CBGB's To Close After 33 Years

Via the Associated Press:
"CBGB owner Hilly Kristal sits at his club during an interview Sept. 26, 2006, in New York. After Oct. 15, the legendary club that has hosted acts such as Patti Smith, the Talking Heads, the Ramones, and Blondie will close its doors for good, ending a 33-year run as punk rocks seminal music venue. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams) Email Photo Print Photo"

Title link takes you to an article on Yahoo. Some Excerpt:

"'I knew the closing was inevitable, because my lawyers said, `You can't win this case. The law is that your lease is up, and they don't even need a reason to put you out,'' said Kristal.

Kristal sits beneath a platinum record from Joan Jett, a CBGB's clock and a few of the endless band stickers that blanket the interior. Kristal, who is battling lung cancer, wears a black and white CBGB's T-shirt with a matching baseball cap.

Kristal plans to move the club far from its roots with a new CBGB's in Las Vegas. The owner plans to strip the current club down to the bare walls, bringing as much of it to Nevada as possible.

'We're going to take the urinals,' he said. 'I'll take whatever I can. The movers said, `You ought to take everything, and auction off what you don't want on eBay.' Why not? Somebody will.'

Even a longtime CBGB's devotee like McNeil thinks the best advice for the 74-year-Kristal is go west, old man.

'I always said Hilly should go to Vegas," said McNeil. "Girls with augmented breasts playing Joey Ramone slot machines. It would become an institution.'"