We knew it was coming… now it’s super official- Brownies is no more. From the mailing list:

BROWNIES CLOSING

Brownies, the live music club in the East Village of Manhattan, will be closing its doors to live music in August of 2002. The bar at 169 Avenue A, which originally opened in 1989, will be renovated and reopened in September as a new bar without live music. Ownership will not change: Laura McCarthy and Mike Stuto will remain equal partners and will both continue to run the business.

There is a combination of reasons for this decision. The lack of a non-performance bar area has been handcuffing the club’s ability to grow at its current location. “Working with less resources than the competition has long been a badge of honor for me,” says Stuto, “but I knew that eventually I’d hit the wall.” And that wall has been hit. “To do the grind of 4 bands per night, 7 nights a week in our current facility is an enormous task,” continues Stuto. “You have to walk, sleep, and breathe rock bands. You have to do it regardless of the obstacles, like it’s your ‘calling’. Like you couldn’t imagine doing anything else. And we’ve done that proudly for quite a while. Eventually, the fruits of your labor should be that you grow into a more appropriate facility.” Although still in negotiations, McCarthy and Stuto plan to retain the name and reopen in a new space.

The final night of Brownies will be in early August. Stuto along with bookers Eric Speck and Lisa Garrett are already being bombarded with bands that are regulars and friends about getting their last show confirmed. The club’s show schedule is updated regularly at www.browniesnyc.com/schedule/index.html.

After the last chord, there will be a few weeks of renovation and the yet-untitled new bar will open, hopefully to a warm reception. While it’s too early to offer details about what the new bar will be like, much of it will be built around what can be only described as ‘a revolutionary jukebox’. “You’ll have to show up when the new place opens to see it, but it’s something that I’m very excited about,” says Stuto.

HISTORY

Laura McCarthy opened Brownies in 1989 with a tiny stage and minimal PA that catered almost exclusively to local musicians. Local promoters like Joe Hurley, Dee Pop, Karen Edlitz, Chumley Twist and a bloke named Humphrey all began putting on shows at Brownies, and the club quickly earned a reputation for presenting an eclectic array of live music. In the Spring of 1994, a larger stage was installed (the one that’s there to this day) and McCarthy hired Mike Stuto as another promoter with a view toward having him grow into managing all of the club’s live music. Says Stuto: “Before they hired me, I had worked in college radio promotion and marketing for a couple of record companies, but I spent almost all of my spare time hanging out at CBGB, so I felt like I could at least fake it.” The next couple of years saw Brownies blossom into the club it is today. Together with co-horts Mark Yevlove and later Chris White, Stuto established Brownies as the one of the most sought after gigs in town. The post-Nirvana signing frenzy was in full swing and the club capitalized on the open coffers of the record business while still maintaining its roots in the independent network. In 1996, Stuto left Brownies to pursue a short-lived, ill-conceived try at the corporate music world. It was a complete disaster, and soon Stuto was knocking on the McCarthys’ door. In early 1998 he purchased a 50% stake in Brownies.

APPENDIX

a) Brownies was host to the New York debut of bands such as Ben Folds Five, Creed, Elliot Smith, Idlewild, Local H, New Pornographers, Presidents Of The United States Of America, Robbie Fulks, Seven Mary Three, Son Volt, Superdrag, Supergrass, Sugar Ray, Third Eye Blind, Veruca Salt, The Verve Pipe, and many others.

b) The club is most proud to have been part of the culture of independent-minded musicians like: Antietam, Archers Of Loaf, Arling & Cameron, Babe The Blue Ox, Bob Mould, The Bottle Rockets, Braid, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Bright Eyes, Cake Like, Cat Power, Chavez, Chris Knox, Chris Whitley, Come, Crooked Fingers, Dambuilders, Death Cab For Cutie, Drive By Truckers, The Faint, The Fall, The Figgs, The F**king Champs, Get-Up Kids, godheadsilo, The Grifters, Hasil Adkins, Jets To Brazil, Johnny Dowd, Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion, Karate, Les Savy Fav, Lightning Bolt, Lotion, Low, The Make Up, Mark Eitzel, Mary Lou Lord, Mary Timony, Mike Watt, Mindless Self Indulgence, Modest Mouse, Mogwai, Neutral Milk Hotel, Piebald, Pedro The Lion, Polvo, The Promise Ring, Q And Not U, Quasi, Railroad Jerk, Red Red Meat, Sheila Divine, Six Finger Satellite, Skeleton Key, Spectrum, Spoon, Stereo Total, Sunny Day Real Estate, Superchunk, Team Dresch, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Tight Bros From Way Back When, Trans Am, Tsunami, The Upper Crust, Unwound, Varnaline, Versus, and the list goes on and on…..A full list of every band that has played the club can be seen at www.browniesnyc.com/about/bandlist.html

