The tail end of the 2002 CMJ Music Festival housed not only massive parties but also marked the opening of a new bar/club/live venue in the Lower East Side, Pianos. The club received a worthy amount of buzz its first weekend by being the location of the well-hyped DFA party featuring the ever popular New York band The Rapture that Saturday.

Luomo's House classic Vocal City

Another event that launched that fateful weekend was the beginning of the Friday Night Stiff Disco Party that unleashes the new weekend by bringing in a myriad of bands and DJs with the intention of showcasing the best of the reemerging New York noise and post-punk scene. Nathan Corbin (a.k.a. DJ Zebrablood) is the curator for Stiff Disco and was formally connected to the Avant God party at Luxx, which focused on the dance music from the New York, Chicago, and Detroit scenes. Corbin is working to make Stiff Disco an extension of the Avant God party, and has been fairly successful at it, especially since Pianos' atmosphere is not necessarily synonymous with what one would expect to find the post punk dance scene. It's more reminiscent of a yuppie resort.

Despite the awkward surroundings, Stiff Disco has quickly gained credibility and a loyal following by booking edgy bands such as Ghost Exits, Mazing Vids, Gang Gang Dance, Masculine/Feminine, and Metro Area, as well as booking genre hopping DJs that know how to mix it up. Glitch House favorite, Luomo (aka Vladislav Delay) even played a recent show. Upcoming acts include Sightings, Japanther, Verbalala, O.U.T.H.U.D., as well as some Chicago New Wave bands.

Pianos is also home to the Vice Magazine boy's Monday night party, which used to be held at Lit. Pianos has started a Sunday night comedy-type event, which local funnyman/musician David Cross has been known to make an appearance or two at.
Hype or no hype, Pianos is definitely the new "place to be" and weather or not you are there to enjoy the music or simply to "be seen," you can expect to find bubbling over crowds, emerging music, and let's not forget the strange decor.

To check out Piano's for yourself, you can find it on Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington. As of yet, show listings are unavailable, but you can keep up on what's going on at Pianos by joining the NYHappeninings Mail Group.