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"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Beets fans? (@ Don Hill's)

As Bill pointed out, "The Beets kick off their winter tour at 285 Kent, with German Measles, Beach Arabs and Big Troubles. Their second LP, Stay Home, came out last month on Captured Tracks and is quite good and a slight step up the fidelity ladder from their debut." That tour-kickoff show happens tonight (2/17). The poster for it, all dates, and more pictures from a Fashion week show they played the other night at Don Hill's (it was the Rebecca Turbow Fall 2011 Presentation and and the DJ's were Peggy Wang of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Connor Hanwick of the Drums), below...

Continue reading "The Beets played a fashion show (pics), kicking off tour w/ German Measles @ 285 Kent tonight (dates)"

Tamaryn @ Coco66 during CMJ (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Anything good going on at Don Hill's this week for Fashion Week? Remember who they had playing there last Fashion Week?

As previously mentioned, (the fashionable) Tamaryn is coming to town to play PS1 on 2/19 (a couple of months before she returns as part of her tour with the Raveonettes), but now that will be her 2nd NYC happening in February. On the 17th she'll be playing a proper show (their "only solo show in Manhattan for the rest of this year") at Don Hill's with Religious to Damn (who she also collaborates with) and DJ Jeralyn. Fashion week will be over by then. More details and tour dates below...

Continue reading "Tamaryn adds Don Hill's show (after Fashion Week)"

photos by Leia Jospe

No Age @ Don Hill's

No Age paid a visit to NYC on Friday for not one, but two Skateboarding-related shows. Earlier in the evening they played on the halfpipe at KCDC Skateshop in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Later that night, they played an Ooga Booga-presented free show at Don Hill's in Manhattan with Bubbles, Allies, No Fear and Rat King. Ooga Booga is a California surf and skate shop.

No Age went on around midnight at Don Hill's, were backed by visuals, and played for about an hour. In Leia's words, "during the show the bouncer would come into the crowd and grab people and tell them to stop dancing. After awhile he just stood in the middle of the crowd glaring at everyone if they bobbed their heads." DJ Total Freedom played after No Age for the rest of the party.

More pictures from Don Hill's and a video and picture from KCDC, below...

Continue reading "No Age played skate parties @ KCDC & Don Hill's (pics & video) "

by BBG

No Age at Death By Audio (more by Keith Marlowe)

The last time No Age was in NYC was eight weeks ago on September 18th, when the band played Music Hall of Williamsburg. Before that, the band played two shows on a Sunday on July 25th, seven weeks before that, at a Pool Party (which was moved to Brooklyn Bowl) and a later show with Universal Order of Armageddon at Death By Audio. Now the band is back for more, having scheduled two NYC shows for this Friday (11/12). First, they'll make a 7PM appearance at KCDC Skateshop followed by a late night appearance at Don Hill's with Bubbles, Allies, No Fear, and Rat King. The Don Hill's show pops off at 8PM.

The shows will kick off a new round of tour dates that will last through November and land them back on the left coast in early December. Full tour dates, video, and a show flyer are all below.

Continue reading "No Age playing 2 NYC shows Friday, touring (dates) "

Crystal Castles @ Don Hill's - 9/12/10 (Nat Ma for Dirty Durty Diary)

So just to recap, the now-renovated Don Hill's reopened for Fashion Week and so far has hosted private shows with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on Thursday, Iggy Pop and The Stooges on Friday, Courtney Love and Hole on Saturday, and (as you can see above) Crystal Castles on Sunday. I'm not sure what happened on Monday, but someone just told me the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing there tonight/Tuesday. The Dead Weather played pre-renovation.

Video of Courtney Love covering Lady Gaga on Saturday below...

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing Don Hill's tonight? (Crystal Castles played Sunday) (Courtney Love was Saturday)"

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played the Fashion Week party at Don Hill's on Thursday. Iggy Pop and The Stooges played there Friday, and according to the above Tweet by Eli Mizrahi, Courtney Love is playing there tonight.

