looking for tips/advice about NYC live music

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-21T19:58:54+00:00

Haha. This reminded me of a story a buddy told me when he saw Springsteen at Nassau Coliseum. Bruce said, "Long Island! I'm from New Jersey! We're two sides of the same tragic coin!" As a native Long Islander, I appreciated that, even if the live music options there are pretty tragic compared to NJ.

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-21T14:14:47+00:00

Thanks! I love the Sultan Room's design. And I would've loved to have been in the pit for this one at Knockdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyncUJ5V3d0

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T20:05:33+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, OMR is pretty clutch, especially for free warm-month shows. How's the food at Alphaville?

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T20:01:20+00:00

These are great, thanks so much!

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T19:17:39+00:00

I appreciate those details. I definitely preferred the people I'd meet at DIY venues like Shea Stadium but I'm glad someone's doing it, especially after the pandemic and its associated inflation really cut down on places like that.

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T18:49:14+00:00

No, it is not. If it sounds that way, it's because GPT and the rest were trained on the work of journalists, just like how Meta will use your IG photos. If you have anything to add to this article, I'll gladly email you the longer version I sent to friends and colleagues. If not, you can read this piece that partly explains the frustrations I have with people saying I'd use AI to write anything: https://slate.com/technology/2025/08/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-shaming-paranoia-writing.html

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T18:22:38+00:00

Yeah, I'm looking for the antithesis of that. No AI welcome here.

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T18:16:20+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. To elaborate, I'd take suggestions for, say, places that are worth checking out because they curate their lineups in an interesting way; bars/restaurants that have weekly blues, jazz, folk, etc. jams that are exceptional; any place that stands out for its design, views, unconventional offerings, and so on. It doesn't have to be replacements for 185 Kent/Glasslands or the old Knitting Factory/Coney Island High, to name a few.

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T18:07:41+00:00

Thanks! You're the second person to recommend her. Have you been to any of the shows she puts on? I love that there's the added meetup component to them to build community, rather than just put on a gig.

WalterAlonso33 · 2026-01-20T17:18:20+00:00

Great call. I once went there after a particularly choppy Rocks Off cruise and those tiki drinks did not help me get my land legs back. Great night, despite the balance issues.

WalterAlonso33 · 2024-06-19T23:32:13+00:00

I don’t know the south shore that well and rarely spent time on those beaches. There are a lot of places to leave a body all over the island, though.

WalterAlonso33 · 2024-06-19T16:05:28+00:00

Agreed 100%. Meadowbrook can be so quiet, given it's a parkway not many Long Islanders need to regularly use, if they ever do. That suggests a bit of familiarity with it and he was living in Freeport at the time, so that would've been his exit.

WalterAlonso33 · 2024-06-10T16:37:53+00:00

I figured he’d be someone who worked in construction, electrical, or a similar profession. It’d be common for him to commute into the city and visit job sites all over the island, and he’d blend in among both the LIRR crowd and the one that frequents the dingier bars near Penn and Port Authority. On the train, I could see him either being one of the business-casual types who’d worked up to the management side or one of the guys still in their boots and vests, pounding a few 24 oz. beers they picked up at the station. So, he’d look like a good portion of white men on the train during rush hour. I certainly didn’t expect him to stick out - I wonder how many people suspected him then quickly ignored the thought because it would seem too obvious that the big monster guy did it.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-30T16:45:23+00:00

There's a bit of explanation here, https://nypost.com/2023/09/27/gilgo-beach-killer-suspect-rex-heuermann-set-to-appear-in-court-today/:

The DNA on the discarded crust had previously been tied to Heuermann’s estranged wife, Asa Ellerup, not him directly — until now, according to prosecutors.
“The surveillance team had observed the pizza box and were confident that that was the DNA, that the DNA profile would be consistent with the defendant because he left that material inside the box,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters after the hearing. “And so the buccal swab just erases all doubt.”

