One of the things that I wanted to do with the PiercingKen blog site when I launched it was to showcase some of the photography that I found myself doing while on various travel or visiting adventures. I felt that it would be fun to present that sort of thing to the interested eye and since I have a few people that I communicate with from around the world, it couldn’t hurt to inspire their future visiting plans. Recently I was in Atlantic City, NJ for a couple of days – it was a family outing, and since I am not much for the gaming machines, I decided to wander the Boardwalk with my little snappy camera in hand and see what I could find. We were staying in a hotel not too far from the Steel Pier amusement park and this is exactly what it sounds like. A giant pier with an amusement part on it that goes right out over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s pretty awesome, so I snapped a bunch of images and will let you wander the pier with me. I won’t have much to say for this one since they speak for themselves in terms of what ride it is.
I’ll start this little narrative with a view from the hall of the hotel where I was staying. We were in Resorts in case you were wondering.
A slightly different view of the same vantage point.
If I had to think back to when I first went to Smith’s Bar, I will say that it was after a job interview from Hell and I was meeting a then friend for a cold beverage and to catch up. I was not anywhere close to having PiercingMetal.com yet, and as I reflect upon that day, I was not really writing for the website that got me started either. Anyway, I digress. At the time of this meetup, Smith’s was really a different looking place. They had a bunch of tables on the side and one of those hot meat counters that we used to see a lot in places like Blarney Stone. I loved those since you could get some corned beef, turkey or roast beef for a reasonable sum and a few cold beers and then go off to whatever it was you were doing.
Smith’s Bar NYC
I liked the bar and remembered it when I started doing my music scribe thing and began to use it as my own launching point for diner and beverage before going off to B.B. King Blues Club and the Nokia Theatre. Slowly but surely the word started to spread thanks to the growing Social Nets and many other Metal peeps began to use this space as well for their own pre-gaming. On the other side of Smith’s was a larger restaurant side and while you could get food on either of the sides, there were more tables and room over on the opposite side for larger groups. It was your typical NYC bar and had a certain sleazy charm to it. The crowd was a regular person crowd and when I was there with a Metal compliment of friends I never had an issue. The shot below shows off the new restaurant space look and I will explain that in the next paragraph.
Smith’s Bar NYC
Of course in time things do change and Smith’s eventually got a makeover that made the place look a lot nicer and I guess more appealing at the end of the day. They dumped the meat counter for standing tables and cleared a few of the other parts in the main bar that had become part of my memory and things I liked to see. Granted it was roomier now and while I didn’t snap any shots of that for this narrative I will say that they definitely classed it up a bit. Welcome tourists I reckon we should say. They often had music in the restaurant space and the players would be against the front window over there. Now there was a small stage that was a much better option in my opinion. They don’t seem to move the tables back at all when bands are playing and that can be a little annoying in my humble opinion. They changed the menu around and yeah prices went up a little bit too but it was still a good launching point for the Metal and Hard Rock gigs for sure. Now with tools like Twitter one is able to say where they are going before a show and reach numerous friends/fans. I have used it for this purpose a lot.
Smith’s Bar NYC
At the time of this writing I can safely say that this is probably the most visited bar in my personal record. One of these days I will snare one of their shirts because I like the look of them. You can see where Smith’s is exactly by clicking their website link below but please know its right on the corner of 8th Avenue and 44th Street. Mark it on your agenda items if you are going to B.B’s or Nokia.
So the other day I was at a Metal Tribute show down at one of the neighborhood bars in Coney Island. While I was over there I just was compelled to visit the Nathan’s hot dog place since that is almost a “must do” kind of thing when in the region. Anyways, on my way back to see my friends who were playing some Black Sabbath down on the street, the fireworks display started to go off on the Boardwalk. Since I wanted to test the ability of recording video with my new Smartphone, I fumbled to get it rolling and share with you blog readers some of this happening.
This is only a portion of the display of course but it will have to do. I shot this with the Droid Incredible device aka my current mobile phone. Pretty cool. I should do more with this as it seems to work out really well. Oh, and in case you are wondering, my friends are the band Wicked World and you can hear them in the background playing Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.”. It was a fun night of Metal for sure.
That’s all I got for now but as I wrap this up I will ask that you subscribe to the YouTube Channel that hosts this video. It’s my personal one and I guess I should look into creating a channel for the recently launched website which you are now enjoying. I will mark that down on the to do list. Keep rocking
While this place has been around for many years before my finally getting through its doors, I owe a debt of thanks to our own Skeleton Pete who first suggested it on the night that we were both catching the band Blackfield down at the Bowery Ballroom. It was a very weird night without question and while winter was upon us, a sudden snow had started to fall and not only was it a continuous downfall of it. It was sticking and to find this happening in the city takes some doing what with all the pipes under the streets. We were too early for the show, and decided to grab a bite to eat. “Have you ever tried Acme?” Pete inquired when we realized how much time we actually had before the show began and I told him I had not. So we wandered the five or so blocks it was away and I have never regretted trudging through the snowy mess for food ever since that night.