Eli's Tweet also reminds us that tonight is the John Varvatos's 10th Anniversary party in the store previously known as CBGB. There will be a concert from: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. Supposedly confirmed performers include Alejandro Escovedo, Alice Cooper, Wayne Kramer, Ian Hunter, ZZ Top, Black Country Communion, Camp Freddy, Cherie Currie, Darling Stillettos, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social, and Perry Farrell . Rumored performers include Iggy Pop and (thanks John) Robert Plant (who plays Bowery Ballroom Sunday).

Who else is playing fashion week parties tonight?

Miike Snow pics by Alexander Stein

"Fashion Week mosh pit! Iggy on stage at Don's Hills = mayhem" - cutblog

"This is what it's like on the other side@perryfarrell when JA does their Small club show!" - Etty Farrell

Iggy Pop @ Don Hill's Friday night (mikenouveau)


Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow @ the Theory store Friday night

The Stooges ended up playing a Pop Magazine party at Don Hill's on Friday night. Whether or not they also show up at Varvatos this weekend remains to be seen. Speaking of Varvatos, did anyone end up getting their picture taken by Mick Rock or see any good shows on Fashion's Night Out?

Metric played Juicy Couture' Fifth Avenue Flagship store as a two-piece. They covered "The End Has No End" by The Strokes (who are playing their own fashion week party). A video of that, and more pictures of Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt DJing at the Theory store, below...

Continue reading "Iggy Pop played Don Hill's, Metric covered the Strokes @ Juicy Couture, Miike Snow DJ'd Theory (pics & video) "

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

There's not much else that can be said here about Sheffield's indiepop trio, Standard Fare. Bill Pearis has written, and gushed, extensively about the band on the occasion of their two forays to the States (the first included a successful turn at SXSW in March.) Their current tour, which had two stops in New York last week, including Friday night (8/6) at the Mondo Indie Dance Party, concludes with a slot at Athens Popfest on Thursday. The band return to England for more touring and an eye toward the follow up to their excellent debut, The Noyelle Beat.

Pics from their Don Hill's set on August 6th, as well as video and a setlist are below...

Continue reading "Standard Fare played Don Hill's (pics, video, setlist) "

photos by KILLDISCO DESIGN

"dead weather @ don hills an awesome, sweaty mess" - Stuart Willson

The Dead Weather kicked off their set at the invite-only show at Don Hill's last night right around the same time they were appearing on Letterman, and one night after they headlined a public show in Prospect Park.

On Letterman they played "Blue Blood Blues" with most of the focus, vocals and camera work, on drummer (and vocalist) Jack White. TV viewers seeing the band for the first time may have thought Allison was just the band's tambourine player (and backup singer and keyboard and guitar player). At Don Hill's they played to a beyond packed and sweaty and smoking and wasted crowd. One friend who got in told me it was "scary and dangerous but pretty sweet".

The Don Hill's show was billed as "pre-renovation", but the club is not closing yet. There's a show there tonight, and another one on Friday that will feature a set by Standard Fare (who play Bruar Falls tonight). In fact, there's a bunch of stuff on the club's schedule for this whole month.

More pictures from the Don Hill's show & the Letterman video below...

Continue reading "the Dead Weather played Letterman (video) & a private show (pics) at Don Hill's (which isn't closing yet) "

"...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. Nur is famous for his stadium act showcases in what essentially is an over-sized living room over at Rose Bar. He will now have a mid-size venue to accommodate his vision and connections. Nur and I talked about the Don Hill space being perfect for him over a year ago. I floated the idea past Don Hills honcho Nicki Camp last July and I am as pleased as punch that a deal has been finalized. Nur is partnered up with my own personal Jesus, Paul Sevigny at Kenmare and together they will bring their unparalleled talents to this venture. The inclusion of Don into the mix is brilliant. I caught up with Paul and asked him if I could finally write about this and he spewed info at me at a thousand words a minute. I got some of it.

