285 KENT

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285 KENT was an "underground," all ages concert venue located at 269-289 Kent Avenue, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. [1] The venue was founded and operated by Todd Patrick aka "Todd P", beginning in 2010, [2] ultimately closing in 2014 to much fanfare and media coverage. [3] [4] [5] [6] The venue was initially booked and exclusively managed by Patrick, later in partnership with Ric Leichtung, who created the event promotion entity AdHoc.fm, an offshoot of a music journalism website of the same name, to book the venue. [7]

285 KENT operated under the DIY ethos and hosted acclaimed concerts and events spanning indie, punk, hip hop, electronic music, and other genres. [8] The venue strictly hosted only all ages events at affordable ticket prices. [9] [10] 285 KENT held a standing-room only capacity of approximately 400 persons. [9]

During its relatively brief tenure, Patrick and Leichtung sought to book 285 KENT to expand the community for DIY events beyond its traditional privileged, white, and straight audience; [11] by seeking performances and partnerships with artists and event organizers representing LBGTQ+ communities [12] [13] and people of color. [11] The venue hosted influential events such as the queer youth club night series "TOP 8," [14] multiple performances by Chicago Footwork pioneer DJ Rashad, [15] Blood Orange, [16] Mykki Blanco, [17] Grimes; [17] and secret shows by artists such as hip hop collective Odd Future, [18] queer R&B artist Frank Ocean, [19] Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky, [20] and others.

Previous to the opening of 285 KENT, the same unit housed the earlier creative spaces Bohemian Grove, a short-lived underground venue for electronic music events (operated by John Barclay who would later open the boutique Bushwick electronic music venue Bossa Nova Civic Club); [21] [17] and Paris London West Nile, a live/work loft and avant music and performance arts venue occupied communally by several artists and musicians. [22]

The Paris London West Nile collective became the first to lease the unit shortly after its creation through partitioning of a larger warehouse, via association with artist and composer Zeljko McMullen, who worked as an artist's assistant to the musician Lou Reed. Reed and McMullen initially scouted the location and negotiated a lease to house a work studio for Reed, with McMullen taking the lease after Reed declined to occupy the space. [23]

The larger warehouse 285 KENT occupied also housed the creative arts venues Death By Audio, Glasslands Gallery, Ran Tea House, [24] Windmill Studios, [25] the Muse, [26] IndieScreen, [27] and the Glasshouse Gallery, [28] among others. The building's community of creative venue spaces were displaced in 2014 and 2015 by Vice Media, who acquired a lease on the majority of the building to house their headquarters. [29] The building was constructed originally as a satellite structure to the historic Domino Sugar Refinery complex, located directly across Kent Avenue to the West. [30]

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References

  1. ↑ "Indestructible Room: The Story of 285 Kent". Pitchfork.
  2. ↑ "Javelin, Future Islands & Liturgy @ 285 Kent Ave (pics)". BrooklynVegan.
  3. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (January 20, 2014). "A Five-Band Countdown to Goodbye" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ↑ "Brooklyn Venue 285 Kent Whispered to Close". Spin. December 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ ""DIY Will Never Die": An Exit Interview with 285 Kent's Ric Leichtung". The Village Voice. January 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Why the Closing of 285 Kent Doesn't Matter". www.vice.com.
  7. ↑ "Best Promoter of Concerts And Cats". The Village Voice. October 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Baldwin, Chelsea. "The Top DIY Venues In Brooklyn". Culture Trip.
  9. 1 2 "The Not-So-Secret Reasons 285 Kent Worked". The L Magazine. January 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Why DIY? Now More Than Ever, Underground Venues Are Crucial". CLRVYNT.
  11. 1 2 Joffe, Justin (June 23, 2016). "DIY Venue Owner Todd Patrick: Only the Bourgeois Think NY Is Dead". Observer.
  12. ↑ "We Saw Hunx and His Punx at 285 Kent". www.vice.com.
  13. ↑ "Hunx and his Punx". August 21, 2013.
  14. ↑ Hawking, Tom (December 20, 2013). "RIP 285 Kent, the Last DIY Music Venue I'll Ever Truly Love". Flavorwire.
  15. ↑ Ryce, Andrew (January 21, 2014). "Following the past weekend's string of farewell events, the Brooklyn venue has ceased operations". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  16. ↑ "Blood Orange Album Release Party at 285 Kent NYC 11.15.13 [Zumic Review, Photos & Setlist]| Zumic | Music News, Tour Dates, Ticket Presale Info, and More". Zumic. November 17, 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 Alarcon, Stefa (January 8, 2014). "Say Goodbye to 285 Kent, Our Last Piece of DIY Williamsburg". Remezcla.
  18. ↑ "Trash Talk & Odd Future brought chaos to 285 Kent after the Tyler, Earl & Frank Ocean shows (pics/video)". BrooklynVegan.
  19. ↑ Sherman, Maria (January 20, 2014). "The Final Days of 285 Kent - Deafheaven and Wolf Eyes - 1/18/14". The Village Voice.
  20. ↑ Shapiro, David (January 21, 2014). "The End". The New Yorker.
  21. ↑ Detrick, Ben (May 15, 2013). "Bossa Nova Civic Club" – via NYTimes.com.
  22. ↑ DiBlasi, Loren (January 8, 2014). "An Oral History of 285 Kent: 'It Felt Magical and We All Got Wasted'". Bedford + Bowery.
  23. ↑ Maymind, Leo (March 31, 2014). "Zeljko McMullen, On Deck". Interview Magazine.
  24. ↑ Disser, Nicole (July 7, 2015). "Ran Tea House Is Now a Zen Co-Working Space By Day, Venue By Night". Bedford + Bowery.
  25. ↑ "Windmill Studios NYC". Time Out New York.
  26. ↑ "A Guide to the New South Williamsburg -- New York Magazine - Nymag". New York Magazine.
  27. ↑ Dickson, Evan (November 28, 2012). "New 'Spiders 3D' Clip! Film Screens In Brooklyn Next Week!". Bloody Disgusting.
  28. ↑ "FREEwilliamsburg: Event Listings Archives". www.freewilliamsburg.com.
  29. ↑ "Vice Media the Driving Force Behind Underground Venue Closures". Billboard. October 22, 2014.
  30. ↑ "South 2nd Street Over the Years · Javier Cabrera · Displaced Histories 2016". displacedhistories.hosting.nyu.edu.

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