The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. Rolling Stone magazine has awarded it #1 Best Club in America. "It's both intimate and grand, with consistently great sound and sightlines, and touches of old-school class, like 84-year-old bronze rails." It has a capacity of 575 people.
History
The Bowery Ballroom was founded in 1998 by Michael Swier, Michael Winsch, and Brian Swier, who still own and operate the business. The club was the team's second music venue after The Mercury Lounge. The building at 6 Delancey Street was built to be a high-end shoe store and haberdashery just before the devastating Wall Street Crash of 1929. It stood vacant until the end of World War II, when it housed a series of shops. Over time the neighborhood declined. In 1998 the building was fully renovated to become The Bowery Ballroom. Cofounder Michael Swier told the Village Voice and LA Weekly that he and his partners' goals have always been about quality of sound, as well as giving the best experience to both artists and the audience. Architect and cofounder Brian Swier designed the venue and directed renovations of the historic building with an eye to optimal acoustics for live music. Today the club is one of the rare remaining independent music venues, and continues to be regarded as one of the best for music purists. Both Gothamist and Thrillist tout it as one of New York City's best Music Venues. “From the beginning, opening the Mercury Lounge, it was all about the stage and the music — for the band, for the people coming to see the bands,” Michael Swier says. “Whether it's the sound system, the acoustic treatment, the way the band sounds to themselves onstage, the sightlines — it was all about that. That reputation of building really good clubs and treating both bands and patrons with the respect they deserve and putting the focus on that kind of grew out of those things."
The Bowery Ballroom is namesake of Joan Baez's Bowery Songs album, recorded live at the Bowery Ballroom on November 6, 2004. It also appears in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly as well as the 2008 film Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.
