New York's Famous Music Venues Through the Years

There is a saying: when one door closes, another door opens. Keeping that little idiom in mind New York might be the most dynamic city in the world when you consider how new shops, businesses, restaurants and clubs are always opening somewhere. But as the saying goes, one venue must close for another to then open. With the upcoming film CBGB set to be released later this year we're taking a brief look at a handful of some of New York's most iconic music clubs, beginning of course with none other than CBGBs: CBGB | 315 Bowery on Bleecker Stret, Manhattan - The original "CBGBs" was the mecca for the world's punk, rock and art set circles. Unfortunately the landmark club shut its doors permanently in October of 2006. The venue was so iconic that the original awning that hung overhead the club's entrance is now on display at the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Today a John Varvatos outlet store operates in its place. Coney Island High | 15 St. Mark's Place, Manhattan - Formerly located in Manhattan's East Village Coney Island was a popular spot in the 1990s for the local punk rock scene. The locale was demolished sometime in the early 2000s to make way for a condominium. Brownies | 169 Avenue A, Manhattan - Brownies was briefly a spot of some significance in the East Village during the early 2000s as it played host to a number of the decades up-and-coming indie rock bands. The Strokes, Interpol and Liars are all groups that took to the stage at Brownies. Sadly, Brownies closed down in 2002 before it could ever etch itself into immortality like some of the other locations included on this list - though it didn't help matters that it would take anywhere between 15-30 minutes for one's ordered drink to arrive. Oh well. Southpaw | 125 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn - Southpaw just closed as of last year to make way for an after-school "nyk!dsclub." Though there wasn't any happy hour at Southpaw, the location was certainly always a place you'd find hipster, proto-hipsters and anti-hipsters alike in the ten years it was around. Talent was never in short supply at Southpaw either. Acts such as Big Daddy Kane, Joan Jett, Slick Rick and Devendra Banhardt all had shows at Southpaw. Studio 54 | 254 West 54th Street - New York's world renowned Studio 54 could make the claim that it was once the most well known night spot on the face of the Earth. In the late 70s and early 80s Studio 54 was the after hours destination of everyone from Jack Nicholson and Sly Stallone to Reggie Jackson and Gloria Vanderbilt. Still known as the "Stuido 54 Building" today, it is now the home to a theater, the Mandle School and Olivtree Securities, to name but a few of its tenants. via BF