I got my first look at the years-in-the-making music venue known at The Wick for a solid triple bill Saturday night.
Hyper-collaborative five-piece The Men (pictured above) headlined the show. Nude Beach and The Obits also played. All three bands have strong ties to Brooklyn.
On an industrial stretch of Meserole in a neighborhood I think most city dwellers would identify as East Williamsburg, The Wick is a big brick building that housed a brewery for much of the 20th century.
The Wick blames a series of fits, starts and delays at the site on red tape in the form of costly, time-consuming efforts to meet code and city permit requirements. Even now with a bunch of legitimate talent booked to play there (Slint, Marnie Stern, A Place to Bury Strangers), The Wick still appears to be struggling to gain footing. Given the competitive landscape, first impressions can be important for a venue trying to break in.
When I walked in, I asked for a Bud at what appeared to be the venue’s lone bar, a makeshift setup outside the main performance space. The friendly bartender said the only beer options were Stella Artois and Coors Light. I got a Stella. Six bucks. Nude Beach had just started. The volume was blistering even in the back of the room which I’m ok with. But some live music fans can’t handle that kinda loud. If I had to choose between too loud and not loud enough, I’ll take the too loud and put plugs in my ears. This was as loud as I recall a rock show at a venue of this size (official capacity 550). The sound was good not great. It must be tough gaining sweet sound containment given all the brick and the massive height of the ceilings. A partition to the audience’s right cuts off a big chunk of the main floor. I can’t tell for sure if it’s permanent.
When I went back to the bar for another Stella, the bartender said all he had left was Coors Light. That’s a no-go item for me so I asked for a gin and tonic. I wandered around the premises looking for another place to get a beer but couldn’t find any. A sister bar touting the availability of hundreds of beer brands did not appear to be open.
Getting to the bathroom requires a hike down – and then up narrow steel staircases out in the backyard. A bright unisex common area with sinks and mirrors leads to big gender-specific toilet rooms that are clean and spacious. Some may complain about the chore of reaching the bathroom but I liked the fact you didn’t have to wait in line as you often do at DIY venues. It was raining Saturday night so attendees were forced to brave the elements on that bathroom trip but it wasn’t a big deal. The concern would be for people with limited mobility.
The Wick’s beer problem is probably the easiest aspect of the experience to remedy. You gotta have more than Coors Light at a big rock show on a Saturday night in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. Late in the evening, the bartender said he had tapped a keg of Shiner which was cool. But then when I went back for a final round to close the night, he said Shiner was gone too.
Admission was $14. It’s a pretty quick and safe walk down Meserole to Union to catch the G at Broadway. Ten minutes at the most.
I don’t like to go to nude beaches but I do like Nude Beach the band. I first saw them two years ago at Glasslands. They opened for The Babies that night. The last song of their set at The Wick was an extended powerhouse. Nude Beach’s next record is due later this year on Don Giovanni. Sohrab from the Obits wore a WFMU t-shirt and manned his band’s merch table after their set. The Men were great – and didn’t seem to be bothered by a crowd that was kinda low in the enthusiasm/excitement department. If I were Greenberg, Perro and company, I would have shelved the encore off the lame failure of the audience to show appreciation at the end of the main set.
On Sunday, I went to the Johnnies baseball game here in Queens.
St. John’s vs. Creighton.
Both teams were 11-3 in the league and tied for first place in the Big East headed into the contest. This was the rubber match of a three-game set. FS1 carried the game live on cable TV across the country. St. John’s committed four errors in the first three innings and yielded two long home runs to Creighton’s star centerfielder Mike Gerber. Both blasts were aided by the wind, blowing out to right field, but both would have gone out no matter what. Gerber hit a deep drive to the opposite field top eight. The ball appeared to sail through a wide gap in the LF fence (below the top of it). Kaiser Stadium is a decent facility but the opening in the wall is kinda inexcusable. After a brief debate about the ump’s call putting Gerber on second base, a Creighton fan loudly yelled “Buy a new fence!“ That prompted a Johnnies fan to respond: “Pay for it!“ Creighton won 15-5 in a game that took three and half hours to complete. The win gives Creighton a one game lead in the conference standings with a weekend of regular season games left to be played. The conference tournament will be played on Coney Island this year. The league’s top four teams play a double-elimination bracket starting a week from Thursday. Both Creighton and the Johnnies have clinched spots in that tourney.
Tree pollen is really popping here this spring. Up until about five years ago I never really suffered much from springtime allergies except for a few days on the Derby trip to Louisville. But it seems like blooming season during each of the last five or six years in NYC has become progressively worse for me with the sneezing and runny eyes. As I sit here at the moment, I’m kind of a mess. My head feels like a bowling ball. I went to the 24-hour Walgreen’s down the street early this morning for over-the-counter relief. The allergy med rack was ransacked. Packages of opened Claritin were strewn all over the place. Allegra was on sale so I got a box and hope it helps.