Farmingdale, New York's “Downtown” closes its doors

Contributed by an Anonymous Source. Posted by aubin on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at 1:04 PM (EDT)

Farmingdale, New York's The Downtown has officially closed its doors. While the club owners have declined to explain the reason for the closing, all the upcoming shows at the popular Long Island club have been cancelled and refunds are being issued at the point of purchase.

The club opened in December of 2001 and had a capacity of about 450 people. The former co-owner, Dave Glicker told newsday only: "I know from operating for many years that insurance alone is almost cost-prohibitive. Especially when you're hosting very aggressive rock and roll shows."

According to the same story, the venue was the site of the first public performance from Straylight Run, hosted two comeback shows from Glassjaw, and was the location for CD releases from Lux Courageous, As Tall as Lions and Bayside.

(52 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

bummer

InaGreendase (brian) (September 20, 2005)

THE Long Island venue for years. I've been to so many shows here...this is seriously a huge shock and disappointing all the same, and a huge, huge blow to LI shows in general.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

the downtown was the new pwac and ground zero

TheOneTrueBill (September 20, 2005)

Though I've never been there, I certainly know the feeling of having a place close down. And let me tell you, it sucks big time.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I saw Catch 22 there with WYPB a few years ago...I almost passed out it was so packed and hot inside. Compared to the cold outside. Hey LI kids...shorts in November isn't punk. Just stupid.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I thought all the scene long island "punk" kids wore tight ass girl jeans.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Speaking as a punk, who now resides in long island, I can tell you that you are correct. I saw one show at the Downtown and was totally put off by the crowd. Nothin' but 15-17 year olds parading around with strategically prettied up hair and stereotypical "hardcore kid" look, totally fashion oriented. And man, they sure as hell couldn't dance.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

That's what you get when the music reached the upper-class suburban kids.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

your so punk because you can bash 15 year olds fashion.. their fucking kids, who cares.. and your a fucking loser.

dbapunx (September 20, 2005)

punkest statement of the day award to you my friend

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Well when I went there they were all wearing shorts and it was November/late october.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

yeah ya know its like 1000 degrees in the downtown,sorry we're not fitting the fashion code for going to shows,just so you know when u get out of the downtown even if its dec your car is like 2 mins away,your having such a rush you don't feel anything,you guys are missing the point here-this is not about what we wear at the downtown-i've been to like 40 shows there its 10mins from my house,i;ve been on 2 dvd's made there(northstar,catch 22)the downtown was like our long island cbgb's-and this sucks big time!-but see the real problem here is its the people who are running these things half assed-BIG EXAMPLE:HELLFEST!end up running things into the ground and then its like oh woops we don't know what happened,nyone on here that lives on long island knows running shows at the crazy donkey sucks ass!

Someone (September 20, 2005)

anyone know the details???

Someone (January 4, 2006)

Drug bust

Someone (September 20, 2005)

"I know from operating for many years that insurance alone is almost cost-prohibitive. Especially when you're hosting very aggressive rock and roll shows." That's what kids get, maybe instead of all that instend of all that bumping and moshing you kids do you should all just bring your pj's and blankets to shows and have huge mega hardcore pillow fights!!! Now that would be some brutal shit right there. /ends lame attempt at humor

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I'm sure many kids got hurt at that Straylight Run performance...probably because they were fighting to get out of there as fast as they can. wow...thats an even lamer attempt at humor than yours. Instead of deleting this comment, I'll post it for everyone to enjoy. sooooooo....enjoy.

robdobi (September 20, 2005)

a few years ago at a pg 99 show in CT everyone wore pajamas and brought the pillowfight mosh, i'm not kidding.

Kenjamin (September 20, 2005)

i definitely appreciate the sense of humor present in that hardcore scene. Halloween shows and such are always a blast.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I'm thinkin' about my doorbell. When ya gonna ring it? When ya gonna ring it?

eightyeight (September 21, 2005)

goddamnit, that song is great! nic.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Shitty crowds at the Downtown. Good riddance.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

wow, shocking. ive made many a road trip down to this club. beautiful inside too. ill miss it. better question, will long island ever get any tours anymore? this place was the #1 venue on the island

Someone (September 20, 2005)

it seems that way. I cant think of any good alternatives to this venue in terms of the kind of bands it fostered. Maybe places like Freespace will get more independent bands.

InaGreendase (brian) (September 20, 2005)

Freespace is done, too. (http://www.wrcshows.net)

Someone (September 21, 2005)

long island sucks. it really, really sucks. fucking rich kids with loads of leisure time that start up shitty bands that hitch themselves to whatever the newest bandwagon is.

