August 3, 2011
Tonight another great East Village bar bites the dust. EV Grieve reported yesterday that tonight is the last night for Banjo Jim’s to be open. Banjo Jim’s had live music every night of the week with no cover charge and decent prices at the bar. A new bar is moving in and it’s supposedly going to be an "artisanal neighborhood cocktail bar" tentatively called, The Wayland. It’s supposed to open in the fall and I’ll check it out when it does. But for now, let’s go and say goodbye to Banjo Jim’s.
A crowd has gathered outside of Banjo Jim's on the last night of the saloon's existence.
And here we are, the last night of Banjo Jim's. Let's go inside and see what's happening.
It was crowded inside as expected.
Singer/songwriter is the last person to play on Banjo Jim's stage. He was great and you can check him out here: Aaron Short.
Kevin was the friendly bartender on duty for the last night of Banjo Jim's.
The view of the bar from my perch.
Kevin plays on...
As the crowd listens and takes photos.
Happy feet!
Flyers from gigs gone by line the front window.
The new owners of the bar say that they're hoping to keep this piano. We'll see.
The weather-beaten red stools are part of the charm in here. I doubt they'll survive the re-opening.
A shot of the other end of the curly-Q bar.
The corner of the bar has a comfortable couch lining the walls.
Aaron's set was coming to a close...
He dedicated the last song to Banjo Jim's. It was the theme of Cheers. Listening to it and thinking of bars that had closed since I moved here—The P&G, Stoned Crow, The Rum House, Fedora, Mars Bar—I admit I got a little teary eyed thinking about it. Lots of friendly places with kindred spirits on both sides of the bar are closed and they've either been shuttered or replaced with grim replicas of what they once were. I wonder what this place will be like in six months?
I chatted with Aaron after the show and congratulated him on a good set and for giving Banjo Jim's a decent last night's show.
Aaron packs up...
And it's out the door. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
And so another door closes in the East Village. In the fall it will reopen and artisanal cocktails will be flowing in this space. Actually, one of the new owners, Robert Ceraso was answering questions in the comments section at EV Grieve and he was being nice and civil, even to wiseasses like me. He promised five buck bottles of Budweisers and at least one beer in the four dollar range. He seems like a nice guy. So did Ted Bundy. We’ll see what happens in the fall. Good luck to the former owners, bartenders, musicians and everyone who was connected to Banjo Jim’s. Another one down.
Further reading: EV Grieve, EVGif, Jim’s Roots and Blues and Now I’ve Heard Everything.
You Might Also Like: Blowing in the Wind, Dust in the Wind and Pissing in the Wind.
Four Banjo Players
Steve Martin
Earl Scruggs
Peter Tork
John Hartford
38 Comments
Reader Comments (38)
Good to see Anthony Bourdain showed up for the last night. Why is this place closing? Places that you mentioned like P & G, Rum, Fedora, they all reopened either in the same spot or nearby. When the new guy said 5 bucks for a bud, I think about how they all try to create expensive drinks making it hard to return as you have pointed out before. The 5 dollar beer is sometimes a token charge and that's just to get the regulars to return, usually upsetting them when they see the 15 dollar cocktail menu,,,,hope I'm wrong.
Damn! I totally forgot last night was the last night and should have gone over there! I have some great memories of the place and saw some terrific music. I'm glad you were there to document the last night, but am getting sick of telling various people "I'm glad you were there on the LAST night of XXX." Sigh... :(
"When the music's over...turn out the light" - The Doors
WTF are "artisanal cocktails" ?
I was going to get all sorts of Trotsky about the latest bar closing, but instead have opted to answer Gene's question. An artisanal cocktail is a festive streamer tied to the male genitalia which often hangs by the anal area in an artistic fashion. Happy hump day.
@Al: The owners sold and transferred the liquor license for reasons I don't know. I guess they just wanted to move along. We'll see what goes in here in October. I hope it's a decent place, but I have my doubts.
@Goggla: Sigh, indeed! Another sad closing.
@Jaws: The lights are out. We'll see what's their when they're turned back on.
@GENE: See csp's answer, I think he's correct!
@csp: You are correct sir!
@csp: HA HA HA!
Is it just me, or does Aaron bear a striking resemblance to Townes? Goodbye, Banjo Jim's. You looked like a great place to be. Oh, and Marty - love that outside shot with Ave C reflected in the window. TO HEX SIGNS!
@csp & @MAD .................... UFB !
I think I'll skip venturing into the new incarnation of this place !
Saw many a show at Banjo Jim's. Great music and cheap drinks. Sorry I missed the last night. Glad you were there to capture it Marty.
