Lights Out At Kenny’s Castaways (10/1/2012)

Another chapter in the NYC book of Rock and Roll has ended, as Kenny’s Castaways, a 45 year old club veteran of the West Village had its final night last night October 1st, 2012.

I’ll admit that this was seldom a venue that I went to for stuff as I usually leaned more towards the heavier side in terms of my music preferences but I did attend a fan meet with some guys in Marillion who were doing an album listening for “Somewhere Else” a few years back and numerous buddies of mine played their with their original bands and I could not miss those events. I never performed there myself during my Metal days but this was not the proper venue for that sound but it still was a landmark place that I hate to see shutting down. Located on 157 Bleecker Street, the venue was always a place that I popped into for a beer if I was hitting the long shuttered Rock and Roll Cafe. That’s a venue I still miss and smile when I think about my first seeing Power Windows, The Machine and numerous other Rock and Metal tribute acts inside its walls. Kenny’s Castaways used to always have The Smithereens playing there which was super cool and way back when even saw the guys in Aerosmith doing their thing on the stage. I could only imagine what it was like to see that band so early in their career.

I snagged the image above from the Lost New York City blog as I never shot one myself over the years and if the reports are correct, the club “might” reopen in Brooklyn at some time in the future. We saw this happening when The Knitting Factory closed up its Manhattan location and moved to Williamsburg. The decrease in business and overall revenue that was coming in less and less had made the upkeep of the existing location next to impossible and according to NY1 the building has already been sold. I guess we shall see yet another Starbuck’s or “Hipster Lounge” opening up here. Suddenly a cold chill just ran up my spine, but I digress. Part of me thinks that the decrease in attention here is based on all of the attention that the Lower East Side has been getting in terms of its music scene. I’ve had to laugh when out with Skeleton Pete as we pass rocking venue after rocking venue and see scores of bands performing on any given night on the cheap. You don’t see that as much on this side of the village anymore. Oh well. What did Bob Dylan say? The times they are a changing.

Good luck to the owners of the place, and a tip of the hat to you for your long time support of the scene. If this was your favorite place to hang and see bands then I offer you a shoulder as well but encourage you to further explore this great Metropolis and see what else is out there. Surely it will serve as a positive balm for your wounds because there are musical surprises on every single corner to experience (and a bunch of them are free as well…..you cannot beat that).

Official Website: http://kennyscastaways.net/index.html

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