c) Home grown talent is the backbone of any good club, and right now New York City is producing some of the best new music in the world. Brownies is honored to have played a role in the lives of bands such as: Anti-Pop Consortium, The Boggs, The Brought Low, Champale, Errortype:11, Ex Models, French Kicks, The Hissyfits, Hot Socky, Interpol, Jesse Malin, Liars, Mike Ladd, Mink Lungs, Moisturizer, Mooney Suzuki, Nada Surf, Oneida, Panthers, Radio 4, Rainer Maria, The Rapture, Rival Schools, Sea Ray, Secret Machines, Team USA, Ted Leo, Turing Machine, The Walkmen, and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

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Do you like to pout, pose, and pretend to be cool? If so, you too can be a hip, young, attractive member of online personal ad trend- America’s newest (or oldest) commodity.

Oh boy, it’s what you’ve been waiting for… “Star Wars” fashion tips!

New Coldplay gigs- yay! They’re in the UK- boo!

Dude- major props to BRMC for making their Beacon fuck-up ‘aight.

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Shows maybe worth checking out this month:

The Vue with The Bright & Desperate Sparks and The Witnesses and Okkervil River: May 23 @ 7:30PM- Village Underground. The Vines @ Mercury Lounge: May 23. (Sold Out- whore yourself). French Kicks with Skyrocket and The Fiery Furnaces: May 25 @ The Knitting Factory. Stellastar May 18 @ Don Hill’s (Tiswas).

Of course Ed Harcourt at the Bowery on the 20th and Brendan Benson & The (Sexy) Well-Fed Boys with Chris Lee and Team USA on the 17th and Mercury.

Everyone is wearing Ramones tshirts. Word up to the Joe-ster.

I saw some girls steal a Get Up Kids poster from Kim’s today. They ran out of the store giggling. Sad.

Also, Mista Jack White interviewing Billy Childish in the May 2002 issue of Dazed and Confused… around page 98…did I mention this already??

I <3 Rufus.

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Skipped Moby, went CD shopping instead. Purchased one Ed Harcourt and one Ben Kweller. Still deciding on the new Seafood and The Sights. I’m leaning toward “no.” BK’s “Lizzy” is running through my head, making me go nuts.

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Maybe I’ll go throw something at Moby tonight (Tower Records on Bway- at 7.. or was it 7:30). Later kids.

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WOOHOOO GRADUATION!

The highlight was definitely when the Alumni dude kept repeating, “You should be a player!” and all the kids in the audience kept laughing and hooting. The poor man didn’t even know what the heck the hollaring was about. Hahahhaahahah.

Dude- BUY ME STUFF FOR GRADUATION!

Lame “celebrity” sighting of the day: Audrey Marnay- that model chick.

The Hives in Liverpool! *Sniff*

EMI buys Mute Records.

Neil Halstead at the Spitz in London.

Mmmm.. BRMC on Jo Whiley. Sexy. Doves too.

Cornershop get Timesed.

I think someone’s been watching a little too much ITV. Ant and Dec get… theorized.

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Quick update:

Cooper Temple Clause, the YYYs, Haven and 80′s B-Line set to play London Mardi Gras, July 6. Everyone looks around and wonders, since when did they have Mardi Gras in England?

Go ahead and buy Robbie Williams, Oasis’s, or Ash’s stinky shoes.

Holy shit, Alfie $8 July 17, Maxwell’s, NJ!

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A busy Laura means a boring site. Sorry kids.

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It’s official. I’m sans computer, sans CDs, sans radio, sans guitar, sans TV, sans VCR. Basically, sans everything. Oh the tragedy! I’ll be without computer for at least a week…and then after that I’ll be busy. But have no fear, if past instances are any indicator, I’ll be posting as per usual. Shit, I just realized all my lovely link resources are on my bookmarks… on my computer. Oh well. Whatever.

Dude- people might actually be forced to contact me by TELEPHONE!

Head pounding. Must sleep. Must eat. Must eat, then sleep… but first…
If it wasn’t apparent already, John Peel is DE-troit crazy. Sympathy.

And Sean of House of Hot Sauce is clearly a die-hard fan of the Country Music Channel, because he sent over a link to the Ryan Adams/ Elton John thing blahblahblah, which airs Sunday, May 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Also, Ewan McGregor on E! Revealed tonight at 9PM. Oh Ewan. I’ll always love you.

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