Daniel Savage has been frequenting Max Fish for over a decade now. While the 31-year-old surfer and photographer doesn’t specifically remember the first time he set foot in the Lower East Side skater haven, he does recall the feeling: “I remember just being really wide-eyed about it all. I was new to NYC and it seemed like a place where people who were doing amazing things hung out. 178 Ludlow Street was where I wanted to be every night.”
Max Fish closes its doors tonight, and Savage put together a collection of photos as a final farewell. Shot on Fuji 3000 ISO instant film, “Last Call on Ludlow” includes portraits of the bar’s regulars and staff, accompanied by quick commentary. “It was nearly impossible to sum up any of these people in a sentence,” states Savage. “There are too many great things to say, and I’d be leaving out way too much. I have already left out too many people who I wish were in this story.”
The bar will reopen in Williamsburg this fall and Savage says he will absolutely be there. We have a feeling a lot of other familiar faces will be there as well, and according to Savage that’s really what the Fish is all about: the people.
My best memory is from about 1991 when I was quietly having a beer alone there on a crowded weeknight. There was an animated soft core movie on the tv above the bar (which never had broadcasts). A boy had hidden in a locker to peep at the women’s volley ball team change clothes. After all but one of the girls leaves, the boy slips out of the locker, comes up behind the girl, sprouts penis-tentacles and splits down the middle to hatch some alien monster. I had been idly half-watching, but by the end I was staring slack jawed at the screen. That would have been embarrassing, but when I nervously glanced around the whole bar area had gone gob-struck. Then the picture changed and everyone picked up their conversations.
Ha! That was a Japanese hentai video I loaned them called “The Wandering Kid”.