Suburbia

Shout out to Eddy at Strangeways coffe shop for turning me on to one of the best venues I have been to in a LONG time. Bushwick /​Ridgewood is having its «Golden Age».
Suburbia is a perfect example. a decade ago… you would travel this far in Brooklyn for an «DIY Art /​Music Show». and it was really just a disheveled space that you could buy $ 2 PBR cans and smoke and buy patches and pins and see crap art school paintings and bands all from brooklyn (via Ohio) but despite the lack of organization you were witnessing passion.
Suburbia is the «Adult» version of that time period. After talking to two of the owners (after pure shock at the clean and professionally run DIY punk venue in a brownstone on a small street in Bushwick Brooklyn) I was told that their responsible candor and only showing ²⁄₃ shows per month along with being positive parts of the community has allowed them to continue. FOUR YEARS! thats how long they have been running, and I was PISSED! That it took this long for me to find it!
The show I saw was AAAmazig! It was a record release for a Metal band called Twin Strike and they were everything I could have hoped.
Fudge Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall, Terminal Five, there are great spaces showing great bands… this tops the list.

For a DIY venue located in the basement of a collective’s apartment, Suburbia has a surprisingly professional set-​up and sound. I haven’t been in a while and I heard they’ve since built a new stage, but here’s a review of what I remember from the last time I went. There’s a sound guy right by the left side of the «stage» (an open area underneath & in front of a lofted bed type thing) and an in-​house guy who takes photos and videos of nearly each show. There’s a chalkboard with bands and set times written on it and each set begins promptly on time. Each time a band I liked performed here, the shows were stacked with amazing lineups (whoever’s in charge of booking is great at coordinating performers) and the crowds were generally enthusiastic and friendly. The mosh pit can get pretty big and unruly, crashing into nearby people which gets painful for the rest of us, but each time I’ve been, somebody bigger has been kind enough to shield me from getting crushed. (Shout out to all the nice dudes keeping an eye out for us smaller ones!)
It gets pretty cold in the winter since it’s a basement, but the collective body heat from the crowd can warm you up pretty quickly. Smoking is rampant and gets really annoying if you’re not one of the ones doing it — you and your clothes will smell for days. But, it’s all worth it for the shows. There’s a laid-​back, casual atmosphere and it’s easy to chat with performers afterwards or just hang out for a bit.