Beloved downtown music haven Rockwood Music Hall has reportedly closed
You can call it the end of an era: according to a post on X from music journalist Adam Bernard, iconic downtown Manhattan concert venue Rockwood Music Hall emailed all of last weekend’s scheduled performers to tell them that the hall had closed.
Although there hasn’t yet been an official comment released by the venue itself, online reports confirm the shuttering of Stage I, which follows last year’s Stage II shutter.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, this Rockwood Music Hall location has closed its doors today, Sunday November 10, 2024. Hence all shows going forward are canceled,” reads Rockwood’s statement to musicians, according to Bernard’s social media post. “Apologies for the short notice and thank you for your support. Please reach out if needed.”
The 50-person-capacity destination has been an emblem of the downtown music scene since it first opened back in 2005. Throughout its two decades, it has hosted acts like Lady Gaga and Sting while also supporting artists who were just getting started.
The venue estimates that over 75,000 sets have taken over the stage at the 196 Allen Street space throughout the years.
RECOMMENDED: The 14 best live venues in New York City
Rockwood Music Hall had been facing financial difficulties for a while, perhaps linked to its business model: the venue rarely charged a cover fee and mostly relied on drink sales.
In 2023, the concert hall launched a GoFundMe campaign to keep its doors open and was able to raise over $120,000, a testament to its popularity among locals and beyond. Famous artists like Sara Bareilles and Elle King also performed during a fundraising concert series.
“In 2007, I played one of the first shows of my career at Rockwood Music Hall on the Lower East Side, a venue that then and now represents the grit and determination of New York’s aspiring musical community,” said Bareilles in a statement shared on the GoFundMe page back then. “I genuinely believe that for emerging and developing artists, sacred places like this are the heartbeat and lifeline of the New York music scene.”
Unfortunately, it appears that all the support didn’t help for long enough.
Last November, Rockwood announced the imminent closure of Stage II, sending off the larger space with a series of shows played by acclaimed folk band The Lone Bellow. The hall’s Boston location also closed earlier this year.
Now, with the closure of Rockwood’s Stage 1, several musicians are left without a stage.
California-based musician Arielle Silver, for example, was scheduled to kick off her tour at Rockwood tonight. The singer-songwriter took to Instagram to announce the hall’s reported closure and search for a new space for her show. No More Cafe in the East Village stepped in as the host yesterday.