The menu was a Cajun one, and that meant a whole bevy of filling, comfort type food. They had choices of gumbo, friend chicken, blackened everything and assorted Po Boy sandwiches. They even had freshly baked corn bread on the table and a knock you out hot sauce. I remembered my first order was a chicken fried steak with a side order of black eyes peas and their mashed potatoes and grave. It was heavenly. There was also a house brew that I loved and while I didn’t realize this until we had sat down, this was also above the Rock Club “Under Acme”. Now the name made complete sense. This was officially going to be my pregaming spot for any shows that I was attending down at that club and perhaps even some of the close in proximity ones like Bowery Ballroom as well. Here’s a visual of the place during the day time and I am sorry but I didn’t take any from the inside.
Though I admit that I have to explore their menu a little deeper, I can say that I have had their burgers, the meat loaf, po-boy sandwich, gumbo, chicken fried steak, fried chicken, and even their wings. Whew, there is a lot of ground to cover and everything leaves you full and satisfied for sure. Take a look at this scan of the menu which I took home (don’t worry this was the take out menu so I was allowed to have it). Be warned, everything on this menu might prompt you to head into the kitchen and get some cooking done so don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
Since that first night I have held court here on numerous occasions whether it was for some concert pre or post gaming, networking meetings with like minded peers in the industry or just to catch up with old friends at a comfortable space. It even ended up being a space I was not adverse to travelling to before gigs at Irving Plaza or Mercury Lounge which were more of a distance away than I would normally like to be when a show is happening. The club downstairs is awesome too if you are in a local band that kicks some ass. The sound is pretty good and while the getting set up can be a confining thing I have enjoyed quite a few bands here and written about them on the site. You can check out those reports and galleries via this LINK. Be aware that they changed the club name to “Ace Of Clubs” not too long after I first visited the establishment.
I guess one can say that “Pre-Gaming” by it’s literal definition seems to denote any activities that one partakes in before a particular sporting event but with that being said, it can probably be applied outside of this realm as well. This is a good thing in my humble opinion and I like the idea of this term as not just something that’s relegated to the parking lot before the Jets, Giants, Mets or Yankees games. In reality it can also be applied to any of the hanging out time that finds friends or like minded individuals gathering at a single spot before they hit the venues to support their favorite bands. To many people, it is just as much fun getting together before a show as it is going to one and with this in mind I wanted to point out some of the haunts that I have found myself stopping into before the shows took place. I also wanted to speak up about what I had enjoyed about each of them and by using the blog angle of my music adventuring would be able to accept views from the wider public should they care to chime in. Of course this whole idea of “PiercingMetal Does Zagat’s Guide” is not at all music related but on the same token it is because at the end of the day the thoughts being presented happened while on the way to a hopefully kick ass Metal show. Our first chapter actually deals with two establishments that are no longer in business and ones that made me come up with the whole idea in the first place.
Carroll's Bar (Bay Ridge, NY)
First up is a place that I happened to pass by while on a neighborhood walk doing the usual errands that one finds consumes their time. It’s the long shuttered Carroll’s Bar in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, and this space was located not too far from where I did my whole “Viking Quest” adventure several months ago. Anyways, in my own musician life history, Carroll’s Bar was NOT a pre-gaming spot, but instead a post gaming space that was used to a regular extent by my band Machine and also Eclipse. I am thinking that it was my Machine guitarist Rizzo who actually pointed out the place to me first even though I was a long time resident of Bay Ridge and he was from Park Slope. Amazing how things work out. Anyway, the place was run by Eddie Carroll who I am pretty sure has long passed on. It was your typical “Old Man’s Bar” which now gets labeled as “Dive Bar” based on their being no frills to the establishment. You want beers, we got a couple of them. You want whiskeys, we got those too. Food? What does this look like to you , a diner? Anyways, for a band coming home late from gigs and looking for a place to decompress this was perfect for our needs.
PiercingMetal Ken Offers Homage To Carroll's
The photo above was taken by my buddy Eric from the Beehivehairdresser.com Blog, and as you can see the place is shuttered. I am not sure how long it has been closed but in my own personal history this remains a fond memory of youthful good times with a number of my band friends. I recall five dollar pitchers which were filled to the brim and ice cold. Given the timeframe I am speaking about this was very likely Budweiser out of the tap. The beverage I tend to avoid nowadays. My how the times change. I remembered Machine signing a photograph for Eddie which he kept at the bar. I tried to be poetic and write something like “You’re The Tops For Tap”. Corny I know, but I was not a writer yet. Next up – The Blarney Stone.