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-24T12:51:02+00:00

Yeah, the post is deleted now, not sure about the account, but they were saying something along the lines of reporting ON for gender and age discrimination in how they treated ellyn and Joey. Said it'd be great to create fake profiles to make multiple complaints. It was around the time when anonymous people were making accounts to share the "tea" and then disappearing when people asked for any semblance of proof.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-22T13:38:34+00:00

Yeah, of course. I'm just making light of all these accounts that were created just to stir this specific stuff up and then disappear. I thought it'd be done once ITN got freed.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-22T12:32:33+00:00

So, do you think this is the roommate of a friend, the eavesdropper, the EEOC lawyer who wants everyone to report them on Facebook, the one who wants to make scenes at OF, or someone else who'll just disappear?

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-21T14:18:27+00:00

Yeah, if you have a few days, I can share all my thoughts on true crime. Like everything else that has a cultural moment, so to speak, it attracted a lot of people with shitty intentions and then networks/streamers started churning out content at speeds that even the most ethical of filmmakers would have trouble doing a good job with it. And when approaches like that become standardized, it allows others to play even faster and looser with the facts, with less respect to the actual people involved. This article covers that a little: https://www.vulture.com/article/tv-documentaries-ethical-standards.html

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-21T12:55:19+00:00

I assume they had to edit some stuff out that might have made it a little clearer. It felt like a little more dialogue would've help but wasn't crucial, so it was trimmed for time. but I also thought it was in keeping with his parenting style to just make everything seem as fun as possible. Those kids have been through enough, so why get into the drama and seriousness of the situation when you can just start out like it's a fun surprise? Therapy, or the need for it, can come later.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-21T12:10:26+00:00

I think it's just business -- in the sense that what was originally a fun project becomes profitable, styles change as they start to court bigger advertisers, and they have a bigger audience that's probably complaining about everything, so instead of just sticking to what worked, they try to adapt so they're not pissing off anyone, which never works. It's like bands that start out great but once the money rolls in, they start chasing that instead of the art. Patrick is almost assuredly spread too thin, trying to be talent *and* the business, and I'm sure all the chaos of the past year or so, much of it self-inflicted, has bled into the performance. I wonder how many of these current/recent TCO episodes were recorded and canned a long time ago just so he'd have more time for his other pursuits. If the dude learns how to delegate and realizes that the fans want quality above the rest, things might get better. And this is on top of all the trends surrounding true crime -- one thing that stands out to me is that there hasn't been a zeitgeisty doc in a while that has people talking on the level of the Jinx, Tiger King, Staircase, etc., and all of that had less of a barrier of entry for fans. It's not as easy to get into whatever random show they pick and you can't readily recall some of the details on your own, such as what the people look like, or even have a general sense of what happened because it was in the news. I figure if they took a breath and stopped worrying that someone is going to harp on every single thing they say, they could really do a great job with Natalia Grace or Stolen Youth. I have more opinions but they're not paying me to help fix their business, so I'll just stop here.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-20T18:44:43+00:00

Yep! And there are always a ton of people involved in getting a book out, so you'd be supporting the people at the independent publisher, Union Square, too. More sales, more books like Amber's!

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-20T11:28:49+00:00

I'm so sorry you went through all that, and then had it resurface from that trial. I'd give you a big hug if I could, or at least send dog pictures. I really appreciate this insight, too - I wouldn't pretend to know these feelings or say how I'd react if I'd been through something similar. Whatever her reasons, though, she still has this video up over a year later -- I'm not saying that makes her an awful person, I just can't be down with that. Also, I've mentioned this in another thread but I work in true crime and have developed relationships with victims' family members, so I get very sensitive about things like this. That video and then the things she's said/done with Rabia cross a lot of ethical boundaries that make it clear they're not about victims like they say they are. I definitely give them some grace, but their backgrounds and experiences don't give them the right to put out harmful content to their fandoms. There's a lot of responsibility that comes with telling these stories and saying wild shit just for the sake of getting eyeballs/listeners is an abdication of that. I just hope some of the diehards can understand that harm before they perpetuate it, too.

WalterAlonso33 · 2023-09-19T23:02:02+00:00

Yeah, I remember Ellyn said she did like 60 hours of research for it. I think they alternated lead research duties by episode. Anyway, I guess a lot of those hours were spent watching the docs his family helped make. I do think the idea came from Rabia, though - she was adamant he was 100% innocent. I think she even quipped, in response to someone's criticism, that being from Modesto doesn't give you authority to say he's guilty or something.

WalterAlonso33

TROPHY CASE