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What ever happened to The Old Volume Space?
By
Jeff Baum
Published Sep 22, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jeff Baum
Published Sep 22, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A few years back we experienced one of the most exciting concerts of our lifetime, and looking back now it's hard to remember if it ever actually happened.
It was the early summer of 2004, and Franz Ferdinand was inching its way up towards the brink being one of the biggest bands in the world. They played two New York shows. One at the then recently reconverted music venue Webster Hall, and another at a warehouse/art space in Williamsburg simply called Volume. The club, if you could even call it that, was completely nondescript, and aside from the crowd outside, nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the buildings on the block. The entrance was a loading dock, and on arrival inside, one was greeted by a row of folding tables with vendors selling merch and drinks. Most memorable of all were the gym mats. Lining the floor near the wall of this foyer were giant square pads, like you'd find at Sutton gym or off to the side in a grammar school's basketball court. Kids were sprawled out across these, talking, sipping cocktails and hanging out. At the end of the hallway was a small, dark enclosed room with a DJ and a disco ball. They were blasting whatever people listened to before Franz Ferdinand was part of our collective knowledge.
There was a slight controversy about this show happening at all. It was moved from Volume, briefly to Warsaw, before returning back the morning of the gig. Something was most certainly wrong, but there was never any official explanation as to what. The show went off without a hitch in the end, as far as anyone could tell. It was unbearably hot, sweaty and loud, but all in all one of the all time best shows in our extensive concert-going experiences. An absolutely memorable night. One that we still reminisce about with friends to this day.
But this was the last we ever heard of the club. There was never another concert there, to our knowledge, or if there was, no one nearly as prominent as Franz. In November of that year, long after the last event was held, it officially closed.
So last week, we noticed on Oh My Rockness that, this Saturday, indie up and comers Tokyo Police Club were set to play a show with Enon at a club that was dubbed "The Old Volume Space." Flashes of excitement shot through our mind at the hope of potentially reliving the glory days of 2004. But sometime yesterday or the day before, the listing was switched. The show will now take place at that South Beach/Greenpoint Superclub Studio B, which, from what we read, sounds like the furthest thing in our imagination from the makeshift, borderline illegal hipster flophouse club.
We wonder what will ever happen to this space. It's nice to know that someone, somewhere is at least attempting to books shows there again, even if there was no publicity, minimal public notice or a resulting actual show. We wonder if we'll ever again be able to curl up on a gym mat with some friends and a $4 vodka Redbull awaiting a set by a future international superstar. Really, at this point, we'd settle for a few local bands and a free Red Stripe.
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