wonders-of-nature
Wonders of Nature

Andy from Cake Shop booking new venue Wonders of Nature (Bridget St John, Kath Bloom, more upcoming shows)

Cake Shop closed on New Year’s Day 2017 and now owners Andy Bodor and Nick Bodor have new, very different places. Andy, who booked Cake Shop, is behind the booking at Wonders of Nature which is just a couple blocks West on Grand St from his old spot Bruar Falls. It takes over the 131 Grand address that was most recently clam bar Little Neck, but before that was BAD Burger, Passout Records and, for those who remember early-’00s Williamsburg, the storied Free Store.

Wonders of Nature Looks pretty much the same as Little Neck (whose Aaron Lefkove and Andy Curtin, remain owners here), but there’s a little stage now and they’ve been hosting the occasional show for a couple months now, mostly non-amplified stuff, leaning towards folk and experimental music. (There is almost a Zebulon type vibe to it.) Right now they’re only open when there are shows and this weekend has UK cult artist Bridget St John and Galen Ayers (daughter of Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers) on Friday (2/9, tickets);  weirdo folk legend/guitar-bender Eugene Chadbourne with Shelley Hirsch, David Watson, and Talibam! on Saturday (2/10); and the great Karl Blau on Sunday (2/11).

Other notable shows coming up at Wonders of Nature:  Hamish Kilgour (The Clean) w/ Alison Kendra Hunt on 2/16 which is a free show: indie pop acts Pale Lights, My Teenage Stride and The Jeanines on 2/24; Matt Valentine (of MV & EE) with guitar great Loren Connors + Alexander on 2/28; The Flag and Courtship Ritual on March 15; TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone on April 29; and folk icon Kath Bloom on May 19. Check out Wonders of Nature’s event schedule for more details.

Meanwhile, Nick Bodor (who co-owns Kind Regards which took over Cake Shop’s locale) is one of the owners of Jasper’s Regret in Chelsea which is in the same space that housed infamous celeb hangout Suede in the early ’00s. (The other principal at Jasper’s Regret is Ray LeMoine whose background is considerably more infamous/controversial.) It’s named for artist Jasper Johns who lived in the Chelsea Hotel (which is across the street). The 200 capacity club opened this week, just in time for Fashion Week where, according to the Daily News, they’ll hold NYFW performances by Cam’ron and Zaytoven.

UPDATE (2/8): Nick wrote us to say that The Daily News story about Jasper’s Regret was not accurate. He says Ray LeMoine is not a partner and it is not opening this week for Fashion Week. He says he is working on a new project with new partners, but beyond that no details have been announced. He did give us a statement which you can read below:

I have spent 20 plus years building relationships in neighborhood business as diverse as online coffee house, rock club, comedy club, Jukebox bar, kid friendly cafe, record store, children’s hair salon and music programming. My family, business partners, and I have struggled to build great environments for people to hang out and make human connections.

In the 23 years since I co-created with many different amazing partners: alt.coffee, the Library Bar, Cake Shop, Locks n’ Lads and Bruar Falls in my beloved New York City, I had been fortunate to usually know my partners well before we joined forces. But as I progress into new ventures, that is not always the case these days. Sometimes partners disappoint and fall apart before projects are launched, and I am looking forward to making new connections with quality people and continuing to form long lasting partnerships that help me continue to grow a great reputation in the often seedy nightlife business.

We are developing a new club concept for Manhattan in response to all the cookie-cutter, lowest common denominator night clubs. We hope to create an amazing new hybrid space as after-work music discovery lounge, live performances venue for a few hours in the evening and nightly dance parties late night 7 days per week. As we progress and add layers, we are looking forward to providing our neighbors and guests with solid cocktails, interesting food options and quiet basement artist lounge for 50.