The essentials are that they will renovate. Thousands of rock and roll shows have worn the place out. Rock and roll has a tendency to do that--take a look at a recent shot of Keith Richards. I told Paul that I heard from a second source about this love-in and therefore I should be allowed to tell my loyal readers the good news. Paul agreed and gushed info at me. He's wanted to talk about this for a while and is uber-excited. "We're adding 5 bathrooms and seating, we're going to fix it up." I tried to take notes but it was hopeless. He was particularly excited to reboot the traditional all-ages Sunday rock shows. He told me to expect 2 or 3 big rock and roll shows a month. I know enough not to ask him if this will be the new Beatrice. Paul would have said Beatrice was Beatrice and this is Don Hills and why do people ask that and then he would have mumbled, laughed to himself and made sly, snide side comments--a bit like loveable Popeye." [Steve Lewis]

The Dead Weather, in addition to appearing on Letterman tonight, will play an invite-only "pre-renovation show" at Don Hill's tonight (Wed, August 4,9:30 pm - 4:00 am). Last night they played what ended up being a sold out show in Prospect Park.

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Leaving Mornington Crescent

"The fourth annual NYC Popfest, which ran from Thursday [May 20th] through Sunday [May 23], consisted of five showcases featuring more than 30 bands, mostly those that adhered to a few key tenets: summery, lo-fi, melodic, twee, nonconfrontational. This was indie-pop in the vein of the late 1980s through the mid-'90s, a mode that has been creeping back into fashion as part of a broader full-scale pop revivalism in indie rock.

From Best Coast to Dum Dum Girls to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart to Vivian Girls to Strange Boys and beyond, pop is ascendant once again, especially the sort with debts to clean-cut '50s rock and girl-group pop and soul." [NY Times]

It's been almost a month since NYC PopFest happened, and we actually already posted a set of pictures from the first night at Cake Shop back then. BUT, like the NY Times, Dominick, who got the flu right after the fest, was also on hand. His pictures from the first two days, now finally ready for posting, continue below...

Continue reading "NYC PopFest Day 1 & 2 in pics (belated pics) "

(photo by Daniel Lee)

After appearing at their Broadway musical on Thursday, the members of Green Day played a pair of NYC shows as Foxboro Hot Tubs, their garage rock side-project, at Don Hills (April 23rd) and Bowery Electric (last night, April 25th).

At Don Hills, the band played a set of their Foxboro Hot Tubs songs, including a new one called "It's Fuck Time." They also did Green Day songs "Blood, Sex and Booze" and "St. Jimmy," and covers that included "I Fought the Law" and "A Quick One While He's Away."

Bowery Electric hosts a "secret" show with Devotchka on Tuesday.

Videos from the shows and a set list are below...

Continue reading "Foxboro Hot Tubs aka Green Day played covers, FBHT songs & some Green Day ones @ 2 small NYC shows "

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Freddie and the Trojan Horse (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - The Worst Taste in Music (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - A Window (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Pulling Our Weight (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Why Won’t You Talk About It? (MP3)

The Radio Dept.

"The Friday night show at Don Hill's was advertised as a "warm-up show" but it was hardly a dry run. [The Radio Dept.'s] eight-song set ran over half an hour - a full showcase at some festivals - and even though they had no drummer, no bassist and played over a significant amount of pre-recorded backing tracks - usually things that'd put me right off - they still grabbed the heartstrings. It's the songs. It didn't matter how they did it, but they came off with all the beautiful melancholy the records carried without sounding like a karaoke act. Favouring the cleaner sonic aesthetic of their more recent works, both Martin Carlberg and Johan Duncanson reproduced their surprisingly intricate guitar parts flawlessly, Carlberg's vocals were resonant with yearning and resignation and the feeling of being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket of sound very much in effect. True, their onstage charisma was nearly non-existent - they seemed awkward and uncertain how to respond to the enthusiasm of the audience - but even that fit perfectly with their persona." [Chromewaves]

Day Two of NYC Popfest (Friday, May 15, 2009) moved from local and stateside bands to The Scandavian countries. Sweden's The Radio Dept. (in a warm-up to their headlining show the next day) and Lichtenstein both performed ahead of the excellent Cats On Fire. Cats' lead-singer, Mattias Björkas, looks like David Bowie, sounds eerily like Morrissey and coyingly moves and postures like Rhett Miller. Their set at Don Hill's put everyone in a proper mood for the Mondo indie dance party that followed. Early on, local-boy Don Lennon and L.A.'s The Tartans also performed.

