Bowery Ballroom

By QRO on February 6, 2008

The Stills

Bowery Ballroom is located on 6 Delancey Street, Manhattan, between Chrystie Street and Bowery. It is part of the ‘Bowery Presents’ circle of venues, along with the Mercury Lounge, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and Terminal 5; from noon to seven PM, Monday-Saturday, Mercury Lounge serves as the box office for all four places (Music Hall also does on Saturdays, eleven AM to six PM). It lies within the circle of venues in the Bowery (roughly between Houston, A, Delancey Street, and Bowery), which includes Crash Mansion around the corner, as well as Piano’s, The Cake Shop, The Living Room, Arlene’s Grocery, Rockwood Music Hall and others (as well as Mercury Lounge).

While the actual stage floor is located on ground level, Bowery Ballroom’s entrance goes directly downstairs, below the stage floor, to a large, but low-ceilinged, U-shaped bar (street-level doors to the stage floor do open after the show is finished, to let crowds out). The downstairs section also contains the coat-check, both bathrooms, and the merchandise table. There are two sets of stairs that lead up to the stage floor, one near the street, past the merchandise table, the other past the women’s bathroom at the other end of the downstairs bar.

The street-near set of stairs lead to the back of the stage floor, just beside the small, one-person, cash-only bar. The other set leads to the house right side of stage (and continue on up to the stage, then to the above backstage area). The house left corner of the stage floor is often taken up with band’s equipment, necessitating extra space there from the crowd in-between sets. Near the back of both sides of the stage floor are stairs that lead to a balcony. The balcony has a larger bar, and tables along the sides, that run along both walls. In size, Bowery Ballroom is larger than other venues located in the Bowery area, but smaller than the larger indie-rock venues located around the city, such as Bowery Presents’ Terminal 5 or (used, not run) Webster Hall (and about equal in size to its twin in Brooklyn, Music Hall in Williamsburg).

Thanks to its mid-level size and Bowery Presents hook, Bowery Ballroom has a ‘just right’ fit with its headliners – bands accomplished enough to make the concert an ‘event’, but size small enough that you don’t have to fight to the front or get pressed in the center for a good view. In many ways, it’s the ‘next step’ after Mercury Lounge – many bands that play Mercury Lounge on one visit to New York City play Bowery Ballroom on their next. Or they move up from serving as main opener at Bowery to headlining. The place is large enough that there are usually two headliners (especially on Friday and Saturday nights) – the first usually starts an hour after doors open, with the main act usually going on at 11 P.M. Along with Music Hall in Williamsburg, Bowery Ballroom is perfect place to catch a band right before they get so big the tickets and beers are too expensive, or a working-class, ‘never blew up, but still consistently delivering’ indie-staples.

Capacity: 550

Address:

6 Delancey Street (Between Chrystie Street and Bowery)

By Subway:

J train to Bowery – North side of Delancey
B or D trains to Chrystie/Grand – walk two blocks north on West side of Chrystie to North side of Delancey
F train to 2nd Avenue – walk 3 blocks south on West side of Chrystie, turn right
4 & 6 trains to Spring Street – walk 4 blocks east on Spring, one block south on East side of Bowery, turn left

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