bossa nova civic club

2 Comments

John Barclay of Bossa Nova Is Now Brewing Brooklyn’s Own Yerba Mate Soda

(image via White Label/ John Barclay)

(image via White Label/ John Barclay)

There’s no doubt Red Bull has staked its claim on the music industry (it just launched a web series, “Mavens,” dedicated to women in the industry), but how would you feel if we told you that things were going in the other direction, now that the music people are getting involved in the business of energized-drink making? It’s true: John Barclay of Bossa Nova Civic Club recently launched a yerba mate soda company called White Label. And the stuff ranks right up there with the energy-drink heavy hitters.

More →

No Comments

Bushwick’s Juno Is Switching Things Up So It Can ‘Stay in the Neighborhood’

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

(Photo: Nicole Disser)

On Monday John Barclay, proprietor of Bushwick mainstay Bossa Nova Civic Club, announced on Facebook that he was no longer involved with Juno, the upscale-diner “date spot” that he opened up with the help of the same investors from his nightclub venture back in December. “It had become clear that the spot wouldn’t survive without the funding that I can’t provide,” he wrote, wishing the place well.

More →

No Comments

‘Hopefully It Feels Vibey’ at Bossa Nova Civic Club’s Round-the-Clock Sister Restaurant

Inside Juno, John Barclay's new Bushwick restaurant (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Inside Juno, John Barclay’s new Bushwick restaurant (Photo: Nicole Disser)

Last Friday, Juno — John Barclay’s stylish new restaurant, bar, and coffee spot just down the way from his raucous Bushwick dance club, Bossa Nova Civic Club — “quietly opened” its doors. When I stopped by yesterday, just a few people were sitting pretty, peering around the place (and allegedly dining too), inspecting it like a brand new spaceship had just landed off the Central Avenue stop. There was no pounding music to be heard, nor a fog machine in sight.

“We do have a DJ booth here, but it’s still quiet enough where you can have conversation,” Barclay explained. “We’ll be playing more mature stuff than my other place, for sure. Stuff that pairs well with dinner— funk, R&B, world music. It’s supposed to feel a little more romantic in here, a little more adult.”

More →

No Comments

Owner of Bossa Nova Civic Club Opening ‘Elevated Diner’ in Bushwick

(Photo via John Barclay's Facebook)

(Photo via John Barclay’s Facebook)

If all goes as planned this fall, John Barclay, owner of Bushwick dance destination Bossa Nova Civic Club, will be serving up over-easy eggs and bloody marys across the way at his new restaurant, which he’s calling an “elevated diner.”
More →

No Comments

Shows: Trip Metal Metastasizing and Sweaty Dance Party in a Bathtub

11159990_390969247778182_7697779795651406670_n

Here’s to hoping you took this past weekend to cram your butt, beach umbrellas, and coolers full of malt liquor onto the A train, also known as the Express Train to Beach Salvation. Lord knows nearly all of Brooklyn decided this was the way to go. I’ve got the bite marks to prove it. If you didn’t get your Rockaway kicks in along with the rest of us, chances are you’re gonna miss out big time on a weekend of epic gigs on the horizon. Trust us, this is the time to play hooky, because how else are you possibly going to realize your Best Summer Ever without skipping out on your earthly responsibilities? You’ve really dug yourself a hole, haven’t you? Here are the shows happening this week that’ll get you out of it.

More →

No Comments

Bushwick’s Best Dance Club Is Getting Some Fresh Air

OPN-EARTH-1Add this to your list of outdoor dance parties (Tiki Disco, Summer Thunder, etc.). As if becoming record moguls wasn’t enough, the folks at Bushwick’s Bossa Nova Civic Club have launched a series of summer parties called Open Earth.

