Punk's Birthplace Goes Belly Up

CBGB’s closed last week. I went to a few shows in the famous NYC club when I was still in high school, following DC Straight Edge bands up I-95 to a gig in which we were hardly welcome. The straight edge philosophy meant no drinking, and we were underage anyway. And CBGB’s might have been a live venue, but it was also a bar. They weren’t exactly enthused to see a bunch of teenagers overwhelm their place and not spend any money.


But it goes to show CBGB’s hasn’t been relevant in a long friggin’ time. When the most famous thing about your place is that the bathrooms are disgusting, perhaps it’s not that big a tragedy you’re going the way of the dodo. Seriously, who was the last band to break out of CBGB’s? Punk is 30 years old, people. And NYC has long since lagged behind DC and LA in churning out the vanguard of the rock underground.

The sheer dearth of an NYC punk scene was on full display when the final shows were overpriced gigs for Patti Smith and Blondie. At least those bands started there, even if it was in 1976. The rest of the week was a three-night reunion engagement for the seminal punk band, Bad Brains. Bad Brains is a DC band who would later relocate to LA (hence the album Banned in DC). They have as much to do with CBGB’s as I do.

Which shows how far the venerable club has fallen. It’s a shame CBGB’s is closing, but let’s be honest. This is a mercy killing.