page_title: Webster Hall
section_title: 1980–2016
hierarchical_section_title: Webster Hall / 1980–2016
caption_attribution_description: Domed canopy &amp; sconce lighting fixture over a side exit from Webster Hall.
context_page_description: Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant theater and event halls, having hosted social events of all types since the club's construction in 1886 as a "hall for hire". Its current incarnation was opened in 1992 by the Ballinger brothers, with a capacity of 1,400, providing its traditional role as well as for corporate events, and for a recording studio.
  Webster Hall has been recognized as the first modern nightclub. On March 18, 2008, after a landmarks proposal was submitted by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Webster Hall and its Annex a New York City landmark.
  BSE Global and The Bowery Presents acquired the operating rights for and assets of Webster Hall in February 2017, and after a nearly two-year renovation, the venue re-opened to the public on April 26, 2019.
context_section_description: On May 1, 1980, The Ritz opened by Jerry Brandt in the Webster Hall building as a showcase venue for emerging rock acts. Tina Turner, Eric Clapton, The Pretenders, Prince, Sting, Aerosmith, U2, Book of Love, Cro-Mags, KISS, B.B. King, and Guns N' Roses all performed routinely. Many believe The Ritz to be the first nightclub to feature a video component.
  
  When the Ritz relocated in 1989, it gave Webster Hall the opportunity to be reborn. In 1992, the Ballinger brothers (Lon, Stephen, Douglas, and Peter) from Toronto unveiled the restored Webster Hall, featuring state of the art audio, video, and lighting technology with the original color scheme recreated. The venue hosted two or three different genres of music at once on weekend evenings, providing rave/house music in their large dance room and rock in the upstairs billiard area. In 1993 the main opening scene in the movie 'To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar' starring  Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes & John Leguizamo & guest starring RuPaul and Miss Understood, took place in Webster Hall This facility is capable of catering to groups of 100 to 2,000, Madonna, Mick Jagger and Bill Clinton have had events there, as has the World Wrestling Federation TNA Wrestling and the taping of Fuji Television Network's Iron Chef "New York Special" between Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto. The venue offers five different rooms. 
  As real estate development pressure grew exponentially in the East Village during the 2000s, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation saw the need to protect the scale and character of many of the East Village's unique historic structures. In the summer of 2007, GVSHP supplied the Landmarks Preservation Commission with extensive research on the history of Webster Hall, and urged the LPC to landmark the site. Shortly thereafter the LPC commissioners voted to consider the building for landmark designation and in spring 2008 the building was officially designated a New York City landmark, recognizing its significant role in the cultural development of the Village. From 1993-1997, and starting again in 2008 through today, Gerard McNamee has been the director of Webster Hall, hiring all of the current staff members and guiding the club through its most prestigious period.
  In addition to its weekly club nights, Webster Hall is one of the city's premiere live music venues. It is the exclusive live music venue for AOL’s New York Broadband Rocks series. On May 11, 2007 Linkin Park filmed their Minutes to Midnight Promo Concert, which was then released into theatres. The club entered into a partnership to present The Bowery Ballroom Presents at Webster Hall concert series, which has already brought such acts as Sonic Youth, Infected Mushroom, The Hives, John Mayer, John Butler and Modest Mouse to the mainstage. In October 2008, "The Studio at Webster Hall," a 300 to 400 scalable capacity performance room, was opened. Bowery Presents' contract with Webster Hall expired in August 2014, and Webster Hall chose to take all their concert bookings "in-house", led by Heath Miller. Since taking their concert bookings in house for all events starting in August 2014, Webster Hall has gone on to present acts such as Charli XCX, Tove Lo, Buzzcocks, Clean Bandit, Wiz Khalifa, American Football, Bleachers, CocoRosie, James, MØ, Chet Faker, Modern Baseball, Metallica, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz, Faith No More, LCD Soundsystem, JoJo, Good Charlotte, Capital Cities, and Yo La Tengo amongst others.
  In fall of 2016 trade publication, Pollstar nominated the venue for their Nightclub of the Year Award. The club won the award at Pollstar's annual award ceremony at Pollstar Live! the following February.
caption: Canopy and lighting sconce over side door
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