Someone (September 21, 2005)

speak for yourself asshole

AlmostPunkEnough (September 20, 2005)

lame. one of the few reasons for going to LI for me. i liked it a lot there. the crowds were sometimes typical morons form LI (i'm not trying to be a dick, i like lots of kids from LI), but what do you expect, they're harmless anyway.i don't think i ever saw a bad show there, though i only saw 4 or 5. it will be missed. hopefully someone opens pretty much the exact same place with a new name.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I have a ticket in front of me for Strung Out in a few weeks at the Downtown. Newsday is saying shows will likely get moved to either the Crazy Donkey or some other club. There is still hope...

iseriouslyhateyou (September 20, 2005)

Whoa Whoa Whoa, this came out of nowhere. I have seen so many good shows at The Downtown. Too bad.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Good. That venue sucks. They treat bands like shit, the sound guy's an idiot, and the owner is a douche bag. Fuck them, they deserve it.

Someone (September 20, 2005)

I heard the same thing, although I don't know if this is true

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Oh it's true alright.

Someone (September 21, 2005)

funny, most bands say they get treated very well, and you're messed up cos the sound is pretty good

Someone (September 20, 2005)

GAY!!!

Someone (September 20, 2005)

good

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Im moving to farmingdale next week i go to school out in long island. Its kinda a wierd place. I wanted ot see Strung Out and this will be the 5th time me being screwed out of seeing them. o and let me say ::cough cough crack binge cock cough cough :: crack is the reason why there is no more downtown

Someone (January 4, 2006)

Yep crack

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Maybe they can get Kid Dynamite. Gorilla Biscuits, and other bands to play reunion shows to help them stay in business. -Steve Pantalones

Someone (September 20, 2005)

this was definately an awesome venue...great looking inside...good merch area, good bar, and plenty of room to watch the shows...its a shame when awesome venues have to shut down....this is prolly george bush's fault...i dont know how but im sure it can be traced back to him. hahaha kidding but yeah this sucks

Someone (September 20, 2005)

Am I the only person who didn't like this place? They'd set up tables and chairs in the middle of the "dance floor", they somehow managed to lose the will call list two out of the 4 times i went, they make opening acts buy a couple hundred dollars worth of tickets to sell themselves in order to be allowed to play, and they booked what seemed like the same bands over and over again the only thing i will say about this place is they booked Hank Williams III and that show was amazing

Someone (September 20, 2005)

good thing I didnt buy tickets for the streetlight manifesto show. to the person who said the downtown draws shitty crowds, I partly have to agree with you. when i saw against me there, everyone rushed the stage at the beginning of the 2nd verse(you're suppossed to do it when the clapping breakdown begins!) and knocked out the guitars. it was drum and bass for the rest of the song. but the crowd didnt miss one beat, singing along to every word for the rest of the song. i had fun as i had seen them 2x before, but I could see how someone seeing the band for the first time could be annoyed at the LI crowd

Someone (September 20, 2005)

HEY LONG ISLAND! MORE GOOD NEWS! FREESPACE IS FUCKING DEAD! http://myspace.com/longislandfreespace Someone with experience please contribute this to news

Someone (September 21, 2005)

Thank god it was started just as an excuse for a buncha dirty punks to book their own bands and kill your idols every month............nothing good ever came out of that place

Someone (September 21, 2005)

IM SO FUCKING GLAD! This place sold fucking Guiness in plastic pups. And i was seeing Dave Attell! The door guy almost wouldnt let my friend in even though he had a ticket he bought online. ummm overall i just think it was dicking the kids over. fuck this place. i wanted it to burn to the ground. the guys who own Sam Ash own this place

Someone (September 21, 2005)

pups?

Someone (September 21, 2005)

does anyone know why it closed? and if the 3 inches of blood show was re-scheduled? DEADLY SINNERS!!!!

Someone (September 25, 2005)

the downtown closed becuase it didnt make any money...i thought that would of been obvious...oh well

Someone (September 23, 2005)

I have seen so many awesome shows here. It is a shame to see this happen. We can only hope that it reopens as another great place to see some talented musicians of old, present, and the future. Keep on rockin.

Someone (October 2, 2005)

WORST VENUE EVER! I'm glad it closed down. Long island kids are wackkkk. Long Island is a wasteland. Haha, now where are you stupid emo kids gonna go? no one outside of LI cares about the stupid downtown. haha.

Someone (November 2, 2005)

Have you see the website for the "replacement venue" the Crazy Donkey?! What CHEESE!!! And this is coming from a Jersey guy! Good luck getting football tackled by all the Joeys and meathead bouncers in the pit. http://www.thecrazydonkey.com

Someone (November 25, 2005)

true blow to the island, whether or not the club sucked. there's basically no suitable club around anymore for a band of a caliber higher than local bands.. forcing all islanders to go to NYC to see shows..lame. i saw about 10 shows there, some of the best of my life.. they always, always brought real classic reggae acts in.. you could walk out, smoke a bowl in the parking lot, go to 7-11 and drink a beer, then walk back in no problem..you just, you really can't beat that