As a musician in New York City, there aren't many places worth playing.  Sure, if your band is selling thousands of copies of your new CD and The Village Voice is clamoring to sing your praises, you're set.  And, we're not talking about playing the Bowery or Highline Ballroom though.  For small level bands, the choices are extremely limited.  That's why we'll be reviewing live music clubs from both a musician and patron standpoint, to give you the full deal on whether or not the place is worth your time.  This week:  The Rockstar Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.



Musician's Perspective

The Rockstar Bar is the most recent name of the bar located at 351 Kent Ave. at the corner of South 5th Street.  Over the years it has also been known as The Local, The Ship's Mast, Rocky's, and The Mermaid Bar.  The owner, Rocky, has changed the name multiple times over the 20+ years he has run the bar, which doesn't matter much, considering it lacks a sign in front, and the decor hasn't changed with any of the renamings.
    
   

When looking for a place to play, most bands look for a place that will give you the least amount of hassle.  In this regard, Rockstar Bar is perfect.  Bands book their own shows, meaning no annoying performance art dance band or dad rock blues jam on the bill with your alt-country band.  In fact, the bar is completely hands off, which is great if you can get your act together enough to find someone to man the door for the cover charge (if you want one), and even better if you can get their ancient PA to work adequately (which always seems to somehow rise to the occasion).
    
   

The bar is the quintessential dive, and that is a compliment.  It is spacious and clean, although a little worse for wear.  It's a bar you'd imagine existed back in the day when the workers from the nearby factories (the old Domino Sugar factory is right across the street) would go drown out their aches and pains with a pint of cheap beer.  These days, it exists more for the slightly older hipster residents who want a place that is cheap, never too crowded, and not the meatmarket scene that Bedford Ave. has become.  The (mostly) working air hockey table doesn't hurt either.
    
   

One main drawback for bands playing at The Rockstar Bar is the distance from a subway stop.  The bar is almost equidistant from the Bedford Ave. L stop and the Marcy Ave. JMZ stop, both of which are a good 15 blocks away.  The bar is also on the East River, adding to a not too pleasant smell if the wind is blowing the wrong way.  The stage itself is a little on the small side, and the PA is, as mentioned before, old and temperamental.  It is also extremely loud, however, and this is the perfect place to blow out eardrums if that's your style.  The bar itself is circular, with a mermaid ship's mast in the center (hence two of the older names of the bar).
    
Mention The Rockstar Bar to long time Williamsburg residents and you might get a blank stare, but once they know where the bar is, they will invariably get an excited look on their face and mention the time they saw some impossibly hip band there before they got big.  So, if you're looking to continue the legacy of the Williamsburg music scene, you could pick worse places to play than The Rockstar Bar.
    

Show-Goer Perspective

For a place that serves its booze in plastic cups, The Rockstar Bar is surprisingly devoid of that lovey urine smell we show-goers have come to expect.  Sure, the place is a dive, but it doesn't have any of those nasty habits most dives do.  Like I said, the place smells more like the East River (located just one block away) than pee, but the smell isn't the only thing Rockstar Bar has going for it.  The bartenders are, get this, helpful, polite, and downright pleasant.  Now, don't expect to find an extensive collection of booze, or even beer, but what the bar lacks in selection, they make up for in smiles (and sometimes pizza).

As far as sound quality goes, Rockstar Bar doesn't have the best equipment.  The PA rattles and hisses, buzzing along with the band.  Some might call it charming, but for a sound purist, it could be seen as detrimental.  But, you won't find too many sound purists in the crowd.  The bands typically are playing some loud form of punk sloppily to a medium sized crowd comprised mostly of friends and drunken well-wishers.

This probably isn't the kind of place you're going to meet a whole lot of new people, because, well, the place is usually pretty empty.  My guess is that the location plays a huge role in this.  Far from subways, further from highways, Rockstar Bar isn't the easiest place to find.  But, for the true believers of rock and roll and dive bars, this place is a destination.