When Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead and The Band traveled across Canada by train in 1970 in the wake of Woodstock, the spontaneous collaborations and rollicking party atmosphere inspired what became the 2003 documentary “Festival Express.”
It also became the inspiration for two music-industry stalwarts, who are about to mark the grand opening of their Williamsburg watering hole, Passenger Bar, on Wednesday Jan. 9, with a roster of well-known performers set to take the stage.
The railroad-themed bar, located at 229 Roebling St. at South Third Street, is intended to reimagine the traveling jam session, hosting musicians from around the city as well as around the world to drink together, play together and perhaps form new creative collaborations, according to the team behind the bar.
“When I saw ["Festival Express"] years ago, it just always stuck in my head,” said music-industry veteran Melissa Aubert, who manages musicians like Andy Rourke of The Smiths, and opened the bar with partner Jay Weilminster, a drummer who has toured with bands like The Kills and bartended on the Lower East Side for a decade. [...]
The railroad-themed venue, formerly a dance club, is packed with subtle details inside its two-story space. The upstairs level overlooking the main room is decorated with a sleeper-car theme, with a high shelf along the wall like old luggage racks.
The bathroom toilet paper rolls rest on train nail spikes, beneath old, weathered postcards on the bathroom walls. The liquor shelves behind the bar are shaped like a train tunnel, and railroad lanterns are scattered around the space.
The reclaimed-wood bar is hugged by a 1,100-pound train rail, which serves as a footrest to heighten the feel of drinking at an old railroad station or saloon, the creators explained.
“The whole design concept has that railroad feel, but it’s very hidden — like you don’t notice that you have your foot on a train rail until someone points it out or you look down,” said Aubert, noting the bar is filled with that sort of “hidden, little detail.”
The grand opening on Wednesday will include an open bar from 8 to 9 p.m., with a set by banjo player Morgan O’Kane at 10 p.m. and a DJ set by actor/comedian David Cross and Jaleel Bunton of TV on the Radio at 11 p.m. As part of its mission, the bar plans to hold a series of live performances funded by Cross and Les Savy Fav bass player Syd Butler. The sessions will be recorded and released as “The Passenger” tapes, giving people who missed hearing the performances in person an opportunity to hear them.
Here’s the film that inspired the concept, “Festival Express.”
Bushwick wins! At least according to this interactive map on Gothamist detailing the number of 311 calls made complaining of rats. There were a whopping 965 complaints of rat sightings in Bushwick in 2012 – the most reported in ANY neighborhood in all five boroughs. Williamsburg has about the same number of sightings (813) if you combine its 11211 and 11206 zips.
The Upper West Side, a neighborhood with no shortage of rodents, made plenty of noise, lodging around 1,000 complaints from 2010-2012. Residents of North Brooklyn also alerted the city about their own rat scourge, with Williamsburg and Bushwick each placing 800-900 calls to 311.
In October of this year Two Trees Management Co. successfully purchased the iconic sugar factory for $185 million. Get an inside look at one of the most fascinating places in Brooklyn before its gutted, polished up and dwarfed by 40-story glass towers on all sides.
Fabian Akilles is another performer who made his way from Philly to show Brooklyn what he’s all about. Fabian and Dewey Decibel split thier set at Spike Hill during our “It’s A Rap” showcase. For the most part the entire night was hip hop but Fabian came with some Reggae vibes. Me and my boy Kevon particularly enjoyed his stuff because we’re both island(Antiguan) babies. After the set we felt like it was mandatory that we slide out of Spike Hill for a quick Bob Marley session if you feel my drift. Enough talking, lets get into it. Enjoy!
PS: Who ever came up to me asking me questions while I was shooting this, thanks for that(I’m being sarcastic). Next time wait until in between songs. Or better yet, in between sets.
When I set out to film my neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn the night of the hurricane, I did not anticipate the footage I was about to film. My main goal was to make a short film of whatever I captured that night. A small art film was the idea. But after the explosion, things quickly changed for me. Two weeks later, I finally had time to edit this film together, and show a small perspective of the storm: “A One Block’s Story.”
“I live in Williamsburg,” Ian MacAllen tells us. “Or East Williamsburg. It all depends on the year, the real estate broker, the cab driver, the girl you are trying to impress. For people who know the difference, I tell them Graham Avenue.” His petition, which calls on the federal government to “peacefully grant the neighborhood of East Williamsburg to secede from Williamsburg and create a new, hipper neighborhood,” currently has one signature. But once the hardcore punk DIY crowd at East Williamsburg’s Huckleberry Bar hears about this, it’s going to catch fire.
Here is MacAllen’s reason for the petition — which currently has 5 signatures:
The founding hipsters first arrived on Bedford Avenue two decades earlier convinced that the East Village was “overpriced” and that more generally, Manhattan was “so over.”
In recent years, the trustifarians have turned the Bedford Avenue area into a disneyland of fashionable shops and expensive cocktail bars. The baby-bankers living in the glass, waterfront towers have pushed out the smack junkies and complain to the police about “noise” from rock musicians.
As such, the grittier East Williamsburg would prefer to disassociate from Williamsburg as a fully separate and independent neighborhood. The people of East Williamsburg actually have real jobs. Their shops are not particularly fashionable. Some of the bars are genuinely dangerous dives. Please allow the neighborhood to secede.
The dudes from Lazer Cake invited me over to Cameo Gallery to catch their set. Every band on the bill was pretty good for the most part. Any time music makes you roll your shoulders repeatedly and/or bob your head to the side in “Night of the Roxbury” fashion over and over you know it’s good. Come on, when this shit starts if you don’t bob your head you need some swag injections immediately. These guys are tons of fun! Enjoy!
The dudes from Lazer Cake invited me out to their show on 10/25/2012 at Cameo Gallery. They were the last band to play so I got to catch two bands before them. One of which was this band Junior Prom who absolutely killed it. The last time I saw a two piece this dope was back when The Courtesy Tier was just Omer and Layton. Enough words, time for some music! Watch these dudes do the damn thing. The singer kept yelling out “Wooaaaah!” on some Rick Flair shit. From that little piece of information alone you should be super excited. Great set! You dudes have some serious stage presence. 2 dudes felt/sounded like 5. That drummer is banana’s and I’m sure I saw a could of women tear up from the vocals. Enjoy!
PS: You should call one of your songs “The Nature Boy”…just saying “woaaaaaah”.
“Oh hey yall!” It’s been a little while. Since before Hurricane Sandy panties I believe. Lets get right to it. I caught up with the dudes from Double King over at Cameo Gallery on 10/23/2012. The former bassist/singer of The Powder Kegs is now the Guitarist/front man in Double King. Brooklyn is a waterfall of talent with fresh fish hopping into the mix daily. Bands like this set the margin high! If you’re in a mediocre band don’t even waste your time bringing that shit to Brooklyn. You better come with it if you want to stand a chance. I look forward to Double King’s future. Double King isn’t trying to be denied, they let it all out on stage. I loved their set, and don’t even get me started on how rad the last song was. Holy Shit! Enjoy! Let me know what you think.
