In this wake of this post, this pairing seemed like a no brainer.
East 14th Street between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue, 1988:
East 14th Street between Irving Place and 3rd Avenue, 2010:
Of course, beyond being a location in the afore-cited "Bright Lights, Big City" - as well as the unfortunate host of MTV's abortive dance program, "Club MTV" - The Palladium had a long history. Initially called the Academy of Music, the building always had an affiliation with live music. It opened as a concert venue in the early 70's and was rechristened as the Palladium in 1976. In its run as same, it hosted a slew of notable acts. Arguably its most fabled moment was as the site of what became the cover shot of The Clash's seminal London Calling.
My first trip inside the building was in 1982 to see Devo perform on the Oh No! It's Devo tour. If you think the street looks gritty in that shot from "Bright Lights..." above, you should've seen it then. The venue was turned into the prototypical 80s megaclub in 1985. In the wake of that transformation, I did go back for the odd show. I saw Public Image Ltd. there on the tour for the Bill Laswell-produced, Album (their opening number was a vocal-free cover of "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin). I saw Digital Underground (with Tupac) and the 2 Live Crew there in 1990. Probably my favorite ever show there was Cop Shoot Cop and the Unsane opening for Foetus, which was lovably loud and endearingly ugly.
The era of the big club came and went and the Palladium closed its doors in 1999, later to meet with a wrecking ball. For a little while, it was a vacant lot before N.Y.U. erected a massive dormitory in its footprint (see below)
Whenever I walk down that strip of 14th street, I still catch myself looking up to search for the massive mural that used to adorn the edifice. I miss that.
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