Court Tavern (Venue in NJ)

oh.my.god.

awful.

are they going to at least keep the mural downstairs?

It'll be really interesting to see what happens when they open

ozfacter wrote:

oh.my.god.

awful.

are they going to at least keep the mural downstairs?

Not sure, they better. It's iconic. But I know they put a glass door out front. This place isn't a glass door kinda place.

Eh. It wont be the same. Saw my first gaslight show there and a couple Lifetime shows and its gonna be weird going there again after the updates. The reason why the place was so amazing was because it wasn't trying to be anything except for a bar that has a basement where bands played. This makes it look like they're trying to make it into a small venue.

He's a bar owner...only interested in making money. Why am I not surprised?

Personally, I think people need to ease up. This place could have remained shuttered or turned into a hospital building (like the Melody Bar did). The new owner doesn't owe anyone anything. And of course he wants to make money, it's called a business . . . Jesus.

Yeah I mean I guess as long as good bands are still able to play there it doesn't matter what it looks like. The place just has so much history it kinda sucks, even going back to asbury lanes after all the renovations they did was weird.

I'm just happy it's reopening. Changes are going to be bittersweet, but all-in-all it needed to be run a lot better. I also can't argue that it could've used some cleaning.

The new owner owns Mike's Courtside, which is up the street... It's called "Courtside" because of its close proximity to The Court Tavern. I can only hope that that signals that he'll respect its roots.

I guess I really won't know how I feel about it until I go there again... I do feel that it will likely have the same patrons and that'll contribute to the atmosphere.

Definitely could have used some cleaning lol. That place used to smell so bad sometimes lol.

So I went to the HCMM video shoot today and talked to Brian about the court tavern really quick. Basically I asked him if he knew anything about it and when its re-opening and he said he has no idea its a new owner, so I guess all the people that had ties to the place before it shut down aren't really part of the picture anymore.

rsi1991 wrote:

So I went to the HCMM video shoot today and talked to Brian about the court tavern really quick. Basically I asked him if he knew anything about it and when its re-opening and he said he has no idea its a new owner, so I guess all the people that had ties to the place before it shut down aren't really part of the picture anymore.

Well he was (and still is) closest with Andy Diamond, a promoter. Barrood said he'll be rotating promoters so it'll be tough to say whether Diamond #1's still involved with this venue.

Sidenote: I know this is kinda weird to ask, but how was he doing? He was terribly stressed at Webster, interested to know if he seemed fatigued or sad at all.

Yeah Andy Diamond definitely had some of the coolest shows I went to. And idk I think you're kinda right he definitely doesn't seem right. I don't know if the whole fame and touring thing is getting to him but he seemed really tired and a little stressed. I remember when he used to play at the court tavern he seemed happy to be involved and now it almost looks like he's just really warn down. But then again tour life sucks so he's probably just exhausted.

rsi1991 wrote:

Yeah Andy Diamond definitely had some of the coolest shows I went to. And idk I think you're kinda right he definitely doesn't seem right. I don't know if the whole fame and touring thing is getting to him but he seemed really tired and a little stressed. I remember when he used to play at the court tavern he seemed happy to be involved and now it almost looks like he's just really warn down. But then again tour life sucks so he's probably just exhausted.

I think also it was probably like with 45, they were probably there and shooting hours before you guys so might have just been a long day.

yeah I got there around 2 and the shot with the extras was scheduled for 2:30 and the band was already playing inside like they were for 45. And we could hear them outside for at least a couple hours. Also the studio that the video was shot in was extremely hot and they were in there all day filming. By the time we got inside they were drenched with sweat.

Can't wait to see how it comes out.

I can't believe people are acting like this. "The place is iconic." The place was a shithole. Seriously the top 5 grossest bars I have ever been in. It is cool to say that we saw Brian and Gaslight in a dump, but we probably never would have again, whether it gets turned into a respectable establishment or not. Bars get new owners and renovations all of the time. It won't change the fact that you went there in the past.

Lol both Stone Pony and Asbury Lanes and shit holes but they're still considered very important places for music. Just because the place was a mess doesn't mean people don't love going there.

