Live Music Returns to Greenwich Village

Since prohibition times at the very least, Greenwich Village has been a center for live music in New York City. As spring-like weather and daylight savings time bring the public out of winter hibernation and COVID-era governmental restrictions are relaxing, several Greenwich Village restaurants are in the process of re-engaging their music programs. A full century after prohibition, Greenwich Village may be experiencing yet another live music renaissance.

Restaurants in New York City will be able to increase from 35% to 50% indoor capacity on March 19. Many of these venues also have had outdoor dining in place since the late spring of 2020. In Greenwich Village, many of these restaurants presented live music to its outdoor diners starting in the summer. A few of the larger restaurants shifted to indoor music in the fall. Increasingly warmer weather will allow smaller restaurants with little or no indoor staging to consider sidewalk concerts 

The live music circuit will soon expand beyond restaurants. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at a press conference in Albany on March 3 that event, arts and entertainment venues in New York State can end a year-long shutdown and reopen beginning April 2. The governor set the following guidelines for these non-restaurant venues.

• event, arts and entertainment venues can reopen at 33% capacity
• venues can host up to 100 people indoors and up to 200 people outdoors
• venues opting for testing can host up to 150 people indoors and 500 people outdoors
• observance of social distancing and face coverings will be necessary at the venues

A few restaurants in Greenwich Village already have been presenting live music. Other venues are now in the process of reopening. A few others may not open until the governmental restrictions are further relaxed.

Live Music Now

Baby Brasa

173 Seventh Avenue South

Baby Brasa, founded in 2016, began having music artists perform for outdoor audiences in the early summer of 2020. The restaurant survived the winter by expanding food and drink service into a massive roadside cabana. Music artists perform at least five nights each week from the center of the cabana.

Vinicius Alves at Baby Brasa on March 11

The Corner Bistro

331 West Fourth Street

Last summer, Chris Campion and his band began performing on the sidewalk of a windy corner on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. The trio survived the winter by wearing extra layers of clothing.

Chris Campion and band outside the Corner Bistro on March 9, 2021

Fiddlesticks Pub

56 Greenwich Avenue

The Marc Devine Trio performs on Wednesdays and the Racketeers perform on Thursdays. The bands play outdoors to diners sitting at tables both on the sidewalk and in a series of roadside tents.

The Racketeers at Fiddlesticks Pub on March 11

The Red Lion

151 Bleecker Street

Long a local music fixture, the Red Lion adapted to pandemic restrictions last summer by having solo vocalist/acoustic guitarists performed in its shuttered doorway to diners seated at tables on the sidewalk and in the roadside seating area. In October, when the state began permitting diners to sit indoors, the music artists also moved inside to the venue's larger stage. The Red Lion closed in December, when the governor stopped indoor dining, and reopened in recent weeks.

Bob & Norm at the Red Lion on March 7, 2021

Groove

126 MacDougal Street

Long known as the home of funk and rhythm and blues, Groove last summer moved its musicians from the stage along the back wall to windows facing the street. For most of the summer and fall, bands and solo artists performed inside the windows for diners on the sidewalk and in a roadside shed. The venue closed in December, reopened on March 4, and is featuring live music again from Wednesdays to Sundays.

Neal Rosenthal x Getic at Groove on March 12

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Returning Soon

Café Wha?

115 MacDougal Street

Cafe Wha? was a folk and rock club through most of the 1960s, then became a restaurant, and returned as a music club in 1987. Last summer, the venue presented live music in the lobby of the adjacent Players Theater to outdoor audiences, and in the fall also reopened its basement space for live rock shows. Both the indoor and outdoor venues shut in early December and will reopen on March 19.

Bryan Stephens at the Cafe Wha? on December 11, 2020

The Bitter End

147 Bleecker Street

"We plan on opening in early April," Paul Rizzo, owner of the Bitter End, told The Manhattan Beat. The Bitter End has presented live music since 1961 but has been closed for a full year. "I am still waiting for all the exact rules on spacing among band members and between singers and the audience. This will help me in figuring out which bands we will be able to book. I am looking forward to getting some live music back in to help start our 60th year."

Last week, the David Kolker Band quietly played a test run at the Bitter End to see how the band could perform socially distanced from each other and from the audience

Future Hopefuls

The Blue Note

131 West Third Street

The Blue Note has presented live jazz since 1981. It closed at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and did not have sufficient real estate outside to create an outdoor dining space. In the late fall, the venue reopened briefly with limited indoor capacity and presented live music acts. It closed again in December. Steven Bensusan, owner of the club, has no re-opening date scheduled yet. Last week, he explained to the New York Times that "it doesn't make financial sense for the Blue Note to open with only 66 seats for shows."

Cyrille Aime at the Blue Note on December 3, 2020

le Poisson Rouge

158 Bleecker Street

"We have no plans to reopen at this time," Ruben Perez, spokesperson for le Poisson Rouge, told The Manhattan Beat. The music venue and multimedia art cabaret opened in 2008. "We are awaiting more detailed guidelines on the loosening restrictions on live music in New York. Initially, we are feeling that present restrictions do not offer enough to make it financially viable for us to reopen yet."

Among the last rock bands to perform at le Poisson Rouge before the lockdown, Bush Tetras headlined the band's 40th anniversary with a concert on February 21, 2020

The Village Vanguard

178 Seventh Avenue South

"We are encouraged by the declining numbers of COVID infections and the increasing availability of vaccines" Deborah Gordon, owner of the Village Vanguard, told The Manhattan Beat. A similar statement now appears on the venue's website. The Village Vanguard opened as a folk music, beat poetry and comedy club in 1935 and has been a jazz staple since 1957. "However, the Vanguard needs significant, time-consuming upgrades to the HVAC system and other renovations and repairs before we can consider safely reopening. In our estimation, that realistically will be sometime this fall."

Photo courtesy The Village Vanguard website

Fat Cat, which operated as a billiards and table tennis hall in addition to hosting live music nightly, seems to have not survived the pandemic; the front entrance is boarded, the website is down, and emails to the venue have returned undelivered. The 55 Bar, Mezzrow, Small's and Terra Blues did not respond to requests for updates from The Manhattan Beat. Da Toscano, the Music Inn, and other venues which all began presenting live music last summer and fall may resume these activities in milder weather. We will have to wait and see what happens with Cowgirl, the Duplex, the Zinc Bar and similar showcase rooms.

Following an age-old tradition in Greenwich Village, busking musicians likely will perform in public spaces, including parks and street corners, as the weather warms. Marauding brass bands soon will be prevalent wherever there are strips of sidewalk cafés. One landmark of Greenwich Village we can count on to be bustling with activity soon will be Washington Square Park; random musicians already have begun gathering there for impromptu jams.

Off the Bar Brass played to diners at various restaurants on Greenwich Avenue on March 11