The Blarney Stone, W32nd Street NYC
The Blarney Stone
Ahhh “The Stone”….This one comes with some lamenting based on its eventual status but first let me recant some of the reasons why this place was called home when my friends and I were hitting shows at Madison Square Garden or the Theatre which is located directly beneath it. If memory serves me right, I believe that I started going to “The Stone” with my buddy Trig and a couple of other friends when we all used to regularly attend N.Y. Ranger hockey games. The bar was located right up the street from The Garden and was a stones throw in distance to the train lines that got me there and back home again. This fact alone would make it welcome sanctuary when it was brutally cold outside or found the city pummeled by torrential rain. After a few visits the comfort zone factor set in and this eventually became the meeting spot for concerts that were happening as well.
The Blarney Stone being discussed was once located at 106 West 32nd Street and this was your typical Irish Bar with a meat counter for the food they had and a bunch of tables scattered around the main bar section. They also had numerous sport photographs of the NYC teams hanging around on the walls which kind of reminded me of a sport themed “Rock and Roll Café”. Don’t bother looking up that last reference as they have been gone for more than ten years. The layout of this particular Blarney Stone was interesting as there was a back space that you could command if you got there early enough and also a great table right below the jukebox that I used to always hope to secure. The bar was always popular and packed before Rangers games and most likely Knicks as well, but since I only went to a single basketball game I cannot tell you more. Since it supported these teams on the various televisions around the bar (and they had a decent number of them) they also sold baseball caps with those team logos on them. I still have two of my Rangers hats and they are among the best in my cap collection. The usual scenario before shows was get to the bar as early as possible to secure a good table or space for you and whomever was joining you. Get something to eat, have a few pitchers around your group and stumble down, I mean head down to your sporting event or concert. I loved the meat table and always got my heaping plate of roast turkey, mashed potatoes and corn. It was $6.00. An amusing memory was seeing the Neil Diamond concert with my parents and stopping in there for supper and a drink and having my Dad enjoy the amount of food he got for the price. You might be laughing now, but believe me that really tasted good. Another notable memory is how a whole crew of friends had gathered for an Iron Maiden concert and recalled being at this bar back in the day when youth and dreams were still in charge of ones day. The amusement that they were still enjoying the same music today as investment bankers, financial analysts and technology professional was quite funny. Of course there was a music journalist spark being lit around this time as well. Fancy that.
A Stone No More
You recall I said “was once located” at 106 West 32nd and that is because not too long ago I found the doors locked and the signage gone. A few months later the entire building and corner of the block followed. In its place are some luxury high rise office facilities and I must admit that this is one of those times that I do not enjoy the march of progress because there were so many damned good times at this little hole in the wall of the city. I took this shot when I passed the then empty space where a couple of buildings had once stood. Granted there are still a couple of other bars using the Blarney Stone franchise moniker but this was the one that I found sanctuary at with my people. I was very sad to see it gone as I didn’t even get to toast its memory or thank its owners for having it there for so many years. After seeing this empty space, I needed what our Finnish Ambassador refers to as a “street beer”.
Thus begins our next batch of blog musings and we hope that you will enjoy them in some fashion. I’ll be breaking up the tales place by place for easier mental consumption. Perhaps these will guide you to some places to meet your friends before shows as well but I don’t recommend that you do it unless you are the legal age to drink. If you are, then perhaps you will see me prepping for the Metal madness at one of these locations. If you do, please come say hello.
Helpful Toasts From Around The Globe
Depending on which band that you are seeing and where they are visiting from, you might want to know what toast to use in the event you meet the band members down at the merchandise table or somewhere else at the show.
German – “Prost” – very useful for EdGuy, Helloween, Gamma Ray, Iron Savior etc.
Swedish – “Skol” (pronounced “skole”) great for those Viking warriors Amon Amarth, Sister Sin,
Finnish – “Kippis” (pronounced “kip-eese”) useful for Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, The 69 Eyes, HIM, Ensiferum, Turisas and many, many more. You’ll very likely use this one the most
Polish – “Nostrovya” (pronounced “nos-trov-ya”) useful for Behemoth, Vader, Gwynbleidd and Darzamat.
Chinese – “Cambei” (pronounced “come by”): Might be used mainly for the guys in Wormrot or Chthonic. Not sure how much you will use this one since we don’t get a lot of Asian Metal bands hitting the region.
French – “A Votre Sante” – Best for bands from that part of the world and even French speaking parts of Canada like Blackguard, The Agonist, and Unexpect.
