Knitting Factory at Baker Falls temporarily closed for more soundproofing

Reporting by Stacie Joy

Yesterday, Knitting Factory Entertainment announced that Baker Falls was temporarily closed for additional soundproofing, effective immediately. 

The bar at Baker Falls will remain open, though without live events in the weeks ahead. 

East Village resident Nick Bodor, who has owned and operated several local businesses in the past 25-plus years, including the Library and alt.coffee, is behind Baker Falls, once home to the iconic The Pyramid Club. 

"We are so sorry and want to apologize to our artists and their fans as we had to make the very difficult decision to cancel our live performances so we can address some sound-proofing issues and keep doing good work at 101 Avenue A," Bodor told us about the space between Sixth Street and Seventh Street.

Baker Falls had its soft opening just about a year ago. 

We've enjoyed seeing live music at the two-level venue, which has a coffee-cafe service during the day and a main-floor bar and the feverdream lounge on the lower level in the evenings. 

"We hope we can make it up to all the amazing performers who lost their shows — with very little notice, and we wish we could have done it another way," Bodor said. "But the light at the end of the tunnel is we hope to get them back on stage with a great room sound at the legendary [space] after the summer."

You can follow the KF Instagram for updates. You can also sign up for the Baker Falls newsletter at its website. We'll be continuing to monitor the situation here as well.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Generation next: Baker Falls will bring together a cafe, bar and the Knitting Factory at the former Pyramid Club on Avenue A (Nov. 28, 2022)

Friday's parting shot

Tits Dick Ass tonight at the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on Avenue A... headlining a bill that featured Gargoyle ... Suburban Speed ... and Femcel ...

Photos: Tetchy headlines the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on Avenue A

Photos by The Hella Sketchy 

Last Thursday night, Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on Avenue A played host to a Tetchy EP release show.

The Brooklyn-based band — guitarist-vocalist Maggie Denning, guitarist Jesse French, bassist Kaitlin Pelkey, and drummer Max Goldstein — has unleased its latest collection of empowering punk, All In My Head, via Trash Casual.

Here are a few scenes from the band's headlining performance...

You can keep tabs on Tetchy via Instagram. Look for their video for "Psychosomatic" tomorrow... and expect to hear more from the band in 2024, including dates at SXSW... 

A night to 'Remember' at Baker Falls with Suzy Clue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

With the arrival of the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls back in July, we've enjoyed having another venue along Avenue A for live music, especially to see some favorite local acts like cumgirl8, Rebelmatic and Tits Dick Ass. 

On Oct. 25, we had a chance to check out promising newcomer Suzy Clue, headlining her first NYC show. 

The evening was a single-release party for "Remember Me," a slow burn of an alt-rock ballad that Suzy said "explores themes of heartbreak, loss, and the clash of melancholy and guttural rage of being left behind by the one you love." (You can watch the recently released video that she co-directed here.) 

Suzy was born in Albania, and raised in NYC starting at age 8. In recent years, she crafted her musical prowess in London with artists such as Pretty Sick, whose singer-bassist Sabrina Fuentes (aka Sickysab) joined her at Baker Falls... 

She discussed her musical style and expression.

"I feel like it's a mixture of softness and aggression. Visually, I just want to be a hot girl," she said with a smile. "It factors into my performance because I feel that it's unexpected when it comes to the kind of music I make. I like being out there, campy, sexy, and performative as opposed to staring at my shoes and being all serious."

Suzy and her band unleashed a brief, high-octane performance to a grateful crowd.

"I think the show went great. I was really happy to see all my friends in New York come to support me and singing along to the songs," she said. "I love performing in the East Village because it makes me feel like I'm a part of a community — I like being surrounded by other great artists in the area."

As for other artists, joining her on the bill this night: Taraneh (below) ... Comet... and a DJ set via Sickysab...

Baker Falls (the former Pyramid Club) is at 101 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. Find the upcoming slate of bands here.

