After over 30 years, venerable Manhattan music club CBGB's closed on Sunday. The club, which opened on 315 Bowery in the Village in 1973, was instrumental in establishing New York's punk and new-wave scenes of the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the American hardcore scene of the mid- and late '80s.
Last year, the Bowery Residents' Committee did not renew the lease of CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal, alleging that he owed nearly $100,000 in back-rent. After months of unsuccessful legal finagling, the infamous venue - which helped launch the careers of legendary acts like Television, The Ramones, Talking Heads and Agnostic Front - hosted its final show Oct.15.
The show, hosted by "punk rock poet laureate" Patti Smith, ended with Smith performing her cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria." Kristal intends to move CBGB's, along with as much of its trappings as humanly possible (including the walls, as pictured above), to Las Vegas.
- by Mikey Goralnik
