July 7, 2006
Last year, the ongoing saga of the fate of legendary New York Punk club CBGB resulted in a short-term lease and an agreement that the venue would close up on Halloween of this year. However, owner Hilly Kristal has revealed that a long-standing rumor may come to fruition after all: CBGB could move to Las Vegas.
"We want to take a lot of this stuff with us, and I think we're going to move to Las Vegas," Kristal told MTV.com. "I have some developers who have some really great space in the downtown area. So, I'd say sometime in spring we'll be in Las Vegas. It's a big undertaking, and these developers are putting the money into it, and I want to make sure that, for my benefit and theirs, we make this work."
"[The Vegas CBGB] won't be the same size or the same shape, but I am going to have all the things that matter there," he added. "I am taking the bars with me, I am taking the stage — I'm taking the urinal that Joey [Ramone] pissed in with me. I'm going to take a lot of things — anything that makes this place CBGB. I'll make it CBGB, and even more so," he continued. "I think we can do better, starting in a new place, where the city's for it. It's more important to try to keep things going and moving up."
Kristal could start taking apart the club in September, but he hopes to send the venue off with a bang. Two months' worth of farewell shows are in the works with a wide variety of bands, and a schedule will be announced later this summer.
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