Another Mabuhay Makeover
On a recent rainy Friday I passed 443 Broadway -- the address that once housed celebrated & legendary punk venue the Mabuhay Gardens -- and noticed it had just finished a recent renovation, renaming, and reopening. Previously it had been Club 443 (at which T&T Promotions made an ultimately vain attempt to revive the Fab Mab's rougher vibe by booking metal & punk bands), and prior to that it had been the Velvet Lounge. Now I guess they're calling it Club Sutra. At least from the outside it looks like all the other neo-North Beach lounges: trendy, sleek, and probably super-douchey on weekends.
Punks don't have to despair too much, however: it looks like the adjacent alleyway may finally be renamed in honor of the Mab's famously prickly promoter, Dirk Dirksen. I'd rather have a decent, non-douchey music venue, of course. But we'll take what we can get in an era where "trendy" isn't actually considered an insult anymore. -- J. Graham
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