I’m having difficulty holding back my rage and sadness as I write this — The Silent Barn, one of NYC’s very finest DIY venues, was robbed and vandalized over the weekend, resulting in the loss of donated artwork, furniture, projects, tools, and over $15,000 in audio equipment, as well as extensive property damage. The space is utterly essential as an alternative venue for bands and artists that might not otherwise find such fantastic support in NYC, and serves as a locus for much of the city’s most adventurous new music. Attendees at any of its many wide-ranging, welcoming, and shockingly-reasonably-priced shows will undoubtedly feel as saddened as I do. The loss of this equipment coupled with the massive damage to the space is a huge blow for the city’s music community. You can read the venue’s statement about the robbery at their Facebook page here.
A portion of what was stolen (contact silentbarn@gmail.com if you have any information):
- 2 powered QSC K8 speakers
- 2 powered behringer Eurolive B1800D-PRO subwoofers
- 1 Yamaha MG166CX 16-Channel Mixer
- 1 snake with 8 XLR inputs and 4 1/4”” inputs
- 2 Yamaha passive PA speakers (painted white)
- Peavey Bass Cab
- Two Peavy power amps
- Soundcraft Spirit 4 mixer
- Tape Decks
- Ampeg bass amp BA 115 bass combo
- Peavey bass combo amplifier
- Silver Stanton USB turntable
- behringer bcf2000 usb mixer
But while this is awful news, it shouldn’t have to signal the end of an era. DIY venues are nothing if not resilient, so now’s the time for you to help prove that that’s the case here as well and get this place up and running again. The Silent Barn is asking for donations to help put the place back together, and a Kickstarter is being set up right now to help speed the process, which we’ll provide a link for in this story as soon as it’s up [update (7/20): here’s the Kickstarter link]. If you’ve got anything to give, even if you don’t currently call NYC your home, it’s probably worth your while to send something their way, as their influence in providing an outlet for defiantly non-marketable music is probably felt the world over.
In summary: awesome venue robbed, let’s get them back on their feet.
• The Silent Barn: http://www.facebook.com/silentbarn
• “Rebuilding The Silent Barn” Kickstarter page: http://kck.st/q9jcXz