Hee hee hee haw haw haw
I try to hit up all the music venues in New York City. This weekend was Le Poisson Rouge, an 800-person capacity performance space in the village.
I really, really wanted to like it. It's got a good location, it's not a ClearChannel venue as far as I could tell, and I heard it was kind of designed so that even when the sound is on at full volume, you can still carry on a conversation with the people around you.
Unfortunately, I there are some very specific problems with the space. The stage is located in a strange spot, in a corner instead of flush against the wall. Behind it is a VIPish seating area and a bar. Since the crowd fans out in a semicircle around the stage, and the bar and seating area border it on both sides, there really is no safe place to move around. If you want to get anywhere, you have to go through the thick of the crowd. You can't slink off to the side, because there really isn't any side.
Then, after the show, I went to pick up my jacket at the coat check, which was conveniently situated right at the entrance. I slowly worked my way through the crowd, then entered the long line for the coat check, expecting to go right out the way I came in. No. That entrance/exit was roped off because they were seating new people under a new cover charge. I had to go back, work my way through the crowd again, and line up outside of a different exit on the other end of the venue. Between this and Webster Hall, I'd love it if a place just said, "Listen, you guys paid thirty bucks for this event. If you want to stay and drink some more and pay for booze and tip our waiters, go for it. We won't begrudge you a second cover." Right now, that dream is unrealized.
There were advantages, though. That bit about the sounds system is correct: It's crystal clear without blowing out your ears. The performance area is small, too, so it makes for an intimate setting. Still, this doesn’t knock Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg off my list of favorites.
Oh, and TMBG was great, of course.
I really, really wanted to like it. It's got a good location, it's not a ClearChannel venue as far as I could tell, and I heard it was kind of designed so that even when the sound is on at full volume, you can still carry on a conversation with the people around you.
Unfortunately, I there are some very specific problems with the space. The stage is located in a strange spot, in a corner instead of flush against the wall. Behind it is a VIPish seating area and a bar. Since the crowd fans out in a semicircle around the stage, and the bar and seating area border it on both sides, there really is no safe place to move around. If you want to get anywhere, you have to go through the thick of the crowd. You can't slink off to the side, because there really isn't any side.
Then, after the show, I went to pick up my jacket at the coat check, which was conveniently situated right at the entrance. I slowly worked my way through the crowd, then entered the long line for the coat check, expecting to go right out the way I came in. No. That entrance/exit was roped off because they were seating new people under a new cover charge. I had to go back, work my way through the crowd again, and line up outside of a different exit on the other end of the venue. Between this and Webster Hall, I'd love it if a place just said, "Listen, you guys paid thirty bucks for this event. If you want to stay and drink some more and pay for booze and tip our waiters, go for it. We won't begrudge you a second cover." Right now, that dream is unrealized.
There were advantages, though. That bit about the sounds system is correct: It's crystal clear without blowing out your ears. The performance area is small, too, so it makes for an intimate setting. Still, this doesn’t knock Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg off my list of favorites.
Oh, and TMBG was great, of course.