By Evan Barton
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

WILLIAMSBURG — Bowery Presents, the concert-promotion company that books concerts for Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall, and other well-known Manhattan concert venues, is now planning a similar venture in Brooklyn, to be called the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

At one point, the soon-to-be concert space at 66 North Six St. in Williamsburg housed a mayonnaise and salad dressing factory. Most recently, the building was home to the popular neighborhood live-music venue Northsix.

Last year, Bowery Presents took over Northsix, and started renovations on the building. On Sept. 4, the company will reopen the venue under its new title, with music icon Patty Smith and her band performing.

Brian Swier, architect for the Music Hall, recently led a guided tour of the building. The new venue will have a capacity of 550 people, making it larger than both the former Northsix as well as Southpaw in Park Slope.

Patrons of the Music Hall will enter the building by first going through the basement, passing through a cellar/bar area before going back up into the main concert area. “This way, we keep a lot of sound from getting out into the neighborhood,� Swier mentioned.

One of the ways Swier expanded the venue, as well as changing the acoustics of the space, was by clearing away some of the original support beams and knocking out much of the flooring above the stage. Now, concertgoers can enjoy their music upstairs (by the upper-level bar) while simultaneously listening to the bands below.

Though what’s left of the upper level is directly above the stage, two side mezzanines allow patrons to walk along the upper-level walls and watch the bands playing below. Swier is keeping the exterior wall’s partially whitewashed façade, maintaining what Swier said was the “industrial aesthetic� of the building.

Acoustically, the concert hall is shaped like a horn, allowing for better sound quality with less reverberation. Though it’s impossible to create the exact same sound quality in all points of a room, the speakers are curved instead of flat, directing sound both straight ahead of it, as well as above and around it.

Booking agent Josh Moore has already lined up a number of popular indie bands to play at the venue through November, with Against Me!, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Les Savy Fav and Rasputina all scheduled to play at Music Hall of Williamsburg over the next couple of months.

Music Hall of Williamsburg is Bowery Presents’ first concert venue in Brooklyn, though the company also runs Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan. Bowery Presents is also in charge of live music booking at Webster Hall, and runs the club when it’s not playing its normal hip-hop, house, or kitschy ’80s fare.

Ticket and schedule information are available online through the venue’s Web site, www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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