Cats on Fire and Lichtenstein shared a bill again, last night (5/19) at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn. More pictures and videos from the Don Hill's show below...

Continue reading "NYC Popfest - night 2 pics & video (The Radio Dept, Cats on Fire, Lichtenstein & more...) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Freddie and the Trojan Horse (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - Why Won't You Talk About It? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Radio Dept - The Worst Taste in Music (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Liechtenstein - Stalking Skills (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cats on Fire - Letters from a Voyage to Sweden (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Burning Hearts - I Lost My Color Vision (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Computer Perfection - The Fool is Hurt (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship - Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (Zip)
DOWNLOAD: The Icicles - La Ti Da (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pants Yell - Magenta and Green (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Smittens - Stop the Bombs! (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eux Autres - When I'm Up (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Knight School - Pregnant Again (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: My Teenage Stride - Ears Like Golden Bats (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Metric Mile - How to Beat the SAT (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Secret History - It's Not the End of the World Jonah (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Ballet - In My Head (MP3)

The Radio Dept

Enigmatic Swedish band The Radio Dept. are to play their first U.S. show since 2003 (which was in San Francisco), as part of the third-annual NYC Popfest which happens this year from May 14 - 17. Whether or not the band will have finished their delayed follow-up to 2005's Pet Grief remains to be seen, but there are lots of folks who've been waiting years for Radio Dept to play here and, so far, the Popfest date is the only one they're doing.

While the Radio Dept will no-doubt be the biggest draw, NYC Popfest has put together a pretty great lineup including a few other notable acts, more Swedes: all-girl trio Liechtenstein, who've put out a bunch of great 7-inches and will have a new EP out on Slumberland in May. We'll also get two bands from Finland: Cats on Fire, who made their U.S. debut at last year's fest; and the lovely synth-acoustic pop of Burning Hearts whose debut album, Aboa Sleeping, was released last month.

North America is well represented as you might expect. Detroit gives us Computer Perfection (who are not synth pop despite the name), and offshoot band Hidden Ghost Ship, whose very good debut album you can download for free. (The link is at the top of this post.) There's also Grand Rapids' The Icicles whose song "La Ti Da" you might know from a Target commercial; Boston's awesome Pants Yell! who were one of my favorites from last year's event; Ohio's The 1959 Hat Company and Afternoon Naps; California brings us L.A.'s The Tartans (12-strings and glockenspeil pop) and San Francisco's Eux Autres (janglepop); Vermont's Smittens (who remind me of '90s indie pop band Small Factory); Athens, GA's great power popppers Casper & the Cookies; Chicago's Very Truly Yours (classic twee pop) and Canada's Rose Melberg.

The bulk of the bands are from NYC, and include: My Teenage Stride whose new Emusic single "Creep Academy" is one of my favorite songs they've ever done; Knight School (who I've written about before); Boy Genius (ditto) and The Secret History (double ditto); plus the newly-quintet-ed The Metric Mile, Soft City, Dream Bitches, The Ballet, Strega, and Don Lennon.

Most of the Popfest shows will happen at Cake Shop, with a Friday night show at Don Hill's in conjunction with Mondo! and the Radio Dept. show at The Bell House. Unlike the two previous years, there's no BBQ/day show at Union Pool. Pricing and that sort of thing hasn't been ironed out yet, but the individual night's lineups are below:

Continue reading "NYC Popfest - 2009 lineup, The Radio Dept. included "