Certainly not my favorite venue, but I suppose I c...

Certainly not my favorite venue, but I suppose I can understand the iconic status that this place holds. Book the right artist, and I'll definitely be willing to make a return visit.
As a resident of NYC, via the outer borough of Queens, I suppose I've been putting off my obligation to visit this venue for far too long. After being a denizen of the greater NYC area for the better part of 6 years, I finally rectified my failure to visit this place.

Getting in was a nightmare. Yellow Claw was headlining the night I attended, so my group got in line with the rest of the ratchets (who were all very friendly while we were all in queue). The halal cart wasn't very much appreciated being so close a vicinity to the line... not only was food of any kind a tantalizing prospect at that moment in time... but we all know that the smell of charred BBQ-ed meats is a scent that does a very good job of latching onto one's apparel and hair (which does not make for a very good dance floor scent). Having to endure a number of minutes (20-30) in the midst of wafting meaty smoke was not ideal.

Finally, the line started to move and myself + crew were finally able to hit up the showroom floor. The place was packed, and the crowd was hyped... so the environment and the vibe already evidenced the makings of a good night. I will say that the venue was a lot smaller than I anticipated, and with everyone wanting to get as close to the front as humanly possible, this easily resulted in a sardine can effect, to which one could expect a number of small skirmishes to commence as substance induced tempers flared up. It was with this in mind that my group and I were content to hang to the side and let the ratchets pick each other to pieces (although even the sides had their own fair share of elbows and rudeness occurring... but I suppose that's always to be expected, unfortunately).

The artists that were booked, however, played great sets; the dark classic aesthetics of the showroom added a lot of character to the place, which I happened to appreciate... it was almost jarring. The light show and LED screen did a good enough job of adding enough visual substance to the show (albeit, nothing mind-blowing). The sound was well balanced... as I didn't notice too much bass (it was a trap happy night, so lots of that weird clang-y noise that we all know and love).

Certainly not my favorite venue, but I suppose I can understand the iconic status that this place holds. Book the right artist, and I'll definitely be willing to make a return visit.