The Charleston ceasing live music in the basement

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Rorschach at The Charleston (more by Ryan Muir)

In a sign of the neighborhood undergoing yet another transformation, the staff of Williamsburg landmark The Charleston have notified me that the basement portion of the bar will cease hosting shows commencing this weekend (it will remain active as a bar).

It’s a sad commentary on the always-diminishing number of spaces that will house punk/metal shows in NYC, especially because of the number of great bands that have blessed that tiny basement since they started having shows down there in the mid-’00s…. Tombs/Kylesa, Unearthly Trance/Coffinworm, Cough/Naam/Batillus, Torche, Weedeater, Hatred Surge/Mammoth Grinder, Iron Age, Graf Orlock, Helms Alee/The Austerity Program, Origin of M, Annihilation Time and possibly my favorite of them all, Rorschach/Hellbastard. Sad to see it go.

Check out videos shot in that tiny basement below.

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Annihilation Time @ The Charleston

Rorschach | NYC @ Charleston | 25 Sep 2009

TORCHE @ The Charleston (Brooklyn, NY) 05-24-2010