Revolution Bar & Music Hall in Amityville, one of Long Island’s most popular live music venues, closed its doors for good, its owners announced on Tuesday.
The bar’s decision to cease operations comes as music venues, like many small businesses, have struggled to stay afloat after the coronavius shutdown. The club was forced to suspend performances for months beginning in March, when the virus peaked in New York State.
“In a world with so much uncertainty, all we can do is be grateful for everything we experienced together, as a community,” the bar’s owners said in a Facebook post. “Thank you to everyone and anyone who ever gave our vision a chance. Thanks for the memories.”
The location at the corner of Route 110 and Merrick Road has been home to a host of music venues over the years. Revolution’s most recent predecessors were Ollie’s Point and Molly Bloom’s.
Revolution hosted a mix of well-known artists, up-and-coming bands, cover acts, and local bands across an array of genres from hip hop to death metal. Among the notable names to perform at Revolution were hometown emo heroes Taking Back Sunday, pop punk band The Ataris, ska group Less Than Jake, crossover artist Everlast, Scott Stapp of Creed, rapper Rick Ross, ’90s alt-rockers Candlebox, and party rocker Andrew W.K.
One of the well-known bands to recently grace the venue’s stage were The Stray Cats, the Massapequa-native rockabilly revival band that kicked off its 40th anniversary tour at Revolution last summer.
Brian Setzer, the band’s Grammy-winning singer and guitarist, reveled playing for the audience of 300 at the show, recalling how the band didn’t pass the audition to play a the venue in 1977, when it was known as Past Times Pub.
“People thought we were nuts,” Setzer recalled of the initial reaction to their style before rockabilly caught on. “It’s OK, because here we are now!”
