New York Reconnaissance Mission!

[Eamo]

I was at my very first gig at the Nokia Theater last night, and just wanted to post a few of my observations for everyone or anyone to see ...
Its a fantastic venue, state of the art, only opened last September. Staff are all very friendly, and I told them they won't know what's happened to them when The Pogues hit town around St.Paddy's Day!

As is common in most places, if you want to drink, you need to show a photo id to prove you are over 21, and they put a wrist band on you. The most ridiculous thing is that they have a "one drink per wrist band" rule, which means you can only buy one drink per visit to the bar ... never, in all my days have I heard of such a thing!

Drinkwise, they have no draught beer, just bottles and cans which they usually pour into a plastic cup. Domestic beers like Budweiser were $6 a pop, and imported beers, Guinness, Heineken, Red Stripe were $7. They have a very good selection of spirits/liquors, mostly top shelf stuff like Jameson, Jack Daniels, Hennessy, Grey Goose, Stoli, Absolut etc. Your mixed drink/cocktail will cost you from $8-$10. My Absolut and Redbull(s) cost me $10 for example.

I know some people have been asking about bringing children to the shows. Last night I did notice two kids aged 12-14, even though my show was listed as 16 and over.

The show I was at was about 75% full, although I'm sure they had planned for 100%. The place holds 2100 people. The front section (about 40%) closest to the stage was a general admission standing area, with two VIP balconies on either side. Behind this was another standing room only area (30%) raised above the front floor section, and the remaining 30% was elevated stadium style seating. Seemed like a perfect set up to me, you can go nuts at the front, hang out in the middle, or chill out in the seats!

Bars nearby include O'Lunney's and Connolly's on 45th St, Rosie O'Grady's on 46th and the Pig n Whistle on 47th, all just east of Times Square, between 6th and 7th Avenues. I have never been to the first three, but on my few visits to the Pig n Whistle I have always had a good time. A quick quiz of the barman last night at the P n W revealed that a pint of Budweiser, Coors etc. costs $5, a pint of Guinness, Heineken etc. costs $6, a vodka and coke costs $5.50 and my Absolut and Redbull cost me $7.50.

While these bars will certainly serve their purpose on gig nights, please bear in mind that this is a major tourist area, and if you are visiting New York, I hope you travel further afield to experience many of the fantastic bars and restaurants the city has to offer. And no, I don't work for the tourist board!

One last thing to remember is that Paddy's Day in NYC is absolute silly season, there will probably be queues/lines outside every bar all day. If you are going to The Pogues show that night, telling your friends for example "I'll meet you in O'Lunney's at 7pm", might not be quite as easy as it sounds!

Hope some of this helps.

Have Fun!

[Eric V]

Outstanding mission, Eamo.

[Eamo]

Its a tough job, but someone's gotta do it!

[georgecat]

Excellent, thanks so much!!

[anfield boy]

Cheers!

[carol]

Awright, it seems like some of us in the DC area oughtta do a similar write-up of the 9:30 Club...

[Caukill]

Hell, i'm not even going to the N.Y. shows but thats a pretty good guide as to what to expect . You gotta love this board for the people who come here.

[dublinrambler]

fair play to ye! flogging molly are playing there next week sometime....

[georgecat]

Awright, it seems like some of us in the DC area oughtta do a similar write-up of the 9:30 Club...

There have actually been some wonderful, helpful people that have posted novels about the area. I've been there and the few things I can tell you about it is that parking is a pain, (next to a college so adds to the pain) the venue is a good small-big sized so they're going to sound fabulous. (duh?) The venue is in a strange sort of round layout so there is not a bad view of the stage in the place. No where to sit, don't remember how much drinks are, but NO Guinness is served. I'm hoping it will be specially brought if for the week, which is possible. They have odd local brews, which are tastey, but it's still not Guinness. There are 3 great bars I can think of a block away that have Guinness.

[carol]

I've posted info on the 9:30 Club and its neighborhood, but I guess I was thinking that we should perhaps consolidate the various bits & pieces so that people coming from outta the area, or people unfamiliar with the neighborhood can find info easily without searchin' various threads for it.

The info you've thrown in is useful, but I'll comment that there is seating available, but it's bleacher-style seating on the balcony-like second floor. There's plenty of this seating available, but I wouldn't call it "comfortable" seating by any stretch o' the imagination. As is the case on the floor, you'll have a decent view of the stage from pretty much anywhere on the second floor.

[WesE]

I’ve never been to the current location of the 9:30 Club, but I’d read that they have their own private parking section there. Is that no longer available, or is it really small, or what? Anyone know?

[carol]

I’ve never been to the current location of the 9:30 Club, but I’d read that they have their own private parking section there. Is that no longer available, or is it really small, or what? Anyone know?

Yes, they have a parking lot. I've seldom used it and can't easily gauge how many cars it holds. It's definitely still available.

This is one of the things that's been discussed elsewhere, but if you're going on the Thursday, 3/9 show, it's unlikely that you can see the full show (because doors open at 10:00PM) and take Metro home. If you're going on Friday, Metro runs late, and it may be easiest to just take Metro to the U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial Station (on the Green line) and walk the approximately 2.5 blocks (from the Vermont Avenue exit of the station) to the 9:30 Club.

[Eric V]

This is one of the things that's been discussed elsewhere, but if you're going on the Thursday, 3/9 show, it's unlikely that you can see the full show (because doors open at 10:00PM)

What carol says above is really important stuff. I quoted only part of it because I'd like to hear from someone in-the-know about how the club and/or the band will deal with this. I'm thinking its going to be sad to be standing in line waiting to pick up my will-call tickets hearing Streams of Whiskey playing inside. I'll get there early, but if doors open at 10:00, and a large chunk of 1000+ people are in line for will-call tickets, its going to be frustrating.

[Paddy Rolling Clone]

Good man Eamo, what was the gig? Any good?

[Eric V]

Here is a link to an excellent resource. That's the 930 Club in the middle (three large light colored things on roof, probably AC/vents), and the parking lot is to its north. You can toggle between a map and a satelite image, as well as pan around and zoom in and out. The imagery is lower quality once you get away from major metro areas, and in certain countries the maps are not very dense, but I did take a look around London the other day and found the image and map quality excellent.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.918172,-77.023559&spn=0.001745,0.002865&t=k