Pyramid Club (New York City)

History

In the '70s and '80s the club became a hangout for "a new breed of politicized drag performers" like Lypsinka, Lady Bunny, and RuPaul, whose first New York City show was at the Pyramid Club in 1982.

On Labor Day 1985, Pyramid performer Lady Bunny hosted the Wigstock Festival in Tompkins Square Park. Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry dropped in the Pyramid to do a feature on the club for MTV, and Madonna appeared at her first AIDS benefit at the club. Both Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers played their first New York City concerts there. Both Live Skull and Sonic Youth played there in 1983 and 1984. They Might Be Giants was considered the house band for some time.

From 1992–95, Blacklips Performance Cult, a collective founded by ANOHNI, presented plays at Pyramid every Monday at midnight. Many visual artists, such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Jack Smith were frequent patrons of the club. Performance artists John Kelly, Ann Magnuson, Steve Buscemi and Eric Bogosian performed there

Drag performances at Pyramid Club also played a key role in inspiring Japanese drag queen Simone Fukayuki to start Diamonds Are Forever in 1989 (originally based in Osaka, now in Kyoto), today Japan's oldest and longest-running drag show.

In 2007, it was proposed that 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid Club's building, be landmarked. The proposal, described as the first drag landmark, was not adopted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). However, in the spring of 2011 the LPC proposed a new historic district in the East Village focused around lower Second Avenue and encompassing 15 blocks and 330 buildings. The original proposal excluded buildings such as the Pyramid Club, but because of efforts made by local community groups, the proposed district was expanded to 101 Avenue A as well as other similar buildings. The LPC designated the club as part of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District on October 9, 2012.

The club shut during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It unsuccessfully reopened under different management for a short period after, but subsequently closed permanently. The new owners confirmed that it would reopen in the summer of 2023 as Baker Falls, a community-driven rock club. Baker Falls opened in July 2023 and as of August 2025 has moved location from Avenue A to 192 Allen St on the Lower East Side. The club is now open and called "101" Nightclub.

In 2024, a book on the history of the Pyramid Club called "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It was published by Damiani Books.

Notable performers

• 3 Teens Kill 4 No Motive
• Andy Warhol
• ANOHNI
• Ann Magnuson
• Babes in Toyland
• Beastie Boys
• Book of Love
• Butthole Surfers
• Chris & Cosey
• Country Joe & the Fish
• Crime and the City Solution
• Jayne County
• Deee-Lite
• Debbie Harry
• Dean Johnson
• Eric Bogosian
• Figures on a Beach
• The Flaming Lips
• The Fleshtones
• The Frogs
• Gwar
• International Chrysis
• Johanna Went
• John Kelly
• John Sex
• Kraut
• Lady Bunny
• Live Skull
• Lypsinka
• Madonna
• Meat Beat Manifesto
• Miss Understood
• Mudhoney
• Nico
• Nirvana
• Psychic TV
• Q Lazzarus
• Rat at Rat R
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Rhys Chatham
• Richard Hell
• RuPaul
• Sonic Youth
• Spahn Ranch
• Steve Buscemi
• Swans
• Tabboo
• Taylor Mead
• They Might Be Giants
• The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
• The Young Gods
• Vaginal Creme Davis
• Warrior Soul
• Wendy Wild
• White Zombie

References

Citations

Works cited

References

1. Hager, Steve. (1986). "Art After Midnight: The East Village Scene". St. Martin's Press.
2. Woodruff, Sheryl. (June 29, 2011). "Pushing the Envelope on Avenue A". Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
3. "Nirvana Tour History". LiveNirvana.com.
4. "Red Hot Chili Peppers Official Site". RHCP.
5. Frishberg, Hannah. (April 1, 2021). "'Safe Haven for Freaks': NYC's Iconic Pyramid Club Closes After 41 Years".
6. "John Jesurun's ''Chang In A Void Moon'': Episodes 62–66". La MaMa.
7. (May 27, 2020). "京都メトロ創業時から30年間開催され続ける名物イベント「DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER」が初の配信イベント開催". Pointed.
8. (July 17, 2020). "【インタビュー】シモーヌ深雪　シャンソン歌手/ドラァグクイーン　その1/6". 花形文化通信.
9. Hedlund, Patrick. (December 5–11, 2007). "Push to Make Pyramid Club City's First 'Drag Landmark'". The Villager.
10. "East Village/Lower East Side Historic District Designation Report". NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.
11. Shapiro, Laurie Gwen. (November 22, 2022). "The East Village Is Getting Its First New Rock Club in Decades".
12. Jackson, Adlan. (July 24, 2023). "The First Night at Baker Falls".
13. Hyden, Steven. (January 6, 2015). "They Might Be Giants, Again: The Adult Comeback of a Cult Band". Grantland.