It’s a Shanda! Ribot in Cuffs Pics Emerge

This morning we linked to the New York Times article about the Last Stand of Tonic, the minimalist Lower East Side performance space with the some of the best acoustics in New York. We opined the eventual loss of Tonic not too long ago, and at this point, we’re all out of whine and tears.

But that’s to say there isn’t news. The Times detailed the arrest of acclaimed guitarist Marc Ribot, who’s moonlighting as mouthpiece and co-director of the Take It to the Bridge campaign that seeks to protect indie, jazz and experimental music in NYC. Ribot refused to leave the Tonic stage, and as such, he became a trespasser.

Ribot
Photo by Bob Arihood

Both the mainstream press and the blog scene documented the last chance to dance avant-trance very well, and Bob Arihood published an excellent recap and a slew of up-close photos on his Neither More Nor Less blog. I recommend heading over there and checking out the rest of his arresting shots before clicking over to Brooklyn Vegan for more on the strange last days of a legendary venue.

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5 Responses

  1. Another sad note in nyc music history…….first cbgb, then live nation has the brains(?) to rename irving plaza and now this.

    Way to make a stand marc!

    We need more people like marc to stand up for the great venues and indie artists!

  2. A sad day, indeed. They are opening new venues like the Gramercy and the Highline, but it’s impossible to truly replicate the beauty of Tonic’s acoustics and hometown feel. That place will be missed. Ribot’s Last Stand, I love it.

  3. My cousin grew up with Marc in South Orange, NJ and currently lives outside the US. He laughed and fully supported Marc and what he did when I sent him the link to Marc’s story.

  4. saw some KILLER shows there.

    what i most remember about tonic is that they were probably the first venue to get back to music after 9/11. i regret missing the weeklong relief shows they put on in the days after because they were straight up insane lineups. check it:

    that’s the type of ish that could be found there on the regular and i can’t picture anyone other than ribot, who’s the fuckin’ FIRE of that downtown scene both musically and politcally, making sure that tonic got the proper send off.

    with that said…i offer up a i aslo believe cyro and logic sat in on this one but the txt file seems to have vanished into the ether.

    and a couple of pics from a show where i happened to be up front. (one thing that was tough there was that the stage was the same height as the ground!)

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