Wetlands Preserve, commonly referred to as Wetlands, was a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

in New York City that opened in 1989 and closed in 2001. It was located at 161 Hudson Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...

neighborhood. Wetlands has been called "ground zero for post-

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

s", fostering a community of semi-improvisational rock bands who went on to achieve mainstream success in the 1990s.

History

The original concept for the Wetlands Preserve came from founder-owner Larry Bloch, who set its course for over eight years before passing the helm to Peter Shapiro in 1997. Shapiro remained faithful to the mission until September 2001, when the

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

of TriBeCa caused the building to be sold and the club was forced to close before being converted into condominiums. Acts that played at Wetlands include

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler (formerly known as "The Establishment" or "The Black Cat Jam" or "The Establishment Blues Band") is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. They are known for extensive use of segues in live performance ...

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, Sublime,

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guit ...

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Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers is an American rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1989 by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. The band ...

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project of the Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule simply as ''Mule''. ...

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

Robert Randolph and the Family Band Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock ' ...

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Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era. He cont ...

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, and

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...

. In addition to semi-improvisational rock, Wetlands hosted experimental hip-hop and

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

performers as well. The Roots built a loyal following in New York partially by driving up from Philadelphia for Wetlands' weekly open-mic nights. Neo-soul duo

Jazzyfatnastees Jazzyfatnastees is a vocal duo, Tracey Moore (born 1970) and Mercedes Martinez (born 1969). Originally a vocal quartet, they landed a deal with Tommy Boy in 1993. In 1997, their contract with Tommy Boy ended, two other members Stevvi Alexander ...

launched their weekly women's showcase "Black Lily" at Wetlands before moving it to The Five Spot in Philadelphia. Black Lily alumnae include Jill Scott,

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday. Gray ha ...

and

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

. The Wetlands' independent, in-house booking strategies and the freedom to play all night nurtured a scene that helped bands develop a following. Late-night jams lasting until dawn were common. It was the intimate connection fostered between artist and audience, the continuity of a live DJ connection to the vibe of the night, and carefully balanced sound throughout the club, including the halls and bathrooms, that would bring the 7,500-square foot, two-level space to a pulsing unity that

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life John Popper was born in Chardon, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian immig ...

of Blues Traveler would lastingly nickname "Sweatglands". Supported by the music, Wetlands spent over one million dollars during its lifetime to fund the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve, originally named the Eco-Saloon. After the scheduled final performance by Bob Weir & RatDog was cancelled in the aftermath of 9/11, the club was able to reopen for one final jam session.Budnick, Dean https://relix.com/articles/detail/preserving-a-legacy-a-farewell-to-wetlands-preserve-relix-revisited/ Relix Zen Tricksters hold the record for most performances at the club. On October 24, 2012, Larry Bloch died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at age 59. The Activism Center, now called Wetlands Activism Collective, continues to operate.

Documentary film and book

''Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club'', a 90-minute documentary that commemorates Wetlands Preserve, was released in 2008. Produced and directed by ''Relixs

Dean Budnick Dean Budnick is an American writer, filmmaker, college professor, podcast creator and radio host who focuses on music, film and popular culture. Budnick, who is editor-in-chief of Relix,"Editor's note" ''Relix'' October/November 2013 grew up in ...

, the film gained accolades on the film festival circuit and then aired for several years on Sundance Channel. In 2014, ''Wetlands NYC History: A Visual Encore'', a book documenting the club's history and event lineup was compiled by Bloch's former wife, Laura Bloch Borque, and released via Frog2Prince publishing. The 248-page book features copies of each of the club's hand-drawn monthly event calendars.''Wetlands NYC History: A Visual Encore''
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Live albums recorded at Wetlands

*Spin Doctors - '' Up for Grabs...Live'' (recorded 1990, released 1991), later repackaged in '' Homebelly Groove...Live'' *Dave Matthews Band - '' Live Trax Vol. 20: Wetlands Preserve'' (recorded 1993, released 2011) *Jeff Buckley - ''Live at Wetlands'' (recorded 1994, released 2019) *Robert Randolph and the Family Band - ''

Live at the Wetlands ''Live at the Wetlands'' is the first release by Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The live album was recorded at the Wetlands Preserve club in Tribeca, New York City on August 23, 2001 and released on April 9, 2002. The concert was one of th ...

'' (recorded 2001, released 2002) *Ulu - ''Live at the Wetlands Preserve NYC'' (recorded 11/19/99, released 2000)

References

External links

*
Save The WetlandsOfficial website for ''Wetlands NYC History: A Visual Encore'' book
at ''Setlist.fm'' {{Coord, 40, 43, 18.4, N, 74, 00, 30.5, W, display=title Former music venues in New York City Music venues completed in 1989 2001 disestablishments in New York (state) Nightlife in New York City