When Brownies, the best small music club in NYC over the past 10 years, shut down in 2002, the city seemed to be lacking a clear heir-apparent. Brownies' location at 10th and A, low covers (always well under $10), cheap drinks, super nice bartenders, owner, and staff, the best sound system in a small club, and initmate size made the bar an unbeatable venue. These rare traits, when combined with disproportionately good bookings almost every night, meant that NYC desperately needed a suitable replacement, especially during the post-2001 downturn in the local music scene. (The owners re-opened 169 Avenue A as Hi-Fi shortly later, this time as a bar only. A good bar, albeit garishly decorated.)
The downtown scene didn't exactly lack alternative venues, with CBGBs, Manitoba's, and the Lakeside Lounge in the East Village, Arlene Grocery, the Mercury Lounge, Tonic, and Luna Lounge on the L.E.S., the Knitting Factory in Tribeca, and Galapagos, Northsix, Luxx, and Warsaw in Williamsburg/Greenpoint. But none of those spaces had the vibe, the sound, or the bookings of Brownies.
Half a year after the re-opening of Sin-é, the torch may finally have been passed. The original Sin-é on St. Marks, more of a coffee-house than a club, drew fans of the folk/punk scene for a few years during the early nineties. Jeff Buckley fans know the original spot as the place where his live EP (and the significantly extended re-release this past year) were recorded a few years before his death. The new space, on Attorney and Stanton, has all of the blessings of Brownies -- an even better location, kick-ass staff, superior nightly line-ups, reasonable prices, and a DIY attitude that makes one feel that the slump is finally over for the downtown independent live music scene. Besides, any place where half the bands mispronounce the name of the club just has to be good.