New York
Ned Rothenberg, a renowned New York-based musician, started performing at Tonic nine years ago, soon after the avant garde music club opened in the lower east side of Manhattan. Rothenberg displayed his talents on instruments from the saxophone to the Japanese shakuhachi (bamboo flute), in genres from jazz to rock and punk.
'Most of the live-music venues still existing in Manhattan have narrowed their boundaries,' he said. 'But at Tonic there was never a prescription that the music has to be a certain thing.'
The last time Rothenberg and other big names in the experimental music field played at Tonic, they were escorted out by police. In fact, two of them were arrested. It was April 14, the day after the group played Tonic's last official gig before it closed its doors. But Rothenberg and his friends just couldn't let go. They broke in and played for a crowd of diehard fans while workers removed the stage.
'I feel like Tonic just opened yesterday,' said Rothenberg, who was attracted from Boston in the 1970s by the opportunities for musicians. 'Now I feel a chapter is closing.'
The scene was splendid when live-music clubs such as CBGB's, Sin-e, Fez and the Continental were incubators for iconic bands such as The Ramones and made the lower east side a great place for musicians and fans from around the world. But all of these clubs have shut down recently, driven out by Manhattan's rents.Tonic's closing is symbolic, not only because it was the latest casualty but also because it was the final live-music club in Manhattan open every night that was able to accommodate more than 90 people. (Its capacity was 200.)
'It is very hard to find a venue for musicians in Manhattan these days,' said Patricia Nicholson Parker, a dancer and veteran show organiser. 'All the venues are very small, and you cannot make enough money off the door.'
