Comments (0) Best Newish Concert Venue - 2010
Brooklyn Bowl
Readers' Choice: Highline Ballroom
It's a profoundly odd place, Brooklyn Bowl, "posh bowling alley" being on the face of it a bizarre combination of words. And yet the Williamsburg spot is a beguiling mixture of low and slightly higher culture. Throw down on one of their 16 bowling lanes or just gawk at the enormous big-screen TVs looming above them; nonchalantly down a couple beers or luxuriate in a Blue Ribbon–provided full dinner menu including, allegedly, the most stupendous fried chicken ever fried. Oh, and, yes, there's music, too—a 600-capacity in-house venue booked by local powerhouse Bowery Presents that offers a fascinating mix of up-and-comers (rapper Yelawolf, indie rockers Real Estate), hip-hop celebs (Big Boi, Snoop Dogg, myriad ?uestlove DJ sets), and jam-band mainstays (Blues Traveler!). Embrace the absurdity and it's a great place to see a concert, actually, with plenty of distractions should you need any, and plenty of adventurous shows on the calendar.
