Sunday night, October 15th, an overpacked crowd witnessed the final show at legendary rock club CBGB on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Bands like The Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Television and the Patti Smith Group started out playing at the venue widely associated with punk rock in the mid 70s. Fittingly, the farewell finale was headlined by one of the CBGB originals, The Patti Smith Group. Their set included many of their songs and classic covers. At the show’s conclusion, Patti reportedly yelled, “33 years! The same age as Jesus. Goodnight, everybody.”

Patti’s martyrization statement was typical coming from her, but also quite fitting. Club owner Hilly Kristal opened CBGB in December 1973, and has been involved in rent disputes with the landlord the last couple years. Ultimately, the property owner will not renew his lease and has forced the downtown New York music mecca to close. Many feel its demise is a typical case of gentrification.

The bizarre twist is that Mr. Kristal has suggested that he’ll likely re-open the club in Las Vegas. It sounds blasphemous for sure. Yeah, Vegas is seedy, too, and they’ve recently given us a pretty decent band in The Killers. But Vegas is far better known as a place to end your music career, not start it. On the other hand, CBGB hadn’t exactly been the launching pad for new bands in decades. It survived on its history, and it was a pretty cramped and nasty place. Maybe Hilly Kristal can give CBGB a facelift, create a new scene and carve out a rock history for Sin City. Time will tell.