Cake Shop NYC, Music venue in Lower East Side, Manhattan, US.
Cake Shop NYC was a music venue in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, spread across three floors of a building at 152 Ludlow Street: a cafe and record store on the ground floor and a concert space in the basement. The basement held only a small number of people, while upstairs visitors could buy coffee and cake or browse through vinyl records.
The club opened in 2005 and quickly became a regular spot for bands just starting out, before closing in 2016. In its early years, groups that later became widely known, such as Vampire Weekend and The Dirty Projectors, played there.
The basement stage was a place where musicians without a record deal could play their own music without making compromises. The crowd was small and often stood right in front of the performers, creating a very direct connection between artists and listeners.
The club closed in 2016 and can no longer be visited, but the building on Ludlow Street is still standing and can be seen from the street. The area around the Lower East Side is easy to reach by subway and easy to walk around.
Alongside the stage, the venue had a cocktail menu with unusual drinks, including an Old Fashioned made with Earl Grey tea. These kinds of drinks were rarely found in music clubs of this type at the time.
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