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July 30, 2001 – Live music venue and activism center Wetlands Preserve will be turning out its environmentally friendly lights on September 15, 2001. After close to thirteen years at 161 Hudson Street in TriBeCa, the gentrification of the Manhattan loft set hascaught up with the venerable club. The building is being sold andturned into residential condos and the venue is being converted intooffice and lobby space. Since opening on Valentine's Day in 1989, Wetlands achieved nationalprominence as the home of the burgeoning jam-band scene through theemergence of Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Blues Traveler, WidespreadPanic, Spin Doctors, and the many other improv-oriented rockers whoperformed regularly at the venue in the '90s. While serving as the "must play" venue for jam bands nationwide, theclub is also proud of its development of artists from a broad spectrumof musical genres -- rock, punk, hardcore, hip hop, reggae, ska, funk,jazz and electronic music. Some of the most prominent bands incontemporary music were booked at the 500-person capacity club early intheir careers. Pearl Jam, Sublime, Travis, David Gray,Counting Crows, and Rage Against the Machine each had their first NYC showsat Wetlands. Oasis's first two shows in America took place at Wetlands. Konkrete Jungle, the first American weekly drum and bass party, calledWetlands home for its first three years. And, just last year, the Rootshosted a month-long residency at the club that morphed into theirheralded weekly BlackLily party which featured an open-mic for femaletalent, including Jill Scott, Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu. The club hashosted numerous matinee shows on weekends, where the leading ska, punk,and hardcore bands played scores of shows for packed audiences. For thepast several years, live electronica bands such as the Disco Biscuits,the New Deal, Lake Trout and Sector 9 have also had numerous sold-outshows at Wetlands. The club was also the home of "Deadcenter," which forten years was the longest running and largest weekly gathering ofGrateful Dead fans in the country. In an age where clubs are designed to cater to a niche demographic,Wetlands welcomed everyone without the ego of a velvet rope at theentrance. With a capacity of 500, Wetlands is the largest all-ages live-music venue in New York City that is open every night of the week. Wetlands has always encouraged the use of DJs before, between, and afterbands' sets to enhance the live-music experience. While most clubs wouldjust have the sound engineer put on a CD between bands, Wetlands pridesitself on hiring a DJ for every show to accent the vibe of the evening. Larry Bloch founded the club as a neighborhood watering hole foractivists and a center for environmental activity. Bloch's intention wasto open a club and to use revenue from the club, regardless of profits,to fund the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve, which is still a majorpart of the club's operations. Since 1989, Wetlands has spent in excessof one million dollars running the center, which is contained in-houseand supports four part-time employees as well as an army of volunteersand interns who earn high school and college credit for their work atWetlands. The activism center works tirelessly on direct actions,letter writing campaigns and petition drives to raise awareness of amyriad of environmental and social justice issues. Every Tuesday sincethe club opened, the downstairs lounge has been the host of Eco-Saloonmeetings. Each week features a different topic, and many nights havefeatured special guest speakers (ranging from Timothy Leary and AllenGinsberg to Jello Biafra, Julia Butterfly, and WilliamKunstler), as well as educators, activists, and indigenous people who would talk about issues and share ideas of how to make the world abetter place. Some of the Wetlands Activism Center's more notable successes haveincluded lobbying successfully with the New York Times to get them tocancel their contract with MacMillan Bloedel, a paper supplier who wasclear-cutting the Clayqout Sound, an old growth forest in BritishColumbia.. They were also successful in persuading Home Depot, thelargest retailer of old growth rain forest wood, to cease the sale ofwood from environmentally sensitive areas by 2002. "They don't make rock clubs like Wetlands anymore," says current ownerPeter Shapiro (who took control of the club in 1996). "Now it's moreabout trendy lounges and carpeted live music venues. There's somethingreally special about going to the bathroom where the walls havebeen graffitied and stickered on for 13 years, and where the bandroomhas seen nearly 20,000 guests over the years. There is a specialfeeling in the air at Wetlands that is hard to describe, it's the kindof thing that only happens after having shows every day for more than adecade in the same room, and it's a feeling that very few other musicvenues have." Shapiro adds, "At Wetlands, we tried to create a kind ofmarriage between a neighborhood bar and a live concert hall. A placewhere people come to meet, socialize with friends, and dance to greatmusic." Shapiro and the current Wetlands management team (including GeneralManager Charley Ryan and Talent Buyer Jake Szufnarowski) plan oncontinuing to use the Wetlands name to promote shows, and are lookingfor a new space to call home in Manhattan. Recent Wetlands Presentsshows have included Sheryl Crow at Shine, as well as last month's JammyAwards at Roseland. Shapiro also produced the recent IMAX concert film,All Access. Former Wetlands Talent Buyer Chris Zahn has rejoined theWetlands team to book shows featuring the club's alumni in the club's final weeks at 161 Hudson Street.
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