“Never surrender” is punk music’s rallying call, and supporters of CBGB’s are taking that message to heart as they plan a last-ditch effort to save the famed New York rock club.
CBGB?s will host a benefit show almost every night during August, the last month of its lease, The Associated Press reports.
The ?Save CBGB?s campaign? will be capped off on the 31st by a public rally and concert at Washington Square Park, said singer/songwriter/”The Sopranos” star Little Steven Van Zandt, who has been involved in the preservation efforts for the last few weeks.
The club is battling its landlord, the Bowery Residents Committee (BRC), over back rent and an increase to the monthly rental cost, which is about $19,000. The committee provides shelter for homeless people in the building that houses the club.
The conflict, which sees the club?s impending closure in September, stems mainly from a series of rent hikes. According to CBGB?s spokesperson Scott Goodstein, the BRC raised the rent on the building several times without properly informing the club and later brought the issue to court to collect interest. The most recent dispute concerns about $80,000 in back rent the BRC claims it is owed.
Van Zandt said a proposal was submitted to the landlord last week which offered to pay more rent and host events to raise money for the cause. He said no response to the proposal has been received.
Van Zandt, who has played with Bruce Springsteen?s E Street Band, spoke of the plans for the month-long campaign during a news conference Monday. He was accompanied by musicians such as Tommy Ramone and punk journalists, as well as Hilly Kristal, the founder and owner of the rock club.
?CBGB is the last real rock ?n? roll club,? said Van Zandt, according to New York Daily News. ?There?s nothing like it left in the world.
?It?s a club that embodies the spirit of New York ? people with nothing, rising to something successful.?
Ramone, whose band The Ramones used to play at the club, said CBGB?s is a part of history. ?This is one of the last vestiges of old New York ? what it was and what it could be in the future.?
After the news conference, Blondie?s Deborah Harry took the stage for an impromptu jam session.
Dozens of punk and indie acts are slated to play the upcoming benefit shows, including Chevelle, Living Colour, Kid Dynamite, The Exit, Dead Boys, Against Me and The Vandals.
Beyond the shows, artists such as The Bangles, Elvis Costello and Sting have donated memorabilia for a fundraising auction.
More details about the campaign will be posted online (savecbgb.org), where supporters can also offer donations and add their names to a petition.
Kristal founded CBGB?s in December 1973, with its initials standing for ?country bluegrass blues? ? the type of music Kristal originally meant for the venue to host. Although he also gave it the surname Omfug (signifying ?other music for uplifting gormandizers ? the latter words described by Kristal as ?a voracious eater of, in this case, music?), the club became known as simply CBGB?s.
The club, located in the city?s Lower East Side, is considered to be the birthplace of punk and has acquired legendary status in New York?s music history. It was there that previously little-known acts such as The Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie kick-started the U.S. punk and New Wave scene in the 1980s. In those days, the small crowds would pay a $1 cover charge.
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