The final chords reverberated off the black, sticker-covered walls of CBGB as the grungy, iconic club toasted Rock poet Patti Smith headlined the Sunday-night concert, CBGB's Residents Committee, a homeless advocacy group that owns the club Sunday, while dozens of media outlets hovered outside. The mood was both somber and raucous at CBGB, hailed by many as the "This place is not a ..
. temple," said Smith during the concert. "It is what it is.
" Smith refused to wax very nostalgic, instead claiming at a new generation. She later noted with relish that CBGB, at 33, was played much of Smith's second set with the band. Having turned 44 at midnight, he was also treated to a loud, enthusiastic "Happy Sirius satellite radio broadcast the show live, and digital cameras Nevertheless, Smith often struck a '60s vibe, urging change and Guantanamo Bay.
She sang covers of the Who's "My Generation" and helped spawn the careers of such acts as the Ramones, Blondie, the Talking Heads and Television. Though the club's glory days are long gone, it has remained a symbolic fixture on the Manhattan music connected to the club -- including several chants of "Hey ho, let's go!" from the Ramones' classic "Blitzkrieg Bop.
" hand, as was E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, who 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, Kristal remains combative about his club's exodus from the Bowery in Manhattan, and 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 center of gravity for us." He reflected on though it was pretty much a dump," said Frantz.
CBGB was a place of freedom for many acts. Smith said Kristal "He was our champion and in those days, there were very few," planned to present there -- country, bluegrass and blues -- it 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!
News RSS