The Living Room

We had a fantastic time last night at The Living Room, an amazing music venue in the Lower East Side.  It's very intimate, it has amazing acoustics, we've never seen a bad performance and there is no cover charge - just a red bucket passed around at the end of each set, encouraging you to contribute to the bands, which most audience members are happy to do.

From NY Mag -- http://nymag.com/listings/bar/living_room
The intimate music venue where Norah Jones played before she was a sensation eventually outgrew its tiny original space. The Living Room's new digs include a comfy upstairs lounge and, back behind the brown velvet curtains, a bigger but still intimate music space that looks enormous to those who remember the crush of chairs, tables, and bodies at the old Living Room. What hasn't changed is the music. Seven nights a week, a mixed crowd turns out for heartfelt, acoustic performances. There isn't always a cover at the Living Room, although the waitress can get a little aggressive with the tip bucket (the suggested donation is $5). The bar offers a limited, bar food menu courtesy of Zozo, down the street. To satisfy the one-drink minimum, choose a cocktail or any of the 15 beers on the extensive list. If you're tempted to talk through a set, the upstairs area provides vintage sofas and a DJ; there, the Living Room finally lives up to its name.
— Kathryn McGrath

We saw three bands: Sputnik, Ben Arnold and The Populists. Sputnik was really neat, they kind of reminded us a bit of Stars. You could tell that Ben Arnold has been performing for years, he was amazing and his act was so tight. The venue was rammed for The Populists, a young band who we weren't sure about at first but they put on a great show and really grew on us by the end of their set.

We'd been a few times when we lived in NYC in 2006 and I have no idea why we hadn't gone back this time around until last night... we will definitely be going back soon!