Go East, Young Woman: Robbie Gil

Friday, January 23, 2009

Robbie Gil/The Bitter End

I've seen Robbie Gil a couple of times now. He's a fun local artist, so I still go out to see him when I can.

This is Robbie:

But what really made this show (Concert #2 out of 5 during marathon live music week) rockin' was the venue.

The Bitter End is a famous Rock 'N' Roll Club on Bleeker in the West Village. It's been around for almost 50 years... and that's a long time in a city where restaurants often don't stay open for more than a year.

The Bitter End was one of Bob Dylan's hangouts, not to mention the launching pad for some of the greatest artist of our generation.

To name a few:

Tori Amos
Blues Traveler
Vanessa Carlton
Tracy Chapman
David Crosby
Miles Davis
John Denver
Neil Diamond
Bob Dylan
G.Love & Special sauce
Hall & Oates
Indigo Girls
Etta James
Norah Jones
Billy Joel
Patti La Belle
Lisa Loeb
Sarah McLachlan
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
Linda Ronstadt
Carly Simon
James Taylor
Joe Walsh
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young

I was impressed.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Robbie Gil and Katz's

This is why I'm here... because at 10pm on a Friday night, my roommates and I set out on the subway for the Lower East Side, met up with a few more friends, we all went to a lounge/bar for a seriously good live music performance and then to a famous deli in the neighborhood for some food before rushing home and nearly getting caught in a summer down pour.

The Living Room, great little venue...

Robbie Gil and his adorable bass player...

The girls, Sara, Katie, Sarah and Sarah...

Katz's is FAMOUS, and a little intimidating. When you walk in the front door they hand you a pink ticket and you're thinking, "Uh, what am I supposed to do with this?" And then if you order the wrong thing at the wrong counter they look at you like you're a complete imbecile for wasting their time and send you away without giving any real instructions for finding the correct counter...