They’re finally taking out the Trash.
Beloved Williamsburg music venue Trash Bar will close its Grand Street doors for good on June 27, leaving local rockers looking for a new place to score free tater tots and perform drunken punk-rock karaoke.
“It is the best place to hang out in Williamsburg,” said punk fan Jan Levy. “I do not know where I will hang out now. Nowhere else is nearly as good.”
The music joint announced its imminent closure at the end of last year, citing the landlord’s reluctance to renew its lease and plans to jack up the rent by as much as four times. Owner Aaron Pierce managed keep the venue running for another six months, lining up bands to play seven nights a week but letting them know that the shows may never happen.
The bar opened on Grand Street, between Driggs Avenue and Roebling Street, in 2004 and quickly became a mecca for punk rock and metal bands and the people who love them. The bar famously hosted a Sunday church service for many years, and also bills itself as “the cheapest place to drink in Williamsburg,” offering a Pabst Blue Ribbon and shot of whiskey for $5 and a one-hour open bar during weekend shows.
Pierce said he hopes to reopen in a new location and is currently in talks with a handful of building owners in Williamsburg and Bushwick, but does not yet know for sure where, when, or if Trash Bar will re-materialize.
Trash Bar joins a grim procession of music venues that have closed down over the past year and a half in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick, including Death by Audio, Glasslands, Public Assembly, and Goodbye Blue Monday.
The final show will feature a line-up of local psychedelic-rock bands, including Wounded Buffalo Theory, Marble Faun, the Gypsy West, the Motor Tom, and the Candy Apples.
The final show at Trash Bar [256 Grand St. between Roebling Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg, (718) 599–1000, www.thetr
