The Mysterious “Baker Falls”: Pyramid Club’s Next Chapter?
Last August was the closing night of a small Williamsburg music venue that had that thing– that magic. When the Knitting Factory said goodbye, I wrote a little piece on the space and the sacredness of protecting these rooms for the groovement, only to find that months later it was edited to include a little note at the bottom:
As of 11.23.22, we learned from Brooklyn Vegan that Nick Bodor of Cake Shop and Bruar Falls has purchased the former Pyramid Club space at 101 Avenue A in Manhattan and plans to open a Rock-focused live music venue there in collaboration with The Knitting Factory. The target opening is March 2023.
Woah. The Pyramid Club?? In a desire to stay up to date, I found myself on a landing page to find a story about an astronaut coming upon an overgrown estate to find “the best party in the world.” I also found an Insta page filled with random, mid-quality photos of branches, trees, and gray wood.
This until recently. On Instagram: buds, moss. And on the landing page: “The Baker Dispatch” and a feature in NY Mag.
In the first Baker Dispatch entry, we got, at quite the relief, a bit of insight into the venue to come, including an ode to what was:
We will be inspired by the spirits of the space where RuPaul, Lady Bunny, and other beings of the night lurked under the floorboards, crafting their looks before hitting the stage for their first drag shows…where Andy Warhol hosted transmissions on MTV…where Madonna and Keith Haring rubbed elbows—and other body parts—with the downtown punks…and where Nirvana played their first New York show cheered on by Iggy Pop—it was a legendary night, but the band felt it went so badly, bassist Krist Novoselic shaved his head out of shame…
More recently, some photos popped up of the progress of renovations. Almost unsettlingly routine for the reality of what existed there. If memories have ghosts, I can’t imagine how it must feel to interact with those that live there. In the post read:
I just kept wondering how The Pyramid had become this: a nondescript afterthought of a dance club… What happened to The Pyramid’s prime as one of the few cultural gathering places where there were no judgments? Everyone was welcome. And all things considered to be on stage…
To which I thought: many things make a space. And sometimes the space itself is shockingly far down the list. What is very high? The people– the energy they bring, their hopes and dreams, their presence, interactions, intentions, their kindness, or lack thereof. Then, music… definitely music, and to what extent it meets them at those aforementioned vibrations. A million other things make a space. Of course, Nick Bodor doesn’t need anyone to tell him this, but it got me thinking.
Part of what made Pyramid and even the Knitting Factory BK so great is that they offered these safe little breeding grounds where a corner of creative culture could experiment and indulge and flourish and totally coat the walls with expressions of their time and place. It’s why when we think of Pyramid, we can only really think of it in that time– it’s time.
New breath in a legendary space– one that centers on music, inclusivity, and expression– is in general a great new page if you have to turn it. Because, unlike a Blank Street or a TJ’s, we get to kind of have a hand in deciding what to make of this space. The new movers and shakers. You, music lover, creative spirit, kindness spreader, expressive, complicated human, and vehicle of social/cultural movement.
And I know that is a hopeful statement… but I do. I hope it’s special.
