Venue Review: Market Hotel

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Overview
Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Address: 1142 Myrtle Ave. (at Broadway)
Size: Medium
Directions: J/M/Z to Myrtle Ave., walk half a block east
Website: [MySpace]

Acoustics: C+
Booking: D
Helpfulness to bands: B-
Atmosphere: A

Acoustics - Market Hotel is a warehouse space, and a rather oddly shaped one at that. They haven't done much with the sound so it's quite messy and echoey. But as far as industrial loft spaces go, it's not terrible either. Just so-so.

Booking - In this writer's experience, Market Hotel is not only difficult to book, they are difficult to get in touch with, period. Like a lot of DIY venues, they don't even bother to write back to say "no thanks," so it's impossible to know if anyone even checks the e-mail address. In other words, if you're not BFFs with the kids who run the place, you're probably out of luck.

Helpfulness to bands - Since everyone who plays there is buddy-buddy with the people running it, this almost isn't an issue, but I'll still tackle it the best I can. The problem is Market Hotel is laid-back to a fault, and their organization and communication is careless. That said, they do exist for bands and will do what they can to help the bands they book - just not in a very professional or orderly way.

Atmosphere - It's an industrial storage loft. What's not to love? The shows are hip, the audience is hip and everything is relaxed and music-focused, as it should be. Prices are also reasonable.

Miscellany - It's really cold in Market Hotel! I've never been there in the summer, but if the weather is even slightly brisk, it always seems about 10 degrees colder in there. Bundle up! Also, it's a DIY venue, so remember that shows won't start anywhere close to on time.

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