It will be re-opening on November 3, according to the Star Ledger...

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/09/court_tavern_to_reopen_in_nove.html

Quote :

Ever since Michael Barrood of Mike’s Courtside Sports Bar and Grill bought the shuttered Court Tavern, scene of thousands of memorable rock shows, New Brunswick musicians have awaited its reopening.

They won't have to wait much longer.

According to a report by Marissa Oliva in the Rutgers Targum, Barrood plans to begin the Court's new era on Nov. 3. No word yet on who Barrood intends to book to play his opening party, or if there'll be music at all that night.

Oops: here's a link to the Targum article as well...

http://www.dailytargum.com/news/metro/local-music-venue-scheduled-for-grand-reopening/article_51afafa0-fbbb-11e1-b352-001a4bcf6878.html

Gumption wrote:

I can't believe people are acting like this. "The place is iconic." The place was a shithole. Seriously the top 5 grossest bars I have ever been in. It is cool to say that we saw Brian and Gaslight in a dump, but we probably never would have again, whether it gets turned into a respectable establishment or not. Bars get new owners and renovations all of the time. It won't change the fact that you went there in the past.

Hahah um, you missed the point entirely.

DiamondSinatra wrote:

Gumption wrote:

I can't believe people are acting like this. "The place is iconic." The place was a shithole. Seriously the top 5 grossest bars I have ever been in. It is cool to say that we saw Brian and Gaslight in a dump, but we probably never would have again, whether it gets turned into a respectable establishment or not. Bars get new owners and renovations all of the time. It won't change the fact that you went there in the past.

Hahah um, you missed the point entirely.

No. You're a child attaching meaning to something where it doesn't exist.

Someone else said 'people love going there.' Do any of you guys like going there just to hang at the bar? That question is rhetorical. But for the connection some acts have to it, the place would have shut down long ago.

Quote :

Do any of you guys like going there just to hang at the bar? That question is rhetorical.

You may consider that a rhetorical question, however, I can offer an honest answer to that. Yes, people did go there to just hang at the bar. I, for one, was one of them. Regardless of who was playing downstairs. If I liked the band, I'd stay down there. Otherwise, I'd hang with friends upstairs.

It was a dump, but you know what, it was also a community. If you went there every weekend, once a month, whatever, you'd see the same group of people and pick up where you left off last. That includes the bartenders and staff.

So, yes, it was "iconic" in a musical sense, but it meant just as much to a community of people who frequented the place as well.

Gumption, coming in here and being a douche with your early posts isn't quite so endearing. There's lots of different opinions about what a place was or wasn't, yours doesn't reign supreme regardless of whether or not you'd like it to.

if the place never existed I would have never seen Lifetime while they were around. So to me it was iconic. Maybe to you it wasn't but we don't really care about your opinion.

Also I definitely think people went to Court House just to drink way more times then people went to Stone Pony just to drink. And people travel all over the place just to take pictures in front of the stone pony. If you've ever been there you would know that. Also fuckin Gaslight had there first show there so just that alone makes it iconic to most people in this forum.

Gumption wrote:

DiamondSinatra wrote:

Gumption wrote:

I can't believe people are acting like this. "The place is iconic." The place was a shithole. Seriously the top 5 grossest bars I have ever been in. It is cool to say that we saw Brian and Gaslight in a dump, but we probably never would have again, whether it gets turned into a respectable establishment or not. Bars get new owners and renovations all of the time. It won't change the fact that you went there in the past.

Hahah um, you missed the point entirely.

No. You're a child attaching meaning to something where it doesn't exist.

Someone else said 'people love going there.' Do any of you guys like going there just to hang at the bar? That question is rhetorical. But for the connection some acts have to it, the place would have shut down long ago.

I treasure it's contribution to the North Jersey music scene, under the old owners, with the authentic touch it had. If holding a magical place like this sacred makes me a child so be it, at least I'm more mature than you in that I'm not berating your opinion like you are mine.

Wager: I'm feeling a ban coming on for this user.