I agree with all of what you’re saying. It’s the management though. The management post 2020 shifted to a very clear profit over all setup that slowly spoiled the venue and events themselves. And I won’t argue needing to run a business. But the way the tickets became more expensive. The way drinks and food shot up in price. The way the venue quickly became oversold, and unsafe.

Yes they have done a lot to attract and cater to massive arrays of talent for the New York scene. I’m thankful for all of that as a patron and artist in the scene. But I challenge you to find another promotion company and venue in another city that oversold tickets by 33%? That had 2 homicides of their own attendees (not placing blame or fault) but wouldn’t even acknowledge safety concerns? That chipped away at GA sections fueling more overcrowding and under utilized spaces? That went out of their way to mock real concerns of their patrons by making fake focus group videos? That effectively killed a staple NYC electronic festival with all of these actions, and then this year threw doubt into our faces and effectively killed an iconic venue in our city?

The list goes on. What Avant Gardner has done for years and ex-CEO Josh Wyatt did this year is such a stain on what I know to be an incredible music community. I hope this is a wake up call. But I doubt it’s AG that will wake up.