For more live music on Avenue A:

• Berlin, 25 Avenue A

• Drom, 85 Avenue A

• Heaven Can Wait, 169 Avenue A

• Niagara (hosts the occasional live show), 112 Avenue A

Modern love

 

Tomorrow (Saturday!) night, Modern English plays at the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls, 101 Avenue A between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

And ahead of this, we've had several conversations with people about Modern English, known to many simply as the English band that made the iconic 1980s new-wave smasheroo, "I Melt With You." 

The band's first record, Mesh & Lace from 1981, is a moody, post-punk gem. Subsequent releases saw Modern English taking a more commercial-friendly tone... featuring some excellent tracks, like "Someone's Calling" (above) from 1983 and "Ink and Paper" from 1986... a rare two-for-Friday-at-5 combo!

 

Baker Falls shapes up

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

If you walked by 101 Avenue A this week, then you may have seen local artist Antony Zito at work outside the recently opened Baker Falls ... adding hand-painted lettering on the façade and front windows...

The venue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street had its soft opening on July 13. When fully operational, the two-level space will feature an all-day cafe, bar, room for community events, and a stage for live music under the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls moniker.

Zito also added the old-school KF logo at the entryway to the ground-floor music space... 

As we've noted (see links below), East Village resident Nick Bodor, who has owned and operated several local businesses in the past 25-plus years, including the Library and alt.coffee, is behind Baker Falls.

Meanwhile, live music via the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls started on July 20 in the main room with Sunflower Bean.

We bought tickets for our first show here last Friday night for a concert featuring headliners cumgirl8, who were back in NYC after an extensive tour in recent months, including several nights opening for Le Tigre.

We hadn't seen cumgirl8 — Veronica Vilim (guitar), Lida Fox (bass), Chase Noelle (drums) and Avishag Rodrigues (guitar) — since late 2021 at the now-closed Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.

The hypnotic neon punk band continues to impress ... playing an exuberant set featuring songs from their forthcoming (Aug. 18!) 4AD EP titled phantasea pharm...

From our vantage in the back of the looked-full performance space, cumgirl8 received an enthusiastic Friday night welcome, complete with a mini mosh-pit.

While the venue is still working out the kinks in these opening weeks, we'll certainly be going back. You can check out the Baker Falls website for upcoming events.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Baker Falls set to debut this week on Avenue A (July 10)

• Generation next: Baker Falls will bring together a cafe, bar and the Knitting Factory at the former Pyramid Club on Avenue A (Nov. 28, 2022)

• The next iteration of the Knitting Factory coming to the East Village (Aug. 24, 2022) 

Details about some upcoming shows via the Knitting Factory at Baker Falls on Avenue A

Baker Falls had its soft opening last week at 101 Avenue A ... first with a release party for Jesse Rifkin's book "This Must Be the Place: Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City" as well as Lach and Friends Anti-Folk/Anti-Hoot, a nod to the now-closed Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant. 

Starting tonight, the performance space — Knitting Factory New York at Baker Falls — will ramp up with the first of many concerts to come... Sunflower Bean (below) headlines a bill with GIFT and Slow Fiction. 

Steve Gunn (and friends!) performs on Friday...  and there's an all-ages matinee on Sunday featuring a handful of bands, including EVG favorite Jade Tourniquet (photo below by Stacie Joy)...

Other upcoming shows include cumgirl8 on July 28...

There are several bands — local, national and international — a week on the calendar now. Check it out here.

These select shows at Knitting Factory New York at Baker Falls are curated by Knitting Factory Talent Buyer Carson Ehlert with support from Senior Talent Buyer James Irvine. The duo is reprising their roles from Knitting Factory Brooklyn in Williamsburg, which closed last August.

As previously reported, East Village resident Nick Bodor, whose past and current establishments have included the Library bar, alt.coffee and the Cake Shop music venue, serves as the managing partner and creative director of Baker Falls.

In the weeks ahead, you can expect a coffee shop, all-day cafe, bar and community events at the two-level space between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Generation next: Baker Falls will bring together a cafe, bar and the Knitting Factory at the former Pyramid Club on Avenue A (Nov. 28, 2022)

• The next iteration of the Knitting Factory coming to the East Village (Aug. 24, 2022) 

• Baker Falls set to debut this week on Avenue A (July 10)  

Sunflower Bean and cumgirl8 photos courtesy of Knitting Factory at Baker Falls