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 gen ...

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 ...

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

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

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 ...

s", fostering a community of semi-improvisational rock bands who went on to achieve mainstream

success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person migh ...

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 affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

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,

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, Dave Matthews Band,

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, 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, g ...

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 g ...

, The String Cheese Incident, Joan Osborne,

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,

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, The Allman Brothers Band,

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 ...

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, Robert Randolph and the Family Band,

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

, Frank Black, At the Gates,

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 ...

, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Jorma Kaukonen. In addition to semi-improvisational rock, Wetlands hosted experimental hip-hop and neo-soul 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 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 and Erykah Badu. 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 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 cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

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, 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'' (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