CBGB's last show

mrjimmy · Oct 15th, 2006, 10:16 AM

Tonight CBGBs will host it's last show and then close it's doors in NYC forever. The owner plans to move operations to Vegas complete with tables, urinals et al.

It's like today's 'punk bands'. Punk is dead, long live simulacra!

Macfury · Oct 16th, 2006, 07:29 AM

I find this wave of punk--the third one? I think I've lost count--to be the most toothless yet. Not an authentic bone in its body. It's not even a reaction against anything, just a copycat style.

After seeing people buy tie-dyed clothing that was pre-coloured by The Gap, I suppose it makes sense. Maybe I should put together some colour-co-ordinated outfits and call the package the "New Wave Needs" kit?

TroutMaskReplica · Oct 16th, 2006, 08:24 AM

punk lives, just not in the mainstream. the stuff you hear on the radio is not punk.

Macfury · Oct 16th, 2006, 08:36 AM

Anything that can survive without corporate fudning can live underground.

mrjimmy · Oct 16th, 2006, 08:41 AM

	Quote:
	punk lives, just not in the mainstream.

Is it still punk though? Or is it just not mainstream. Something looking for an identity.

Maybe the lesson is that things exist in their own time for their own reasons. The punk of today may be something else entirely. Not people rehashing, remixing and appropriating.

It's kind of fitting having the simulated CBGBs sitting in Vegas. The experience without the danger. Weird cautious world we live in.

TroutMaskReplica · Oct 16th, 2006, 10:37 AM

	Quote:
	Is it still punk though? Or is it just not mainstream. Something looking for an identity.

from my observation, there is a continuum from the punk of the late seventies, to the punk of today which thrives outside of the entirely corporatized mainstream media.

i know a few people connected with this record label, and this band in particular. http://www.woundedpaw.com/murdersquad/ i would never accuse them of 'searching for an identity'.

modsuperstar · Oct 16th, 2006, 10:40 AM

I don't like the idea of CBGBs moving to Las Vegas. While I'm sure it'll be a good money grab for the owner, I think it'll come off as the Madame Tussaude's version of CBGBs. It may look like the real thing, but in reality it's just an immitation.

Max · Oct 16th, 2006, 10:52 AM

But that's the essence of Las Vegas, isn't it? A genuine ersatz experience? Safe and artificial holds its attractions for the masses.

Commodifying punk and enshrining it in the pantheon of culture is bound to be a bizarre, more than a little ironic exercise. But really, I'm sure CGBGs died a long time ago anyway, just like the Elmo did. Everything has a time and a place... it's good to remember that club but hey - time to move on, innit?

HowEver · Oct 16th, 2006, 10:59 AM

I felt the same way about Caesar's Palace.

	Quote:			Originally Posted by modsuperstar
	I don't like the idea of CBGBs moving to Las Vegas. While I'm sure it'll be a good money grab for the owner, I think it'll come off as the Madame Tussaude's version of CBGBs. It may look like the real thing, but in reality it's just an immitation.