|
"Venue of the Month" will take an in-depth look at the special places where musical magic transpires. These places can be a local tavern, an arena, or even an abandoned air-strip. If you have suggestions or would like to write about your favorite place to shake a tail, send it to saslavsky@parentsplus.com
Filled with expectant energy, I grabbed my hand-held recorder, and my girlfriend loaded up her camera. We headed off to the Wetlands Preserve, mecca of the jam-band scene and New York City's premier jam-band music venue, for a night of picture-taking, interviewing, and getting down. On this particular Friday night, the Wetlands was hosting the Disco Biscuits and South Catherine Street Jug Band on the main stage and Dr. Zeus in the lounge.In a city full of live-music venues, location alone sets the Wetlands apart from other New York clubs. Most of the city's better known live rock clubs are centered around NYU and the East Village in Manhattan, but the Wetlands is located on Manhattan's lower west side in a sparse neighborhood that offers no more amenities than a deli down the street.
Simply getting into the club sets the Wetlands apart and provides clues that it is low on ego and high on social awareness. The pompous line behind the velvet rope, a trademark for city clubs, is absent. Instead, a wheel-chair accessible ramp leads from the sidewalk to the door. The Wetlands caters to ages 18 and up and even allows entry without the intrusive frisk associated with large concerts and with other urban clubs.
We made our way inside and up to the bar for a pint of the Wetlands own lager, appropriately called Wetlands Reserve. Beer is served only in glasses. In keeping with the club's vision of environmental consciousness, plastic cups are prohibited. The Wetlands also utilizes low wattage energy-saving bulbs, napkins and matches made from recycled paper, and water-conserving toilets.
The main bar lies a few steps up from the main floor in its own wooden enclosure. The railings surrounding the bar area are topped with press clippings on environmental and social issues, even sporting a few quotes of wisdom from lesser and well known sages. Scanning over the main floor of the club, two things stand out. First, the stage faces to the side of the club instead of toward the front as is the layout in most music venues. Secondly, an entire VW bus is parked on the main floor.
Placement of the stage was intentional. According to Wetlands founder and original owner Larry Bloch, the unconventional placement of the stage reduces the ego of the club and allows people to experience the bands in different ways. The location of the stage also allows room for the club's trademark sticker-covered VW micro-bus.
Salvaged from a New Hampshire field and refurbished for the club, the bus carries band merchandise and serves as the center of the Wetlands' famous eco-center. The eco-center is comprised of several booths filled with literature on a wide-array of social issues ranging from human rights to the environment. The eco-center not only creates awareness but encourages participation by including petitions and mailing lists relating to social issues as well. The VW bus and eco-center symbolize and support a global awareness that is a large part of the Wetlands experience.
Larry Bloch's vision was to create a venue that people would enjoy as well as a venue that could support serious discussion on a wide range of issues. That combination has proven to be successful and has been maintained since the club's opening in February of '89 despite a change of ownership.
In 1996, Bloch began searching for a new owner who would maintain the spirit of the club. He was approached in '97 by film-producer, Peter Shapiro, whose work on two documentary films about Grateful Dead culture had made Shapiro intimately acquainted with the jam-band scene. According to Shapiro, "I got involved at the Wetlands to continue what was going on. Clearly something magical had been created."
That "magic" is no more evident than in the bands who play the Wetlands and the people who come see them. As the Jug Band was getting ready to start, I took the opportunity to talk to those who had come to spend their evening at the Wetlands.
When Jug Band fan Tara Gude, 24, comes to the Wetlands she expects to get a good dose of "take my shoes off and dance music." "Seeing good bands" and "seeing good people" is what draws Adam Schneider, 24, to the club. And Joel Needleman, 23, keeps returning to the Wetlands because, "whenever I come here to see a band, I am never disappointed."
As the crowd grew larger and the Jug Band finished up a grooving set on the main floor, I went downstairs to to find Wetlands talent-buyer Chris Zahn and discover how a band finds its way to the stage of this jam-band shrine.
