbyte, if you will:

The last two years have been a well-documented struggle. If it wasn't for the amazing patrons and bands who supported us through crowd funding site PledgeMusic.com, we would have closed in 2012. Now we are starting to fall behind in rent and other bills as we enter the slow 1st Quarter of cold winter months. We are not looking for a handout, but we need a like-minded investor to come in and buy 25% to 40% of Cake Shop. Now is your chance to be a part of a special NYC venue/bar/cafe/record store, and save a well-curated stage for talented emerging artist (which include comedians and authors). In addition to increasing sales, we have always wanted to grow Cake Shop into other areas of music discovery, but all these things take money...

...We are optimistic, but we need your help to spread the word. Please help get this info out there to as many people as possible. And we would really appreciate it if you passed on the email below to anyone you think might be in a position to invest in Cake Shop. We can hold on for a few more weeks, but that's about it without a significant partner.


Mostly, the bills are mounting, and the venue says they need money in order to make money. Increasing food options, booking more bands, putting out records and opening outposts outside the city would bring in more revenue, but they can't even afford to keep the doors open as is. Of course, this isn't the first time the stage that brought us the Dirty Projectors has had to put out a call for help—in 2012, the owners bought some extra time via crowdfunding, though not even that can save you once the condos come a-calling.

Feel like owning a piece of NYC music history? You can contact Cake Shop's people by emailing them here.