The first party, on June 29, will be at Todd P’s new venue, Trans-Pecos. It starts with DJs outdoors and indoors at 2 p.m.: Marcos Cabral, who DJed our own Bedford + Bowery Bazaar last summer, kicks off the outdoor festivities, which go till 7:30 p.m. (the indoor portion runs later).
More →

No Comments

Watch Todd P, Peter Shapiro and Other North Brooklyn Club Owners Talk Nightlife and DIY

While you party down this weekend, the club owners of North Brooklyn will be working hard to make that partying possible — and offering up a dizzyingly diverse array of cutting-edge music, to boot. (For starters, did anyone else catch John Carpenter’s soundtrack composer, Alan Howarth, doing the Halloween theme song at 285 Kent last night? Just beyond awesome.) Last week at the Newsroom, we spoke to some of our favorite nightlife impresarios: from left to right in the video above, you’ve got Peter Shapiro of Brooklyn Bowl, Jify Shah of Cameo, Jake Rosenthal of Glasslands, John Barclay of Bossa Nova Civic Club, and Todd Patrick of 285 Kent and Market Hotel.
More →

No Comments

Monday: An Evening With the Owners of the Night

Brooklyn_nightclub

Sure, it’s fun to sit around remembering CBGB and the Mudd Club, but what about the great clubs and creative hubs of today? Join us Monday at the B+B Newsroom as five trailblazers of North Brooklyn nightlife discuss the state of play circa 2013.

John Barclay will be coming off of a win this week’s Paper Nightlife Awards, where his Bossa Nova Civic Club scored Best New Club (New York considers it the Best Dance Club, period, and gave it another shout-out in last month’s Everything Guide to Dancing).

Barclay operated 285 Kent before legendary DIY promoter Todd Patrick (aka Todd P) turned it into a nightly destination for all-ages indie rock shows. Patrick, also the founder of Showpaper, is now in the midst of reopening beloved underground spot Market Hotel as a fully licensed indie music venue; last month he announced he was also reopening the original location of Silent Barn as a yet-to-be-named artist’s studio space and an all-ages venue for avant-garde and experimental music.

Also joining us will be Peter Shapiro, who owned celebrated Tribeca club Wetlands before opening Brooklyn Bowl in 2009. A couple of months ago, the bowl-o-drome announced its expansion to London and Las Vegas. Shapiro, also the publisher of Relix magazine and a founder of the Great GoogaMooga, recently relaunched Lower East Side burlesque mecca The Slipper Room and the venerable Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.

Jify Shah will be coming off of a blockbuster week at his Williamsburg venue, Cameo, which just hosted CMJ showcases by some B+B favorites (Mexican Summer, Cascine, Wild Honey Pie, etc.). In addition to attracting some of Brooklyn’s most exciting indie-rock and electronic acts and DJs, Cameo is New York‘s Best Stand-Up spot of 2010, thanks to house fixture Max Silvestri.

In 2008, Jake Rosenthal co-founded PopGun Presents, which produces concerts, parties, festivals and events around town. He and his partner Rami Haykal began booking Glasslands — one of B+B’s favorite places to catch a show — in 2009 and assumed ownership of the Williamsburg venue last year.

We’ll get the party started Monday at 7 p.m., at 155 Grand St., off of Bedford Ave., in Williamsburg.

1 Comment

Bushwick Is Burning: Underground Trap Raves Keep It Weird

It’s 3 a.m. at Passion Lounge, the heavily mirrored club on Broadway previously known as Angels, and the roving underground party known as Ultra Velvet is in full swing. Brooklyn rapper Dai Burger coos a line from her new single into the mic: “Soufflé, I could come on these bitches all day.” She’s iced in iridescent blue from head to transparent heel. Her audience is similarly attired in ensembles ranging from the futuristic to the obscene. As lasers spin, they share fish bowls, sipping an orgy of liquor from long straws. Passion’s towering security guards look on, confused.
More →

No Comments

FDNY Cracks Down On Bossa Nova’s Ability to ‘Rave With You Full Throttle’

If you were one of the people who thought, “Ugh, that’s the end of that place” when the Bossa Nova Civic Club got that write-up in The Times last month, well then you’re probably also the type that will say, “See, I told you so,” when you hear that, according to the Bushwick boite’s Facebook page, it got a visit from the FDNY and now must limit capacity at its sweat-drenched dance parties.

Cue the message that went out earlier this evening.
More →