Pyramid Club (New York City)

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This article is about the nightclub in New York. For the African-American social club in Philadelphia, see Pyramid Club (Philadelphia).

Pyramid Club
Pyramid Cocktail Lounge
Entrance to the club in 2009
Map
Address101 Avenue A
LocationNew York City
Coordinates40°43′33″N 73°59′02″W / 40.72578°N 73.983873°W / 40.72578; -73.983873
TypeNightclub
Opened1979 (1979)
Closed2020
Website
thepyramidclub.com

The Pyramid Club was a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag queen, gay, post-punk and no wave art and music scenes of the 1980s.[1] The club was located at 101 Avenue A in Manhattan.[2]

101 Avenue A, built in 1876, location of the Club

History

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In the '70s and '80s the club became a hangout for "a new breed of politicized drag performers" like Lypsinka, Lady Bunny, and RuPaul, whose first New York City show was at the Pyramid Club in 1982.[3]

On Labor Day 1985, Pyramid performer Lady Bunny hosted the Wigstock Festival in Tompkins Square Park.[4] Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry dropped in the Pyramid to do a feature on the club for MTV, and Madonna appeared at her first AIDS benefit at the club. Both Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers played their first New York City concerts there [5][6] and both Live Skull and Sonic Youth played there in 1983 and 1984.[7] They Might Be Giants was considered the house band for some time.[8] From 1992–95, Blacklips Performance Cult, a collective founded by ANOHNI, presented plays at Pyramid every Monday at midnight. Many visual artists, such as Keith Haring[9] Jean-Michel Basquiat,[10] and Jack Smith[11] were frequent patrons of the club. Performance artists John Kelly,[12] Ann Magnuson, Steve Buscemi and Eric Bogosian performed there[13] and John Jesurun began his drama/comedy/mystery serial play Chang in a Void Moon at the Pyramid in 1982 and received a Bessie Award for it in 1985.[14]

In 2007, it was proposed that 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid Club's building, be landmarked. The proposal, described as the first drag landmark, was not adopted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).[15] However, in the spring of 2011 the LPC proposed a new historic district in the East Village focused around lower Second Avenue and encompassing 15 blocks and 330 buildings. The original proposal excluded buildings such as the Pyramid Club, but because of efforts made by local community groups, the proposed district was expanded to 101 Avenue A as well as other similar buildings. The LPC designated the club as part of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District on October 9, 2012.[16]

The club shut during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It unsuccessfully reopened under different management for a short period after, but subsequently closed permanently. The new owners confirmed that it would reopen in the summer of 2023 as Baker Falls, a community-driven rock club.[17] Baker Falls opened in July 2023.[18]

In 2024, a book on the history of the Pyramid Club called "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It was published by Damiani Books.

Notable performers

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References

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  1. ^ Hager, Steve. Art After Midnight: The East Village Scene. St. Matins Press, 1986. p. 150
  2. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p. 18
  3. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p.201
  4. ^ Woodruff, Sheryl. "Pushing the Envelope on Avenue A". Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  5. ^ "Nirvana Tour History". LiveNirvana.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  6. ^ "Red Hot Chili Peppers Official Site". RHCP. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  7. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p.358 & 360
  8. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p.128
  9. ^ Frishberg, Hannah (April 1, 2021). "'Safe haven for freaks': NYC's iconic Pyramid Club closes after 41 years". New York Post. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p. 75
  11. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p. 97
  12. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p. 17
  13. ^ Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, Kestutis Nakas (eds.) "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, Damiani Books, p. 18
  14. ^ [1] John Jesurun's Chang In A Void Moon: Episodes 62-66
  15. ^ Hedlund, Patrick (December 5–11, 2007). "Push to make Pyramid Club city's first 'drag landmark'". The Villager. Vol. 77, no. 27. Archived from the original on July 11, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  16. ^ "East Village/Lower East Side Historic District Designation Report" (PDF). NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  17. ^ Shapiro, Laurie Gwen (November 22, 2022). "The East Village Is Getting Its First New Rock Club in Decades". Curbed. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  18. ^ "The First Night at Baker Falls". Hell Gate. July 24, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "They Might Be Giants, Again: The Adult Comeback of a Cult Band". Grantland. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
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