The end of 2014 was a particularly rough stretch for the Brooklyn D.I.Y. scene, losing pretty much every foothold in Williamsburg. Even before that though, a lot of beloved D.I.Y. venues closed up shop, leaving a bit of a hole in the scene. With that in mind, Williamsburg art space Cloud City (85 N. 1st Street) will be taking a look back next month with the “RIP DIY” photo exhibit, featuring pictures capturing moments at Brooklyn’s closed venues from 20 photographers. We’re pegging the odds of the exhibit closing due to being replaced by a condo at 4:1.
At RIP DIY, you can relive the shows and communities those venues provided a home for with a photo exhibit that Cloud City is calling “a visual eulogy of the venues lost to the real estate axe or just the axe of life. Even before the closure of Death By Audio, 285 Kent and Glasslands hit Williamsburg last year, there were venues like Monster Island, Party Expo, the original Silent Barn and Big Snow Buffalo Lounge that faded away.
Those venues and more will be back to life starting on March 5 though, with an opening exhibit from 6pm to 9pm, and then open on the weekends of March 6-7 and 14-15 from 4pm to 6pm. Even if you don’t agree with the sentiment that DIY in Brooklyn is dead, you can’t disagree with the fact that all of these venues are, so get a good last look at them before your memories start to fade, dulled by years of drinking and moshing in the very same places pictured in front of you.