Nothing's shocking?

The John Varvatos fall 2008 fall campaign finds Perry Farrell on the Bowery. According to the John Varvatos Web site, the ads were shot "on top of and around the landmark 315 Bowery building in NYC's East Village." The "campaign reveals Farrell's enigmatic personality and captures Varvatos' detailed sensibility in their truest forms."

For Friday evening, The Big Takeover

Bad Brains. CBGB. 1982.

Remembering the Sic F*cks

Girl About Town has the story on Tish and Snooky, "the legendary ladies of St. Mark's Place." "[F]or a short time in New York City in the late 70s, the sisters were part of local band Sic F*cks, who played their trashy style of glam punk at CBGBs and ruled the East Village."

[UPDATED: Sorry, I had Sick F*cks earlier...not Sic F*cks!]

Tish and Snooky at the Limelight, 1986.


[Video by Nelson Sullivan]

And now for something new and different on St. Mark's

Alternate headline: You've got to be fucking kidding me.
At the site of the old CBGB shop. (Surprised someone isn't calling this yogurt place Punk Berry.) I even made a joke on March 29 that this location would become a yogurt shop. So I guess this is my fault.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tourists will have to go online to buy their CBGB T-shirts

Important decisions of our time

"...a very conspicuous display of the wealthy sucking up and devouring even more of the soul of downtown NYC"

Bob at Neither More Nor Less has posted his photos and recap of the John Varvatos protest from this past Thursday night.

He writes, in part:

No matter how well meaning Mr. Varvatos' intentions may have been , and actually be , what many local artists and musicians saw in his Thursday evening extravaganza was just another example of a very conspicuous display of the wealthy sucking up and devouring even more of the soul of downtown NYC.

As always, he took many great photos, such as this one.

Updated: con·de·scend·ing [kon-duh-sen-ding]

From the highlights-of-the-week in the Pulse section of today's New York Post:

Yes, CBGB is now a high-end clothing store -- boohoo, it's unfair, etc., etc. -- but the spirit of Bowery rock lives on at the Morrison Hotel gallery, which now occupies the former CB's Gallery space connected to the legendary concert venue. Thursday, the gallery opens its new exhibit "Rockers," which features 280 pieces from iconic photographer Bob Gruen's collection including up-close-and-personal snapshots of John Lennon, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and the punk bands who once rocked the room next door, including Sid Vicious. Opening night runs from 7 to 10 and entry is free.

Suggested rewrite:

The spirit of CBGB lives on at the Morrison Hotel gallery, which now occupies the former CB's Gallery space connected to the legendary concert venue.

Update: Check out the comments...Alex from NYC makes a good point on this item. Sid Vicious never played CBGB...

What's new at 315 Bowery?

The New York Post has a piece today on the new John Varvatos boutique, which opened over the weekend at the site of the former CBGB on the Bowery.

According to the Post article, written by Serena French: "[P]unk preservationists will be glad to hear that the Bowery site - which once hosted such pioneers as the Ramones and Blondie - hasn't been sanitized beyond recognition.
The stage is gone, replaced by a tailoring shop, but it's encased with gold Alice Cooper records.
And those who remember the walls encrusted with posters and stickers will be relieved to find them intact and preserved behind glass."

Hmm.

So Varvatos has reportedly made the shop equal parts museum and retail space. "I wanted to combine music, fashion, memorabilia and really make it like a cultural space," he told The Post. He's planning on holding monthly concerts there too.

What do some old-timers think?

"I like it. I'm relieved," Arturo Vega, creative director for the Ramones, who has lived around the corner from the club since 1973, told the Post. "We were expecting a drug store in the space," he said. "So when I found out it was Varvatos moving in, it was a relief."

Yesterday, in the Post's Page Six Magazine, Dana Kristal, son of CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, was asked whether he thought his father would approve of eight high-profile new ventures on the Bowery. Interestingly enough, he wasn't asked about this shop.

Meanwhile, I'll have to check out this space for myself. I've been following the progress via Jeremiah.

[Photos: Victoria Will/New York Post]

What would Hilly think? Let's ask his son

Page Six Magazine, which is FREE every Sunday in the New York Post (even though you pay $1 for the paper), has a feature this week titled "New kids on the Bowery." As the sub-head says, it's "a look at the next generation of gentrifiers descending on what was once Manhattan's seediest strip." The Post highlights eight of the new people and places taking over the Bowery, and gets Dana Kristal, son of CBGB founder Hilly Kristal, who died last August, to say whether he thinks his father would approve of the new venture/person.

Oh, none of the content from the magazine is ever online, oddly enough. And I don't have a scanner...so just a few highlights:

Designer Rogan Gregory, who's opening a shop at the old Bouwerie Lane Theatre space this spring. Would Hilly approve? "It's an insult to have upper-crust stores next to shelters," Dana told the Post. So. No.

Extra Place, the incoming pedestrian mall in the old alley behind CBGB. Would Hilly approve? "My father was planning to take CBGB to Vegas before he died," Dana said. "He'd braced himself for this kind of change."

The new rock-type bar Bowery Electric. Would Hilly approve? Yes! "A place like this improves the area. These musicians can rebel against the rich people."

That socialite guy who calls himself Izzy Gold, aka Francesco Civetta. (The Post describes him an "artist-DJ-designer" who has become "one of the 'new' Bowery's most vocal self-appointed representatives.")
Dana? "People with money are making all these changes without asking for a consensus from the majority."

Daniel Boulud's new upscale burger joint coming to 299 Bowery. Would Hilly approve? "Opening up a fancy restaurant right where hungry people live is callous," Dana said. "But one more won't make a difference."

The Morrison Hotel Gallery. Would Hilly approve? "Artists can still be pretentious, but a gallery is more authentic to the vibe of the neighborhood," Dana said.

If you want the rest, get your FREE copy of Page Six Magazine today in the New York Post for only $1!

P.S.
I missed the news that Nicole Richie and that guy she's with from some band bought a "simple" 1,000-square-foot pied-à-terre at 199 Bowery (NoLita Place) for $1 million.

P.S.S. (for no reason, CBGB)




[Top photo: Ting-Li Wang/The New York Times; bottom photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times]

Tourists will have to go online to buy their CBGB T-shirts

More from the Voice.

Meanwhile, I'm looking into renting the space. May try to open a frozen yorgurty place, Grieve Berry -- served with a side of despair.

"All of Manhattan has lost its soul to money lords"

That's Cheetah Chrome in today's New York Post discussing the new i-banker playground off the Bowery. "Extra Place," as it's being called, is in the former piss-filled alley behind CBGB. (See the Ramones photo above.) As the Post notes, that spot is "getting dragged into the 21st century with a makeover that would make Martha Stewart proud." Yes, because she could afford the kinds of things that are going into "Extra Place." (How not just call it "Extra Expensive"?)