South Brooklyn metal dive Lucky 13 to relocate, become kickass new venue
by Scab Casserole
Melody Henry serving a drink @ Lucky 13 in 2007
South Slope heavy metal watering hole Lucky 13 is leaving its namesake address. Formerly located at 13th Street and Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, the headbanger’s dive is relocating to 644 Sackett Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues, where it’ll have a bar in front and a full live stage in back.
“The rent is too damn high, for one,” says co-owner Melody Henry of the motives behind the move. “With the new place, we can get more space, and we move away from people. I don’t want to upset neighbors anymore. At this new location, we have no one living around us.”
Melody promises the feel of the original bar in the front-horror movie and heavy metal paraphernalia as far as the eye can see, soft-core ninja porno on the TV-but is most excited to see bands play Lucky 13 on a real stage, in addition to even more live burlesque and pole dancing (a staple of the current location).
“When we first opened Lucky 13, I knew it was a little small to have shows, but we made it happen with what we had,” says Melody. “Cerebral Bore played at Lucky 13! That was awesome, but sometimes it got a little scary, because we had guys diving off the bar. I’m really excited to have shows again. The new space used to be a five-truck garage, and we’re leaving a lot of that industrial feel. Jeff [Blanchard, co-owner] bought some awesome doors that once belonged to a church, so that’s going to be the front-these massive church doors. It’s going to be bigger, better, more awesome, more noise.”
the new space
Building your bar (a second time-Jeff and Melody built the original Lucky 13 themselves in 2003) is expensive as fuck, so keep your eyes peeled for a crowdsourcing campaign to help aid Lucky 13’s relocation. Big contributors will get a special place of honor at the new location: “We don’t own the jukebox from the original bar,” says Melody, “so we might have it that our biggest contributors get to pick a CD for the new bar’s jukebox as a prize.”
Stay tuned for more info as things progress. Meanwhile, go have a drink at 273 13th Street while they’re still open. Read more in the Daily News, and check out more pictures and some videos below…
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Lewd and Lucky Burlesque, Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
The old space
A typical night at Lucky 13
Building the new bar
SPOTLIGHT: Lucky 13 Saloon in Brooklyn on Metal Injection
