New York
The National Underground
Address:
159 E. Houston Street
New York, NY 10002
New York, NY 10002
Age:
21+
Phone:
212.475.0611
Website:
Booker Name:
Bryan (downstairs)
Booker Phone:
N/A
Booker Email:
nationalundergroundbooking@gmail.com
Booking Tips:
Additional Booking Contact: Fran - booking@thenationalunderground.com. Fran books the upstairs room. Bands are required to be able to draw at least 15 people to the show.
Description:
Additional Websites: Myspace and Facebook. Genres: Roots Rock, Americana, Folk, Indie, and Country. Capacity: Approximately 75 upstairs and 75 downstairs. Live music 7 nights a week. The venue has two stages for music - one upstairs and one downstairs. They are well known for their hamburgers and the club is owned by Gavin and Joey DeGraw.
- Posted by Anonymous on Mar 08, 2010
one star is too many... I played a show there, came in on time, loaded my gear downstairs, there was a band playing before my set.... and they went 45min. over their time - the clown who was running it wouldn't do anything about it. I went on and my set was a little shortened; but the crowd of friends I had with me were ambushed by the same lame rock trio who went way over their time. These clowns smothered my friends with their CD's, posters and stickers for $5 - $15 and wouldn't take no for an answer - and the bartenders and the stage manager did nothing to control this unseemly, distasteful behavior. I would avoid this place like the plague and maybe it will go away... - Posted by Anonymous on Mar 08, 2010
on the upside the staff was friendly and the sound was great however as everyone has stated before: no promotion by the venue no hope of getting passer-bys since they have free music upstairs the place in all was a dive the beer selection was really bad and the wine selection consisted of 1 brand of bad wine its too bad because its in a great spot they just seem to put no effort into making it succesfull they expect you to do it for them if you bring 30 people youll make about 10$ i would not recomend playing this venue if you have the draw take them somwhere else - Posted by Anonymous on Feb 23, 2010
First, I've NEVER written a review or felt compelled to before about, pretty much, anything. There are SO many better places you can play in Manhattan. At TNU, music is an after-thought. Between myself and the 3 other guys playing with me, we've probably played in most of the music venues for bands in NYC. We all could not believe how poorly we were treated and what a waste of time it was to "perform" there. Yes, it was easy to book the gig (besides the "rules" you have to agree with) but so is Kenny's, or the Bitter End or Arlene's. Don't bother. OR try it and learn a valuable lesson. - Posted by Anonymous on Jan 26, 2010
Pretty cool club in NYC. The downstairs has a cool vibe and the upstairs gets a ton of walk in traffic in the summer. I believe they used to guarantee $300 for the upstairs if you played two sets. The downstairs is based on draw so if you can't bring the numbers don't expect to make $100. - Posted by Anonymous on Jan 14, 2010
Here's the nutshell of The National Underground: -another really expensive NYC bar/venue. $10 covers. Overpriced beer and food. -you don't see a dime unless you draw 10+ people. -it's a tiny place with nowhere to put your merch, so don't expect to try and make money with that angle. -if you play any of countless places in the area that don't exist under these terms, your fans won't come out to see you. Why would they? If you're not from NYC, you need to understand that these sorts of places are a dime a dozen. They exist under the pretense that you, as an artist, are going to bring their entire clientele for the night. All the while, they do no advertising for you, and unless you draw enough people, you won't make any money. And if you could draw such people, why would you play here? The only plus side of this place is that it's easy to get a gig. Just bring some lube because it's just another NYC venue prepared to take you and your audience for a financial ride.
