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Smell Ya Later, CB's
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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CBGB has been dismantled, and MTV was there to document the final hours. Not suprisingly, decades of rock does not smell good.
"The smell is bad enough to test anyone's gag reflex.
Worse than the stench of death, it's a putrid mix of decayed wood, decades-old dust, mold, vomit, sweat, stale beer, rat feces, a million cigarette butts and fruit so rotten that it actually smells slightly sweet.
This is the smell of CBGB's last hours."
That place didn't smell that great when it was still in tact. Every inch of the venue was photographed for when it is reassembled in a new location, and we're guessing the smell will just settle right in to its new home.
The photo to the right is of an unknown band setlist and some very old beer bottles, unearthed under one of the many layers of the stage.
"CBGB's fabled stage is saved for the final day of the dismantling. "This is it!" one worker declares as he snakes his crowbar beneath the stage's first layer of plywood, "the moment that punk rock dies." He pushes down on the handle, and the nails pop up in a mushroom cloud of thick dust. Each layer is comprised of four pieces of plywood, and one by one, they're removed. Underneath each lies a gaggle of guitar picks and, for some reason, lots of glitter.
The removal of the fourth layer turns up a pair of panties and something written on an exceedingly worn section of plywood..."
We talked to Ian MacKaye of Fugazi recently, who had this to say about sentimentalizing the demise of the venue: "I’m not upset. It was a place. And it had a hell of a good run. But I don’t get sentimental about stuff like that. CB’s certainly was a location that really gave a stage to some really creative people."
MTV's flipbook is here [via BrooklynVegan]
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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