When the East Village dive venue Brownies closed in 2002, Tricia Romano published a little goodbye in the Village Voice following its last hurrah. The spot was ending "its 13-year history as one of the crucial East Village rock haunts," and reopening a month later as what is now Hi-Fi bar.
The NY Times called its closing "not quite the end of the city's rock world as we know it," adding that "Manhattan's downtown music scene is shrinking again, even as Brooklyn's expands." Brownies booker Eric Speck explained, ''Developing bands are going straight to Brooklyn. Manhattan is still the nucleus, but Brooklyn has become the breeding ground."
At the time, owner Mike Stuto told the paper, "'The music industry has disappointed me for the last 15 years, so maybe it's time I disappoint the music industry." During its time as a venue the small stage saw acts like The Strokes, Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and... "the New York debuts of Creed, Sugar Ray and Third Eye Blind." Let's just blame Scott Stapp for the venue's demise.
Here are some of the performances that were caught on tape:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 2/21/02
The Promise Ring, 10/10/97
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, 4/12/02
UPDATE: More audio here from a 2001 show.
The Dismemberment Plan, ?/?/??
The Fall, 1998
Interpol (audio only), 2000