I can't believe that you just compared me to Ted Bundy.
We're going to try our best not to be dicks and we certainly aren't going to be fancy, but we're going to try our best to make some cool stuff.
Hope to see you in the Fall or if not I'm sure you have a good reason and that's cool too.
@Biff: I see the resemblance to TVS! And I didn't even notice the Avenue C sign reflected in the window till you pointed it out. Thanks Eagles Eyes, I'd like to say I planned that, but it's just a happy accident! TO HEX SIGNS!
@GENE: Don't worry, I'll go and let you know what the new place is like. It's what I do!
@Spike: It was a great place and it will be missed. The new owner claims he'll have live acts in there, just not every night. I'm trying to keep an open mind, but have been burned by new owners promises (Rum House, Fedora jump to mind) that I'm a little leery, but we'll see.
@Rob Ceraso: I didn't compare you to Ted Bundy, I said, that's what they said about him too. I also referred to myself as a wiseass, so it would be taken in that context. It was kind of tongue in cheek, but as I commented to Spike, we've all seen new bar owners make promises and then they don't come true. I'm hoping you'll be the exception to the rule, and I'll be there for sure to check it out.
I was just kidding, man.
I was at Banjos on Saturday and Monday for a couple of the nights leading up to closing. There was a lot of love and a lot of great musicians and friends paying their last respects. It was great to be able to be there for what was for me the last of a lot of great nights at Banjo Jim's.
We hope to carry on Banjos spirit of music in some respect. We're working with Banjo Lisa to figure out some details.
We only want to be judged by our merits or shortcomings when the time comes. We hope to have more merits.
@Rob Ceraso: Glad you didn't take that seriously. I think (as Goggla has pointed out regarding Fedora) that you're making a wise decision by changing the name and not promising a Banjo Jim's Mach II and then not delivering on the promise. From what I can see from your comments it sounds like you're going to try to make a cool place for the block. I'll be anxious to see what you do with the space and I'll try to keep an open mind on my first visit. Good luck!
@Rob: Speaking from experience, the most important thing in setting up live music in your bar is not to hire your friends! I met my friend Sam in Paris. We got along great, but after a while the entire continent seemed to be overrun by assholes. To top it off, the Norwegian girl I had been dating left me high and dry. Anyways, I decided to open up a bar in Morocco of all places and hired Sam to be in charge of live music. Instead of being grateful, he turned out to be disobedient and brought nothing but bad luck. Sure as shit, the same asshole crowd I had tried to ditch from Paris started showing up at my new bar. Sam did nothing to dissuade them, playing songs to entertain them. It got to the point where I would specifically tell him not to play a particular song, and he would anyway. He was a manipulative schemer too. I don't know how he did it, but I would tell him not to do something and somehow everyone would remember me asking him to do it. To make a long story longer, the Norwegian chick showed up at my bar with a husband in tow acting like she ran the place. Bafflingly, Sam was siding with her in some bizarre power struggle. It was horrible, I decided to split altogether. I was going to abandon the bar, the assholes, the ex; but then the bitch tried to lay some guilt trip on me about the past so II just gave her my plane tickets just to get rid of her. Looking forward, I think I found a French guy to become partners with. Don't make the same mistake as me, don't hire your friend to be your bar's musical director.
@RICK: Good advice for Rob,,,,never looked at Casablanca that way,,,,,,@MAD are people getting testy here lately,,,,I thought I was awarded the "against the grain" job on MAD,,,,LOL
@Rick: What a story! You should write a script around that, it would be one hell of a movie! You could call it, "Play It Again, Rick."
@Al: You need to get mad here at MAD to hold on to your "against the grain" crown!
not being a new yorker i still lament the closin' of any great place that i have or have not visited...hell who knows what tomorrow may bring and all that...
thanks for that chip taylor clip...sorta forgot the tunes he not gave us but the artists that benefited from his tunes...wonder if Angelina visits her uncle once in awhile...
MAD...about the seventh caption down i think you meant something other than what was said...but i may be wrong 3rd "rotgut 45" and all...
"Life is the conversion of time into memories."
~Aaron R. Warren
rr
oh yeah...all the best to rob et al ...
should a been "not only"
rr
Sad to see Banjo Jim's bite the dust. I used to play and sing at a place like that in St. Louis. It was called Frank Moscus in Exile Bar. (It's a long story.) As long as I sang they gave me free drinks. I wonder if bars still do that? Now, they give me free drinks to STOP singing!
Marty, I believe with all my heart that you are the greatest photo-journalist of the 21st century, bar none! Keep up the good worm and remember the Pekin motto, because I sure as hell don't!
