The Pyramid Club was a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

in the East Village of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, gay,

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and no wave art and music scenes of the 1980s. The club was located at 101 Avenue A in Manhattan. 101 Avenue A Pyramid Club

History

In the '70s and '80s the club became a hangout for "a new breed of politicized drag performers" like Lypsinka, Lady Bunny, and

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

, whose first New York City show was at the Pyramid Club in 1982. On Labor Day 1985, Pyramid performer Lady Bunny hosted the Wigstock Festival in Tompkins Square Park. Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry dropped in the Pyramid to do a feature on the club for MTV, and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

appeared at her first

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

benefit at the club. Both Nirvana and

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

played their first New York City concerts there and both Live Skull and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

played there in 1983 and 1984.

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

was considered the house band for some time. From 1992–95, Blacklips Performance Cult, a collective founded by ANOHNI, presented plays at Pyramid every Monday at midnight. Many visual artists, such as

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

, and Jack Smith were frequent patrons of the club. Performance artists John Kelly, Ann Magnuson, Steve Buscemi and Eric Bogosian performed there and John Jesurun began his drama/comedy/mystery serial play ''Chang in a Void Moon'' at the Pyramid in 1982 and received a Bessie Award for it in 1985. In 2007, it was proposed that 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid Club's building, be landmarked. The proposal, described as the first ''drag landmark'', was not adopted by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

(LPC). However, in the spring of 2011 the LPC proposed a new historic district in the East Village focused around lower Second Avenue and encompassing 15 blocks and 330 buildings. The original proposal excluded buildings such as the Pyramid Club, but because of efforts made by local community groups, the proposed district was expanded to 101 Avenue A as well as other similar buildings. The LPC designated the club as part of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District on October 9, 2012. The club shut during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic in 2020. It unsuccessfully reopened under different management for a short period after, but subsequently closed permanently. The new owners confirmed that it would reopen in the summer of 2023 as ''Baker Falls'', a community-driven rock club. Baker Falls opened in July 2023. In 2024, a book on the history of the Pyramid Club called ''"We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It'' was published by Damiani Books.

Notable performers

* Babes in Toyland *

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

* Book of Love * Butthole Surfers * Chris & Cosey * Country Joe & the Fish * Crime and the City Solution *

Jayne County Jayne County (born Wayne Rogers) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and visual artist whose career has spanned six decades. Under the name Wayne County (inspired by Wayne County, Michigan), she was the vocalist of infl ...

* Johanna Went * John Kelly *

Deee-Lite Deee-Lite was an American House music, house and Dance music, dance music group formed in New York City. The group's Single (music), single "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album, ''World Clique'' (19 ...

* Debbie Harry * Figures on a Beach *

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

* The Fleshtones * The Frogs * GWAR * Kraut * Richard Hell * International Chrysis * Dean Johnson * Lady Bunny * Meat Beat Manifesto * Rhys Chatham * Lypsinka *

* Taylor Mead * Miss Understood * Mudhoney * Nico * Nirvana *

Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...

* Q Lazzarus *

* John Sex * Live Skull *

* Swans * Rat at Rat R * Tabboo * The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black * The Young Gods *

* Vaginal Creme Davis * Warrior Soul * White Zombie * Wendy Wild * Meat Beat Manifesto * Spahn Ranch

References

External links

History of the Pyramid Club
{{East Village, Manhattan Nightclubs in Manhattan East Village, Manhattan 1979 establishments in New York City