Zahn got his start at booking the Wetlands close to six years ago. Working as a DJ at the club, he complained about the placement and line-up of bands to Larry Bloch. "Why don't you put a night together if you're so frigging smart," Bloch replied, and Zahn did just that.
Bloch found his approach refreshing, at least in part, because Chris had no idea what he was doing. Zahn had been made the gatekeeper of the jam-band scene - a scene with roots planted by earlier bands, many of whom became established at the Wetlands.
The first band to play the Wetlands was New Potato Caboose. Since that time, the Wetlands has hosted virtually every jam-band to hit the scene. Bands like Blues Traveler, the Spin Doctors, and God Street Wine were part of the first wave of performers to launch the Wetlands into notoriety. These bands also helped establish the classic two-set format and lengthy instrumental improvisations which have defined the jam-band scene.
Since then, bands like moe., Strangefolk, the Ominous Seapods, and String Cheese Incident have been packing the club. "Wetlands is the hub of the jam-band scene in this country," says Zahn, which is why playing a successful gig at the Wetlands seems to be a much-sought after commodity for jam-bands new to the scene. Zahn receives 30 to 50 demos a week but makes an honest effort to listen to everything in the search for new talent.
Besides a good sound, Zahn looks for a "good work ethic" and "a plan." He uses the Disco Biscuits as an example. "A band like the Disco Biscuits have a vision. They know where they want to be 2 or 3 years down the road." According to Zahn, new bands that draw around 50 people to the main stage upstairs are usually in good shape to get a second booking.
For bands just starting out who have not yet claimed a strong following, the downstairs lounge is definitely the way to go, says Zahn. The lounge provides an intimate setting and a "chill vibe" in which a solid energy can be created by a smaller group of fans. So after speaking with Zahn, I hung out in the downstairs lounge to catch some of Dr. Zeus.
The lounge sports a separate bar, sweet oriental rugs, pillows, couches and low lighting that give it a "a coffee shop in Amsterdam" feel according to Peter Shapiro. Tonight however, the lounge was packed with people dancing to the jazzy, instrumental grooves of Dr. Zeus. As they wrapped up, I headed back upstairs for the night's headliner - the Disco Biscuits.
Some fans were crowded in the front of the stage, while other were content to hang out by the bar or the bus, but the Wetlands vibe was definitely humming through the entire club as the Biscuits tore into their first set. During the set break, I caught up with Biscuit's keyboardist, Aron "Spaga" Magner.
"The Wetlands is the premier club in the country where people come to check out what's going on," and playing there "is not just a gig in route to somewhere else. It's always the big one," according to Magner. In addition to making the Wetlands a professional stepping stone, the club's tradition almost requires musical exploration from the bands that play there. "One of the first times we played a whacked out 30 minute jam was here. We always go more out on a limb here," says Magner. During their second set, the Biscuits did indeed carry the jam out on the limb, and the crowd was with them every step of the way.
Besides the band, the crowd, and the music, there is one other ingredient necessary to make for a magical experience - a great venue. The Wetlands is a great venue. It allows new bands like the Disco Biscuits, the Slip, and Fat Mama, as well as seasoned veterans, to launch uncharted musical voyages that are the heart of the jam-band experience. Before leaving, I caught up with Peter Shapiro and asked him about the future of the club.
"There's a lot planned for the future" including "looking at other areas and opportunitites to bring the Wetlands' vibe," said Shapiro. When asked if a Wetlands Preserve - West was in the works, Shapiro replied, "we'll see what happens."
Editor's note: Some of the material used in this article was drawn from the essay "Wetlands: Ten Years of Grooves" which appears in Dean Budnick's Jam Bands due out in October. Appropriately, the venue will host a book release party on October 23rd with a power packed line-up featuring The Slip, Oteil Burbridge & The Peacemakers and the Disco Biscuits.
Lamar would like to thank Dean Budnick, Chris Zahn and Pete Shapiro for their help with research and interviews.
Home | Editors | Features | Columns | Regional | New Groove | Road Trip
Tour Journal | Venue | Levels | Ghosts | Homegrown | Inaudible | CDs