Keep us updated on what happens. It's sad seeing the East Village in decline. It's a magical part of the city with friendly folk and heaps to see and do. Cheers!
To Banjo's!
Biff beat me to the punch again - loved the Hex sign - yay for PA references in NYC! The fact that you could go there and listen to music without a cover charge is awesome. Hopefully the new owners put their own spin on the bar and it's a good spin. Hey @Rob - make sure your bartenders don't text on the job. It's a No-No with the MAD crowd.
@rr: Chip Taylor is a real unsung hero in rock 'n' roll. Wrote some great tunes and most people have no idea who he is. I didn't know he was Jon Voigt's brother!
@Danny Maness: Thanks for the kind words and you still sting...I mean sing great. I'll prove it tomorrow!
@Clacky: It sucks you never made it there, you'd have loved it.
@Britta: Thanks for sending Rob the no-text tip! I didn't think of that!
@Everyone: That troll that was posting comments last night was back, I'll write more about it tomorrow, but obviously this guy has no life whatsoever. It's really pathetic. Anyway, I had to turn on the comment moderation on the comment section here. Basically I will just approve your comments and they'll go up after I do, in the order I get them. I hope this doesn't stop everyone from commenting, let's not let this pathetic slug of a person win! Thanks to you all for reading and for commenting, I really do appreciate it!
You know how you can tell that this was a cool place to chill? Look through your photos - where are the masses of text message morons pretending that they are interacting with others just because their bodies appear? Yep, they are over at douchehouses like Fedoras.
I saw the comments over at EV Grieve, and despite them being good sports and holding out hope for the new place, this whole 'artisinal cocktail' thing is a bit worrisome.
@JAZ: Excellent point! I would love to see a bar have a no-texting rule. That would attract the best people in town...are you reading this Rob?
I would love a no-text bar - hell, I'd even settle for Text Free Tuesdays or something just to break it in and show bar owners that it would not hurt their bottom line.
Rob has a shot at making some serious customers for life if he gives this a shot - even as a 1 night thing.
@JAZ: I'm all for the Text Free Tuesday idea. And I guarantee you he'd get press, the NY Post eats stuff like this up! Rob, you've got a golden opportunity here, but JAZ and I should at least get a free drink for combining our noggins and thinking of it! And if you'd add no cell phone calling to the mix it would be even better!
Agree with everything you just said - especially that free drink part. Great point about the Post; they would eat a story like that up; would be some serious exposure for a new business, and it would attract the down to earth people that make a night at a bar enjoyable instead of the scenesters, and the popped collars who alternate between high fiving their 'bro's' and zombie staring into their phones.
@JAZ: Okay, it's Rob's move! Let's see if a Text-Free Tuesday is in the future for the East Village! It could start a whole new trend, one that a lot of us would embrace.
Is Ted Bundy the guy from Married With Children?
I'm moderately annoyed by this Tom-foolery. Now I have to deal with delayed gratification? Dr. Ruth's crusty vagina would approve. As to text free Tuesday's with Maury, FYI booty-call texts trump all phone bans. You might as well try and ban smoking, oh wait a minute. Anyway, by the time the moderator reads this, it will be tomorrow, and this will be in the rear view mirror. My god, the terrorists are winning. For the text and smoke free Empire! (State)
@Fat Al: Ha ha ha! Good one!
@csp: To hell with booty-call texts, pick up someone in the bar, the old fashioned way. And I'll put up more about the moderated comments soon.
@MAD: I tried the old fashioned way, but telegrams are a lot more expensive then you would think [stop]
@csp: Women love telegrams! Save up and you'll see what I mean.
Marty. I deeply appreciate you putting on a such a sensitive and highly sophisticated form of intellectual video/musical genre as the moving and heartwrenching "Hitchin': God's Way Of Letting You Know You Don't Have A Car." The concept is brilliant and the singing was absolutely indescribable! Oh, if only some kind souls would take that "leap of faith" and order his book. This poor struggling writer will someday be the Gary Larson, that guy who does all the voices for Family Guy( I think it's Seth something) or maybe, Marty Wombacher of tomorrow! WOW! Your blog just stepped up a notch or two into the high society stratosphere!!
@Danny Maness: Happy to put it up there! And if you become the next Marty Wombacher, you too can be struggling for next months rent!
"artisanal neighborhood cocktail bar" would not peak my interest. Live music no cover charge, peaked. But the fact that Rob commented here gives me hope. I would check out the new place just for that.
@kari: I'll check it out for sure. Rob seems like a nice guy, maybe he'll come through with something decent, we'll see. He didn't comment on the Text Free Tuesday idea JAZ and I had though, which is too bad!