Webster Hall

Webster Hall is a nightclub in New York City. It is located at 125 East 11th Street, between 3rd and 4th Avenues. It acts as a nightclub, concert venue and corporate events center, and as a recording venue. Counted among the notable acts to play the club are Bright Eyes, The Hives, John Mayer, Rhett Miller, Beth Orton, Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney, P!nk, The Jesus And Mary Chain, +44, The Bravery, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mogwai, Spoon, John Butler Trio, Explosions in the Sky, The Flaming Lips, Dispatch, Linkin Park, and Infected Mushroom. The Music Theatre of Lincoln Center albums of Broadway shows recorded between 1964 and 1969 were all made at Webster Hall, but without a live audience.

History

1886-1970's

Webster Hall was originally built in 1886 by architect Charles Rentz and quickly became the country’s first modern nightclub. It was a place where one could witness figures such as Emma Goldman (the outspoken exponent of Anarchist philosophy) herald the cause of free love and birth control on one night and, on the next night, see the refined atmosphere and grace of a society function celebrating New York’s elite. Margaret Sanger led strikers to the building in 1912. Other patrons from the club's early years include painters Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Stella.

During Prohibition, the theme of the balls held within the hall moved from the social and political trends to the hedonistic attitude of the speakeasy. Local politicians and police were said to turn a blind eye to the merrymakers who attended, despite, or perhaps because of, whispers that the venue was owned by the infamous mobster Al Capone. Appropriately, prohibition's repeal was the cause for one of Webster Hall's biggest celebrations, "The Return of John Barleycorn."

In the 1950s, Webster Hall began featuring concerts from a diverse group of artists. Latin performers, such as Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez played at the club. So, too, did folk artists Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Then, RCA Records recognized the extraordinary acoustical integrity of the building and converted it into their East Coast recording venue, Webster Hall Studios. Carol Channing recorded "Hello, Dolly!" there, Harold Prince recorded "Fiddler on the Roof", and such luminaries as Julie Andrews, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra all added to the list of stars that the venue had witnessed.

In 1966, the famous recording of Handel's "Giulio Cesare" was recorded at the Hall, starring Norman Treigle and Beverly Sills, for RCA.

In 1970, Unity Gallega of the USA, INC (aka Casa Galicia of New York) purchased the location at 119-125 11th Street known as Webster Hall and remains the current owner of the property. Unity Gallega/Casa Galicia is a cultural organization representing people from Galicia, Spain in promoting and preserving their cultural ties.

1980-Present

On May 1st, 1980, The Ritz opened as the famous showcase venue for emerging rock acts. Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, Prince, Sting, KISS, B.B. King, and Guns N' Roses all performed on what was routinely called, "the best stage in New York City." Fact|date=February 2007 The Ritz was the first nightclub to feature a video component, which soon set the trend across America. When the Ritz relocated in 1986, it gave Webster Hall the opportunity to be reborn.

In 1992 the Ballinger Brothers unveiled the restored Webster Hall, featuring state of the art audio, video, and lighting technology with the original color scheme recreated. The venue hosted two or three different genres of music at once on weekend evenings, providing rave/house music in their large dance room and rock in the upstairs billiard area.

A facility capable of catering to groups of 100 to 2,000, Madonna, Mick Jagger and Bill Clinton have had events there, as has TNA Wrestling and the taping of Fuji Television Network's "Iron Chef" "New York Special" between Bobby Flay and Masihiru Morimoto.

In addition to its weekly club nights, Webster Hall is one of NYC’s premiere live music venues. Usher, The Stone Roses, Evanescence, Joss Stone, Good Charlotte, Linkin Park, Nelly, Duran Duran, Franz Ferdinand, Alicia Keys and Prince are just a few of the artists that have performed on the Grand Ballroom’s legendary stage within the last year alone. Webster Hall is the exclusive live music venue for AOL’s New York Broadband Rocks series. On May 11, 2007 Linkin Park filmed their Minutes to Midnight Promo Concert. This was then released into theatres. At this concert Bleed It Out, What I've Done, No More Sorrow, and Given Up were performed. In addition, Webster Hall recently entered into a partnership to present The Bowery Ballroom Presents at Webster Hall concert series, which has already brought such alt rock icons as Sonic Youth, The Hives, John Mayer, John Butler and Modest Mouse to the big stage. [http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/websterhall/theater.html]

In March 2008, the New York Preservation Society voted to designate the building as a Landmark. The building continues to be owned by Unity Gallega/Casa Galicia of New York.

External links

* [http://www.websterhall.com Webster Hall's website]
* [http://www.umixit.com UmixIt website]
* [http://www.nypress.com/17/28/news&columns/SarahShanok.cfm New York Press article]
* [http://www.metrohistory.com/dbpages/NBsearch.lasso Building database Rentz has 51 entries as architect]
* [http://gammablog.com/?p=3442 Flash video of the exterior]
* [http://www.ballingers.com/ Ballinger's]
* [http://www.ukula.com/EventCalender.aspx?AVenueID=84 Monthly Event Listings]