Beloved Brooklyn metal venue Saint Vitus has permanently closed. The New York bar – which has previously held concerts by , , The Dillinger Escape Plan, Coheed And Cambria and such non-metal names as Blink-182 and a partially reunited – announced its closing in an Instagram post Sunday (August 18). “1120 Manhattan Ave.
2011-2024. Saint Vitus Bar to be continued..
. Thank you to everyone who was a part of it. 🍻” read a statement signed by the bar’s founders, George Souleidis and Arty Shepherd, and booking manager David Castillo.
reports that the statement’s “to be continued...
” is a reference to the owners’ plan to host future Saint Vitus-endorsed shows at other New York City venues. It also reports that the owners may later reopen Saint Vitus in a new location. Saint Vitus was shut down by New York’s Department Of Buildings (DOB) in February, during a crossover thrash show.
The closing, initially expected to be temporary, was in response to a local complaint about multiple alleged infractions from the bar, such as operating without maximum occupancy signs. The venue also allegedly did not have the legal authority to be an “eating and drinking establishment”. LIHCshows, promoter of the concert that was occurring when Saint Vitus was initially closed, said the complaint and shutdown “seemed like a personal vendetta [and] attack on the venue”.
Saint Vitus was opened in 2011 and quickly became a go-to spot for heavy metal fans and artists in the Brooklyn area and beyond. Arguably its greatest claim to fame is hosting Nirvana’s 2014 one-night-only comeback, where surviving members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic performed with stand-in frontpeople including Joan Jett, St Vincent and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Thrash metal icons Megadeth and Anthrax have both played secret shows at the venue, as well.
Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Saint Vitus also hosted non-concert events, such as book events by ex-Sex Pistols singer John Lydon and guitarist Tony Iommi. A photo posted by on Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster.
He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering. “We hired male strippers to come onstage and dance”: Kittie’s Morgan Lander names her goofiest tour memory "A new heavy metal classic for the ages": The song Ronnie James Dio called one of the "proudest things he'd ever done" The biggest rock tour of all time has officially been confirmed - and it's Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres world tour.
