My City Was Gone, Part 2

If you are of a certain age and grew up in the New York City area, you probably found yourself at CBGBs to see a name act or a friend's band up on that tiny stage. While it was an incredibly vital part of the NYC music scene during the 70s and 80s (you know, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, Blondie, Richard Hell, etc.)--the center of the underground and punk NY music universe at its peak--this simply wasn't the case in the 90s and 00s. The punk/alternative scene exploded, better venues came and went, kids grew up, most of the Ramones died (except for Tommy!), and the Bowery (and all the scuzzy, marginal neighborhoods in Manhattan) was gentrified. Can't stop change or the future.

CBs had become just another nasty pit with a glorious past and a brand name recognized world-wide.

After much wrangling with its landlord (ironically, a homeless shelter), CBs had its last show with the Patti Smith Group last night and is now closed. CB's owner, Hilly Kristal has talked about moving the club to Vegas (literally taking down some of the walls with its layers upon layers of band stickers, fan graffiti, and filth and piecing them back together Humpty Dumpty style on the Strip). This seems right to me. If the CBs on the Bowery couldn't be turned into some sort of landmarked punk museum (which would have been kind of cool...), the next best thing is to pack up the club and re-open/re-invent itself in the only other American city that doesn't sleep, makes gobs of money off of sin, and has a casino that sports a fake NYC skyline...

I dunno, it seems kinda punk rawk to me.