Sin-e closed last night and Tonic is officially shutting down April 13th.
Citizen Cope played the last concert at the Sin-e on Friday. The Brooklyn Vegan is reporting that owner Shane Doyle will now open a wine store in Queens. The venue was immortalized by Jeff Buckley's Live at Sin-e.
Now, Tonic's owners have released a statement of demise (from BV):
After more than 9 years as a home for avant-garde, creative, and experimental music, Tonic will reluctantly close its doors on Friday, April 13th, 2007. We simply can no longer afford the rent and all of the other costs associated with doing business on the Lower East Side.
The neighborhood around us has been increasingly consumed by "luxury condominiums", boutique hotels and glass towers, all making the value of our salvaged space worth more then our business could ever realistically support.
If that doesn't rub your Socialist tendencies the right way, try this on for size:
As a business, we take responsibility for mistakes made along the way. If profit had been our chief motivation we could have changed our programming to something more mainstream and financially lucrative. Instead we were more committed to a certain type of music and loyal to the community that supported us. As a result, we've always just survived but never really prospered. 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.
Well, it is a shame to see music venues go down in flames (what was that one called that closed in October? Oh yeah, CBGB.); better get your asses to the Bowery Ballroom, because if that place closes, I'm coming after all of you.
