Don Hill RIP (photo by Julian Ungano)

Steve Lewis: Don Hill has passed, and a lot of people are getting together to celebrate his life. Since Don Hill went down, there's not as many places where we can all gather. And let's face it, Don Hill owned the place. He booked it, he answered the phones, and, we suppose, at the end of the night swept up the place...Michael T, tell me why you're involved in this event, and what did Don Hill mean to you?

Michael T: I met Don back in the eighties at Cat Club when I was very young. He opened Don Hill's in the early nineties, and I was one of the first persons to perform there. Later, in the second run of Don Hill's, I started to do my party, Rated X, there. It was really the first time that Don and I had worked together on a regular basis. It was super easy. Don was always the same. He was Don. It's so rare in the business to have someone that's just steady, where you know what you're going to get out of him. We had a great working relationship, and a comfortable personal relationship. He was a straight shooter.

Don Hill (RIP) will be remembered December 15th when a band of musicians will gather at Irving Plaza to celebrate his life and legacy. The show features performances from some of the musicians that blessed his night spot including names like Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs), Royston Langdon (Spacehog), David Johansen (NY Dolls), Manitoba, Jesse Malin & the St. Marks Social, Lenny Kaye, The Toilet Boys, and many many others.

At 1am the party turns into Squeezebox. Tickets are still available. Flyer below...

Continue reading "Don Hill tribute happening at Irving Plaza"

Don Hill's (photo via WNYC)

The NY Post reports:

"Just weeks after the sudden death of nightlife fixture Don Hill, his eponymous SoHo club closed its doors for good Monday night. Don Hill's was reopened in September by Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny, and on Saturday drew Julia Roberts and Danny Moder for a Tribeca Film Festival after-party for "Jesus Henry Christ." But Khan told Page Six that the one-story building will be turned over to developers. Public records identify the current owners as TriBeCa-based Ponte Equities. Khan said, "After the unexpected passing of Don Hill, there was no doubt in my mind about continuing his legacy by bringing in incredible talent over the last year, such as Iggy and the Stooges, the Kills, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as nurturing younger talent. Don Hill was loved by the community. Unfortunately," he added, the property offered a "moneymaking opportunity unconcerned with preserving Don's legacy. I will be sad to see the doors close as it was such a passion project for me." Ponte Equities didn't return our calls."

According to a 2002 Observer article, Ponte Equities is "one of downtown's oldest family-run landholding companies." I don't know or understand completely what the contractual/owner relationship was between Don, Nur, Paul and Ponte Equities, but Eater adds:

"The rock and roll club never seemed to break through a very crowded marketplace, and in an ominous sign, basically skipped Fashion Week when it rolled back around in 2011. Then came the news the Don Hill passed away last month. At a party held that night in his honor, Khan and Sevigny promised those gathered that the party would roll on, but apparently not for long. According to a tipster, the rent hasn't been getting paid and the landlord went and changed the locks, telling the club owners he will be tearing the building down.

Maybe Khan and Sevigny are stretched too thin by running a restaurant and a Los Angeles nightclub. Maybe the landlord was willing to look the other way for his recently deceased longtime tenant on back rent but not the new partners. Or maybe the crowds that once populated the Beatrice Inn, Rose Bar and Sway have moved on and were never replaced."

Right after Don's death, Steve Lewis somewhat predicted this when he wrote...

"In an age where bottle service pays the bills, greed might win out. Paul and Nur will do their best, no doubt, but death brings vulture--types who feed on despair and confusion. They may have other less fabulous ideas about the property. We must support the legacy of Don Hill, and maintain one of the few places in town where guys like him and I could actually hang out. Don Hill was a gentleman, and that's the greatest compliment I have about a fellow."

R.I.P. Don and Don Hill's.

Don Hill (photo by Julian Ungano)

As tweeted by Moby (see above) and many other notable club veterans, and confirmed to me via a call to Don Hill's who said there is a memorial tonight (3/31) at the club (toast at midnight), nightclub owner and legend Don Hill has sadly passed away. Though details are scarce at the moment, some on Twitter are saying he was "found dead in his apartment" "this morning". Update: someone seemingly in the know says: "He passed away at the hospital. Not in his apartment. It was this evening around 7, not this morning." And Bebe Buell adds (in reaction to the last minute midnight toast), "Don's actual memorial will be the biggest coming together of all the people he has helped+supported-those of us who loved him+knew him well." Stay tuned for more info.

Murray Hill calls it the end of an era. Miss Guy says he was the nicest person in nightlife. Justine D agrees. I didn't know him personally, but I always liked seeing him hanging around his club that shared his name. He opened Don Hill's in the early 90's and before that managed the East Village's Cat Club (David Bowie & Peter Frampton played there in 1987). "American Hardcore" author Steven Blush (who also worked at Don Hill's) once wrote...

" I booked [GG Allen] at the Cat Club. His most infamous part of the show is to shit on the stage and throw it at the crowd and got thrown out. I got written up in the Village Voice for the show that I had put on. The irony, of course, is that the manager of the Cat Club was Don Hill and I couldn't work any more at that club after that but we always remained friendly....

...Don Hill is the best club owner in New York. After the Cat Club, when that closed, a couple of years later, Don did what he was supposed to do, which was own his own club. Don has the support of the whole club community of the local neighborhood which is unheard of for clubs. The clubs got a great reputation. Sometimes I wish we were bigger and trashier, but then we wouldn't be Don Hill's."

As posted back in August 2010 when it was announced that Don Hill's was closing for renovations, Steve Lewis wrote...

"Don Hill's was born in April 1993 to much flag waving, fanfare and hoopla. The Smithereens set the tone that night and it has since become a virtual rock and roll hall of fame. Don has booked the joint, hired staff, run day to day and night to night operations, he's answered the phones and I suspect that on some nights he swept out the joint. He will now be joined by superheroes Nur Khan and Paul Sevigny. They will come in with mad skills, new energy and cash to redux the place. They will merge with Don to create more of the same but even better."

Since re-opening with the new partners on board, the club has in fact been the scene of many high profile and hard to get into events, most notably a fashion week show by Iggy Pop. According to Nur Khan, they also "had LCD Soundsystem booked," but "there were complications with production and stage size so we were unable to do the gig." There were rumors this week that the Strokes would do a show there before or after their sold out gig at MSG (I haven't been able to prove those rumors though, or the show fell through).

R.I.P. Don Hill (both of them)

Continue reading "Don Hill, RIP"