People in Brooklyn all sad because their favorite DIY venue 285 Kent is closing down. Don’t be sad, people in Brooklyn! Like this hand-painted plaque in my aunt’s bathroom says, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” —Dr. Seuss. (There is really a hand-painted plaque in my aunt’s bathroom saying this. Just FYI.) And although there will be weeping, there will also be much joy, so very wow, for the final four shows at the venue.
The cool kids at Pitchfork and Ad Hoc + Todd P have assembled lineups for these final events that will have you writhing in your seat with the agony of knowing you’ll never again experience such a level of amazingness. (Remember the Dr. Seuss quote. SMILE, friends in Brooklyn, SMILE.) On January 11, you got a Maxmillion Dunbar, a Laurel Halo, a little bit of Autre Ne Veut, some Ital, some Bookworms, and that magickal thing, a Special Guest! Will it be the reanimated corpse of Aleister Crowley? You never know!!! This is BROOKLYN, people, and that witch shit is big again! Go DYE your hair pastel.
The lineup for January 17 includes people like DUST, Dan Deacon, DJ Dog Dick (!!!!!!), Ava Luna, Tonstartssbandht, Uumans, and once again, that mysteeeeeerious Special Guest. (Might it be a DRUID? I think it’s a druid.) January 18 has a special guest headliner (come on, we’re all kidding ourselves if we pretend like it’s anything other than Macaulay Culkin’s pizza band), plus Wolf Eyes, Noveller, Alberich, MV Carbon, Lussuria and Sugarm. Finally, January 19 sees Fucked Up, DIIV, White Lung, Guardian Alien, and Lodro taking the stage. There is no Special Guest listed because the Special Guest is all of you ahhhhhhhhhhh don’t cry, Brooklyn.
• 285 Kent: http://285kentave.com