A first look at new venue Brooklyn Made (Geese played their opening party)
New Bushwick venue Brooklyn Made officially opens at 428 Troutman St on Thursday with a solo show by Jeff Tweedy, but a lot of people got a first look at the venue on Tuesday night at an opening party featuring buzzy new Brooklyn indie rock band Geese (not to be confused with buzzy Connecticut jam band Goose).
Brooklyn Made feels designed to be a place you hang out in addition to seeing shows. There’s a lounge area with a pool table just outside the main show room, two outdoor areas including a roof deck with nice views of the Manhattan skyline. There will be a cafe in the daytime and brunches with vinyl DJs on the weekends. It’s even nicer for the artists who play there, with a private pool and loft apartment. Sadly, we didn’t get to check those out.
Bathrooms, located at a few points on the main floor, are single person and genderless. They are also handle-less, inside with motion-activated sinks and stainless steel toilets that seem built to be destruction-proof.
The performance room holds 500 people, is wider than it is deep and felt pretty comfortable Tuesday night watching Geese, though three large support columns are going to be a problem for some (or perhaps bring back memories of venues past like Tramps or DC’s original 9:30 Club). It’s one of the nicer looking medium sized rooms in NYC, with ornate lighting fixtures, and a distinctive latticework stage backdrop that should be soon be instantly recognizable in photos, much like Baby’s All Right and Elsewhere are.
Geese did their best to engage the crowd who were mainly there to check out the venue, hobnob, schmooze and enjoy the open bar and passed hors d’oeuvres (a preview of the cafe’s menu). They played what seemed like most of their upcoming album, Projector, and engaged in a little rock n’ roll behavior — guitarist Foster Hudson christened the stage by smashing his guitar at the end of their set, and smashing a chunk of the plexiglass drum shield in the process.
Check out pics from Brooklyn Made’s opening party below.
Upcoming Brooklyn Made shows include Okkervil River’s Will Sheff and Damien Jurado (10/6), Spirit of the Beehive (10/7, sold out), Turnover/Widowspeak (10/11 – 10/13), Band of Horses (10/18 – 10/20), Tigers Jaw (10/21), The Mountain Goats (10/25 – 10/27, sold out), Whitney (11/2 – 11/4, sold out), Drugdealer (11/11), Luna (11/13), Real Estate Days 10th anniversary performances (11/22 & 11/23), The Dream Syndicate (12/4) and more.
Barely a block from the Jefferson L stop, Brooklyn Made joins what is becoming a real live music hub, with Elsewhere, Brooklyn Mirage, The Sultan Room, and House of Yes all within walking distance (not to mention multiple popular restaurants/bars and an Artichoke).
Check out Brooklyn Made’s calendar for upcoming shows.
