The Continental is an infamous bar right at the corner of St. Marks and 3rd Avenue in the village in New York City. After 15 years of hosting some great bands (some known and some not so well known), they stopped having live music in 2006. This was right around the time CBGBs closed down, making it harder and harder to hear punk music in the New York city.
They had a reunion concert on a very rainy, cold and miserable Sunday night. The place was packed. I got there late and left early but the place rocked and people were having a good time. They had a ton of bands playing everything from old school punk to straight up classic rock and everything in between. I especially loved the Ramones covers and was bummed that I had to leave before CJ Ramone took the stage.
My favorite was the hockey themed punk band, “Two Man Advantage”.. that’s right, they are hockey themed (hockey mask, jerseys and all) and the crowd loved them. You can check some video of their performance.
If you are ever in NYC then check out The Continental as its still a great dive bar and a great place to get a cheap drink amid some punk history.
Lets hope some other venues will be able to fill the void in Manhattan soon as I’m getting really tired of going to Brooklyn and New Jersey all the damn time.