The Sidewalk Cafe located conveiently in the heart of the East Villlage (hands
down the coolest neighborhood in New York) on the corner of 6th st. and and
avenue A, is really the only place you need to go. They've got everything you could need...there's food...there's a bar...there's a bathrooom for men and wormen...a very attractive wait staff. Plus there'a abot 4 or 5 hours of very cool live music every night of the week. It's open 24 hours a day, so if you can score the big comfie round booth upfront...bring yourself a pillow...it's quite possible that you won't even need to hotel accomidations.
Your tour would have to start by visiting all of the Folk clubs that we put out of
business (Folk City, Speakeasy). Perhaps a stroll down Minetta Lane outside the
Fat Black Pussycat, the alley where the pre-Antis gathered to play loud and drink lots. That will bring you to the corner of Bleecker and Macdougal where I had a railroad apt. for $110 a month! Walk east on Bleecker and you'll see why Joie DBG's song "Let's Burn Bleecker Street To The Ground" makes sense. Grab a cab to 157 Rivington and you are standing outside of the original Fort, birthplace of Antifolk. Across the street see ABC No Rio still a hangout for artists and punks. The area is very different now from the early days of Anti. After that head over to Sophie's on 5th street off of A and see where the Fort was held in the mid-eighties. This is where Roger Manning poured beer on Brenda Kahn, Michelle Shocked tried out new songs and
Dylan stopped in. I get a bit hazy over other Fort locales, there was Billy Syndrome's Fortress America on Ave.B, Nightingales on 2nd Ave. The Fort was at what is now the Wonder Bar but back then was The Chameleon on 6th street just a few doors down from it's present location, the Sidewalk Cafe. It was at Chameleon that Beck and Paleface wondered in and many good times were had by many people. That'll bring you up to the Sidewalk, the capitol of Antifolk. You'll also want to stop by Raven and Collective Unconscious on Wednesday and Surf Reality on Sunday to experience off-shoots of the original Fort scene. That's a quick overview, though I'd recommend getting to know some Antifolk well enough to get invited back to their real and actual Antifolk inhabited apartments where the real fun can be had ;-)
