This is a site we launched recently, everything completely original, the music, the stories, and the artwork.  We expect a lot of evolution on this site, but are happy with its current state.  I’ll update this post with more details soon, but for now, check out Allister & The Nightlight

Tonic, my hands-down favorite music venue in New York City, is closing. My first reaction was shock, but it subsided quickly because, well, it’s really no surprise, not like this hasn’t been happening (CBGB, Continental, etc). I found out about three hours ago, and now I’ve simply become sad. I’m really going to miss Tonic. There isn’t one other place - music venue or otherwise - that I’ve been able to rely on so consistently for inspiration like I have with Tonic.

Tonic is the only club that I could decide on a whim to walk over, pay admission, and be guaranteed to see great music. Today I’ve been thinking about why this is, what was it that made Tonic so great? It’s not just that I like the whole “avante garde” scene. It’s that the people making music in this space are all pioneers of sorts, innovators, people chasing a sound they hear, chasing a sound that doesn’t exist elsewhere. And the musicians who play at Tonic range from highly skilled to virtuoso.

The reason I have given up just walking into any other venue ‘on a whim’ is because too often the musicians playing there emanated “please buy our cd’s and if you’re a record exec, please sign me” rather than at Tonic where, overwhelmingly, the musicians are (were) just playing great stuff, and loving what they play(ed). Fuck, I hate having to use the past tense about Tonic.

Before I moved to NYC, while still living in Ithaca, our band played a show at the Baggott Inn. At that show, I met a girl, we dated a few times. Point of telling you this is not the girl, but that she lived across the street from the recently-opened Tonic (they hadn’t gotten their liquor license yet). I think Tonic kept me dating that girl longer than I otherwise would have

Not really so long ago. Tonic never made it to Legend status in the way CBGB did, but, wow what a place.

There’s a letter on the site, and I’ve been thinking about this one line:

It is, however, unfortunate that it is so difficult for small businesses to operate in this city and that a chain store that can afford a high rent is more desirable than a place like Tonic that has a different kind of value.

It’s a topic that’s been getting talked about a lot lately. Patti Smith, when asked about CBGB closing, commented that our society - and more importantly our city - is prospering too well for artists to flourish. She wasn’t really bemoaning it, kinda more just stating it. And on the whole, as I walked around today and every store is a major chain store, yes, there is something… sad… to see NYC getting chain-stored. That’s really the extent to which I’m willing to go right now. It makes me sad.

Without being overly optimistic, I’m..well, not hopeful, but expectant. Of what’s to come. Of what will replace this vacuum. New York City is filled with incredibly interesting, unique, purposeful people, artists, musicians, and the inner need to express, create and “make” does not go away just because the rent got raised. The short-term answer is Brooklyn? But if this trend continues, we’ll see Brooklyn getting converted as well, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Where will this trend lead us….? How will we respond….?

I don’t know, but I’m sad about this. I’ve really depended on Tonic. I wish they had made this known with more lead time, reached out to the community for some kind of support. This is such a short notice, seems like the decision has been made, and only two weeks until closing time.

Not sure what the best title for this post is… I’ve been playing music most of my life, and for a good portion of it have had a strong aversion to pop music..almost a bias against anything that “popular.”  More lately, I have been letting go of the knee-jerk reaction to pop music, and have heard a lot that I do like.  However, often a song or a musician/band that I like turns out to have been written by someone else.

It’s no mystery that many famous ‘musicians’ don’t actually write their music, in fact their ‘art’ or ’skill’ is some combination of performance, appearance, attitude and musical proficiency.  But when I like a song that seems like an honet confession, or an interesting viewpoint, and then find out that it was actually written by someone else entirely, it deflates all my interest in that song or musician.

So my criticism of pop music has boiled down to an objective acceptance of this phenomenon in music, but a personal dislike of music that is, essentially, dishonest.  Hmm.. it’s hard to make this not come off as an attack, because it’s not.  I believe in music a perfect medium for personal expression, for communication of something uniquely-from that particular musician or band.  I guess it just means more (to me) when the music comes from the musician.  Otherwise, I feel like I’m being manipulated.  The performance, the vocal quality is perfected, and then coupled with someone else’s ability to write a good piece of music.

Not that there’s a shortage of musicians in this world making music that is wholly their own.  Just that this pop music thing gives me this little filter through which I feel forced to pass my judgement, otherwise I risk having my love for music manipulated by factors otherwise unknown.