Joe's Pub

Joe’s Pub (Public Theater) is a nightclub in Lower Manhattan that hosts live performances regularly. The venue is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan, New York. It is a for-profit division of the Public Theater. It's name comes from legendary New York patron of the arts Joseph Papp, who established the Public Theater and Shakespeare in the Park, the Public Theater's best-known tradition.

The venue first opened its doors in October of 1998. It is known as one of New York City’s only live showcase venues catering to an eclectic mix of musical genres. [cite news | author=Ben Sisario | title=Ten Years For Joe's Pub | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E4D9173FF935A25754C0A96E9C8B63 | work=The New York Times | date=16 July 2008] This defining feature of Joe's Pub - its extraordinary variety - was the vision of principal booking Bill Bragin, an aficionado of music in all forms and a world-music DJ in his own right. Mr. Bragin established relationships with artists that have made Joe's Pub a home-base for local, domestic, and international acts. In 2007, Bill Bragin left Joe's Pub to join the team at Lincoln Center. Shanta Thake, Mr. Bragin's experienced assistant of many years, was unanimously given the head-booker position by the board of the Public Theater. [cite news | Best of New York 2008 | title=Best Downtown Classical-Music Venue | url=http://nymag.com/bestofny/fun/2008/dtclassical/ | work=New York Magazine | date=3 March 2008] [cite news | author=Adam Hetrik | title=Thake Named Director of Joe's Pub | url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115411.html | work=The Playbill | date=27 February 2008]

The venue is equipped with theater quality lighting and sound. During its formative years, the sound was engineered by Kurt Wolf, former punk-rock guitarist for Pussy Galore. The club established a reputation as having extraordinary sound during this time. When Wolf moved on to other projects, John Shriver, a technician who has worked with the likes of John Legend and the Notorious B.I.G., began captaining the audio engineering. The sound quality at Joe's Pub remains at the top of the "best in NYC" short list among critical reviewers. [cite news | title=Top Ten Music Venues in NYC | url=http://myitthings.com/emjay/Post/entertainment/It_Music/Top_ten_music_venues_in_NYC/944122008220121423.htm | date=12 April 2008] Joe's Pub also serves as a bar and restaurant during performance hours (William Tilden, Executive Chef) and has earned a reputation as being a top romantic spot in New york City. [cite news | Best of NYC 2004 | title=Best Bar to Get Romantic and Play Grown-up | url=http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/award/best-bar-to-get-romantic-and-play-grown-up-493552/ | work=The Village Voice]

The decor of Joe's Pub is the work of interior designer Serge Becker, the man behind many New York City hostspots, including La Esquina on Delancey Street. Patrons often marvel at an accordion encased along the east wall of the Pub: Mr. Becker intended the design of the interior to be modeled after the accordion, from the striped, bee-pollen bar, to the strip lighting, to the exposed sound-proofing. Along the south wall, photographs of Mr. Papp and famous colleagues are on display. One photo features a young Kevin Spacey, mustachioed in fur coat. Legend has it that Mr. Spacey was an operations manager for Mr. Papp at the Public Theater, and that Mr. Papp fired him because Mr. Spacey was too talented to waste his time working in the Public. [cite news | author=Andrew Jacobs | title=Will Everybody Go to Joe's? | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E4D71E3DF936A15753C1A96E958260 | work=The New York Times | date=25 October 1998]

The venue is noted for having hosted thousands of artists including the U.S. debut of Amy Winehouse in 2007.

Notable Artists That Have Performed At Joe's Pub

* Amadou and Mariam
* Laurie Anderson
* Antony and The Johnsons
* Avenue Q's
* Richard Barone
* Sandra Bernhard
* Karen Black
* Bono
* Maxine Brown
* Oscar Brown Jr
* David Byrne
* Don Byron
* Calexico
* Neko Case
* Alice Coltrane
* Shawn Colvin
* Elvis Costello
* Dion
* Thomas Dolby
* Feist
* Harvey Fierstein
* Sutton Foster
* Al Franken

* Ana Gasteyer
* Bebel Gilberto
* Goapele
* Lesley Gore
* Macy Gray
* David Grey
* Darren Hayes
* Nona Hendryx
* Joe Iconis
* Alicia Keys
* Angelique Kidjo
* Emmylou Harris
* Eartha Kitt
* Norah Jones
* Kronos Quartet
* Bettye LaVette
* Ute Lemper
* Huey Lewis
* John Lithgow
* Aimee Mann
* Del McCoury
* Audra McDonald
* Nellie McKay

* Donna McKechnie
* John Cameron Mitchell
* Isaac Mizrahi
* Mos Def
* Youssou N’Dour
* Amanda Palmer
* Dolly Parton
* Liz Phair
* Wallace Roney
* Mort Sahl
* Anoushka Shankar
* Sxip Shirey
* Sarah Silverman
* Joss Stone
* Marty Stuart
* John Tartaglia
* They Might Be Giants
* Richard Thompson
* Pete Townshend
* The Untouchable DJ Drastic
* Lillias White
* Amy Winehouse

––Rupert Holmes

References

External links

* [http://www.joespub.com/ Official Website]