285 KENT was an "

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * Buenos Aires Underground, a rapid transit system * London Underground, a rapid transit system * ...

," all ages concert venue located at 269-289 Kent Avenue, in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

, New York City. The venue was founded and operated by Todd Patrick aka "Todd P", beginning in 2010, ultimately closing in 2014 to much fanfare and media coverage. The venue was initially booked and exclusively managed by Patrick, later in partnership with Ric Leichtung, who created the event promotion entity AdHoc.fm, an offshoot of a music journalism website of the same name, to book the venue. 285 KENT operated under the DIY ethos and hosted acclaimed concerts and events spanning

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, and other genres. The venue strictly hosted only all ages events at affordable ticket prices. 285 KENT held a

standing-room only An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...

capacity of approximately 400 persons. During its relatively brief tenure, Patrick and Leichtung sought to book 285 KENT to expand the community for DIY events beyond its traditional privileged, white, and straight audience; by seeking performances and partnerships with artists and event organizers representing LBGTQ+ communities and

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

. The venue hosted influential events such as the queer youth club night series "TOP 8," multiple performances by Chicago Footwork pioneer

DJ Rashad Rashad Hanif Harden (October 9, 1979 – April 26, 2014), known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio ...

, Blood Orange, Mykki Blanco,

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and feminist themes. The visuals in her videos are elabora ...

; and secret shows by artists such as hip hop collective

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

, queer R&B artist

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

rapper

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mo ...

, and others. The shoegaze rock band

DIIV DIIV (pronounced and formerly known as Dive) is an American Rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2011. The band consists of Zachary Cole Smith (vocals, guitar), Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield (bass, keyboards, gu ...

played so often they were almost considered the 285 KENT “house band”. Previous to the opening of 285 KENT, the same unit housed the earlier creative spaces Bohemian Grove, a short-lived

venue for

events (operated by John Barclay who would later open the boutique

Bushwick Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg to the northwest; the cemeteries of Highland Park to the southe ...

electronic music venue Bossa Nova Civic Club); and Paris London West Nile, a live/work

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

and avant music and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

s venue occupied communally by several artists and musicians. The Paris London West Nile collective became the first to lease the unit shortly after its creation through partitioning of a larger warehouse, via association with artist and composer Zeljko McMullen, who worked as an

artist's assistant Artists assistants work with, and often under direct instruction from, artists in the production or preparation of art works. Many famous and influential artists have worked with assistants, including Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, and Andy Warho ...

to the musician

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

. Reed and McMullen initially scouted the location and negotiated a lease to house a work studio for Reed, with McMullen taking the lease after Reed declined to occupy the space. The larger warehouse 285 KENT occupied also housed the creative arts venues

Death By Audio Death By Audio was a warehouse space on the first floor of an industrial building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The warehouse took its name from the boutique effects pedal company, Death By Audio, based in the space. The ...

Glasslands Gallery Glasslands Gallery (or simply Glasslands) was a music venue, dance club, and art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Glasslands was founded by Brooke Baxter and Rolyn Hu in 2006, as a relocation of Baxter's earlier art space in the same building, G ...

, Ran Tea House, Windmill Studios, the Muse, IndieScreen, and the Glasshouse Gallery, among others. The building's community of creative venue spaces were displaced in 2014 and 2015 by

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

, who acquired a lease on the majority of the building to house their headquarters. The building was constructed originally as a satellite structure to the historic

Domino Sugar Refinery The Domino Sugar Refinery is a mixed-use development and former sugar refinery in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City, along the East River. When active as a refinery, it was operated by the Havemeyer family's American ...

complex, located directly across Kent Avenue to the West.

References

{{Coord, 40, 42, 54.5, N, 73, 57, 59, W, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Former music venues in New York City Williamsburg, Brooklyn 2010 establishments in New York City 2014 disestablishments in New York City Entertainment venues in Brooklyn