Tag Archives: b.b. king blues club

The Thrill Is Gone! B.B. King Blues Club & Grill Has Closed (2000-2018)

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Last night, the legendary Blues artist Buddy Guy headlined the stages of the B.B. King Blues Club for their final event. Yes my friends, as we’ve noted in a previous post, the illustrious Times Square venue has closed its doors. We’ve already noted how a skyrocketing rent was the root cause and this is something we are hearing in NYC all the frigging time nowadays and its becoming boring. The greed of the regions property owners are making all of the things that make our city special go away. It sucks. Now as a scribe whose spent a considerable amount of time supporting shows in this venue for the past thirteen years, I had been on a mission this afternoon to snap a shot of the “Thank You” message that a friend showed me was on the marquee last night. After attending the Ghost press conference, I headed uptown to Times Square and I was left speechless by what I saw when I reached my destination.

Sadly, B.B. King’s no longer even existed by the time that I got there and all of the marquee signage was gone along with the neon and the photos that adorned it among numerous other lights for all of Times Square to see. Staff was zipping in and out with stuff and when I asked someone why this was so quick an occurrence they said that they needed to be out by tomorrow (Tuesday). Clearly the thrill was gone and I will miss this place very much. I still have to do a massive compilation of my very favorite performances here for you to enjoy but its taking me a little longer than I expected it to since there are quite a few. In my announcement about the closing, I had miscalculated my contests for the place and there was only “80” of them and not “92” as I previously reported. I did still put over “600” fans into the shows in the place so that is all that matters to me.

The loss of this venue also breaks some of the pre-gaming rituals that my friends and I would have. Generally, we would find ourselves assembling and catching up at the nearby Smith’s Bar and then heading over once all had joined in and the show was relatively close to starting. I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve covered shows here and how many different bands all get added up but will say its at least “200” on the show review scale and probably around “600” for individual bands. Though its been said that there is interest in finding another location, one has to wonder if there will there even be time to focus on that with the brand new Sony Hall having absorbed most of their programming while some other shows have been taken over to the Highline Ballroom. I’m sure going to miss this place and thank all of the staff who helped me to do my thing for so many years in these confines. Eternal thanks for that matter.

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Hopefully they hang this somewhere special. Perhaps the Hard Rock Cafe should look into this along with the smaller neon logo we just shared above.

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No one appearing tonight. No one coming soon. Sadness.

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To learn more about the partnership between the Blue Note Media Group and Sony Music please click HERE to access the post that we shared about the news.

Official Website: http://www.bbkingblues.com

Buddy Guy @ B.B. King Blues Club

Buddy Guy will close out the Closing Week of Shows with this final night of shows at the Times Square venue which ends its storied residence with this show. Don’t miss out because the greedy developers are chomping at the bit to make this place a Starbucks, Bubble Tea Room or something else that the city doesn’t need.

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George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic @ B.B. King Blues Club

The Closing Week of Shows has reached its next to last event with the legendary George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

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Breaking: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill Announces Final Shows

I had to look this up and it was apparently Chaucer who coined the phrase that “all good things must come to an end” and sadly, this quote now applies to the venerated Times Square nightclub B.B. King Blues Club and Grill which will shut its doors in the coming weeks. Below please find the full press statement on the matter and I will close out with some thoughts as a longtime patron.

The Press Release:
After 18 years of hosting some of music and entertainment’s most revered names, B.B. King Blues Club & Grill has announced its final run of shows in its current Times Square location (237 W 42nd St). Due to escalating rent, the historic venue and supper club is forced to close its doors with a final performance on April 29, 2018. B.B. King Blues Club is in the process of selecting a new location in Manhattan to relocate the venue.

To honor its storied legacy, B.B. King’s will host a very special closing week celebration which will consist of performances by: Buddy Guy, Rick Ross, Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh + Special Guests, El Gran Combo, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and more. Buddy Guy will headline the final B.B. King Blues Club show on Sunday, April 29. Please see below for the current schedule. CLICK HERE to purchase tickets – all announced shows are on sale now. Stay tuned for more shows to be announced in the next few days at .
Continue reading Breaking: B.B. King Blues Club & Grill Announces Final Shows

Buckethead @ B.B. King Blues Club

Buckethead will bring that geetar thing to life in Times Square and you don’t want to miss this masked maniac of music if you can help it.

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