Rhythmism.com

Last week the Village Voice's [www.villagevoice.com] ubiquitous nightlife scribe Tricia Romano reported on allegedly racist booking tactics at Spirit nightclub.

The show in question was scheduled for December 20th and was supposed to feature Eminem's DJ Green Lantern and G Unit member the Game. The concert promoter Peter "Oasis" Prudente said the show was canceled because the club's owner Robbie Wooton, "doesn't want a black crowd." Wooton countered and said his comments were taken out of context and that "[his] problem is being told one thing and ending up with something entirely different", as he tells his story to the Village Voice.

Whether cultural differences account for Irishman Wooton's comments or real concerns about the profiling of urban hip-hop events and local police pressure are at play is anyone's guess. One thing that seems to be agreed upon is Spirit's failed mission to uplift clubbing and bring spirituality to nightlife. The club even made Time Out New York's "The 12 Days Of Christmas Parties" as one of the Top 2 Total Duds this year as "Deadbeat Club."

Since its opening last year, Spirit was heralded as the new spiritual awakening for clubland but has since failed to maintain a consistent crowd and promotional strategy with many disgruntled promoters leaving in an angry wake. We recently received an email blast from one said angry promotional group stating, "Due to poor ethical behavior demonstrated by Spirit Management, SPIRIT Promotional Team has seized all its operations at Spirit New York (530 West 27th Street) effective today (Wednesday, December 15th)." [Editor's note: We think they meant "ceased" but then again maybe they had a hostile takeover following Godskitchen's lead on "The Club" Spike TV Reality series.] Since then, the MUZIK Fridays have seemingly migrated east to Avalon.

We haven't ruled out Spirit completely out of the clubbing picture though. Made Event, led by former Twilo manager Mike Bindra, has been producing events at Spirit, with a recent classics night featuring house maestro Danny Tenaglia and a solid line-up for New Year's Day featuring NYC's legendary house DJ Victor Calderone and Portugal's finest export DJ Vibe. We do hope that this first year was just a case of the freshman blues for Spirit.

May 2005 bring good things to the sacred dancefloor at 530 West 27th Street, that still holds the spiritual entities of clubbers past from the original Sound Factory and beloved Twilo. Let's hope they have a similiar New Year's resolution.

SPIRIT IN THE DARK
Club owner denies color of crowd caused show cancellation
December 21, 2004


A concert promoter says a show at Spirit on Monday, December 20 featuring G Unit member the Game and Eminem's DJ Green Lantern, was canceled because the club's owner, Robbie Wooton, doesn't want a black crowd.

Wooton - an Irishman best known for pushing neo-hippie spirituality in his club - left a message for Peter "Oasis" Prundente, Livendirect promoter, after seeing ads prominently featuring the Game, saying, "You gotta give me a call. We've got a problem with that Monday show. You promised me this is going to be a white event. You failed to mention that you have a member of G Unit performimg. That's not what we agreed. I need to cancel event if this is what you are proposing to do."

Prudente says the Game was always on the lineup, but the ads didn't initially feature the rapper until the performer's booking had been finalized. The concert was initially presented to the club owner as aiming for a mixed crowd, he says, and advertised on Sirius Satellite Radio, not urban markets like Hot 97. "What kid in the 'hood is watching digital cable or listening to Sirius?" asks Prudente.

While Spirit recently hosted a weekly Kid Capri party - which was uneventful - Prudente says Wootton told him he felt pressured by the 10th Precint to avoid urvbna hip-hop events. Wootton denies this.

Woottoon says his comment was taken out of context, with "white" a poorly chosen euphemism for "college" students. He canceled the concert he says, because he had been pitched a holiday show called "Countdown to Christmas," with the focuse on Green Lantern, not the Game. "My problem is with being told one thing and ending up with something entirely different. That's all that was my basic concern," says Wootton, who insists racsim is "against everything I believe in."

While a former employee called some of the club's current and former employees "the sleaziest people I have ever met" and says they constantly made racist comments in regard to different nights, she insists that Wootton never spoke in racial terms. "It was never him, always the people under him."

"Anybody can testify that Spirit is open to people of all ages and races," says Wootton.

But Prudent insists otherwise: "It's like the Chris Rock thing. It's all right, if it's all white."


TRICIA ROMANO

just waiting for the day that club goes under...

ditto.


actually, i'm not passively "waiting", i'm actually praying for that day.

LOL at the editors note

Your wait will soon be over as that building is coming down and apartments/condos are going up.

this is nuts, i just saw this come up in red on the top of cnn.com

yup.

and i know some of the investors.

I thought the Spirit people bought the entire building...

And now its time for them to sale it

they did. the deed was transfered 30.april.2003.

btw, b.e.d. is almost ready to open on the top levels of the building.

I can't wait for Spirit to go under...that location needs to have a club that knows what it's all about...rather than changing the format every month!

i have met mr. wooton & he seems like a very nice guy............. & i highly doubt he is a racist........... their thursday night is a hip hop night something else had to have happen.

i've met with him too and i agree. apparently it's the higher staff?

this is a shame... truth be told, if the owner decides to issue any kind of policy at his venue - i believe he is rightfully entitled to do so as long as it is privately owned.

it's the same situation as an italian social club, right?

now don't get me wrong, I am not for racial profiling or anything that promotes racism, etc but let's face it... hasn't there been a long lasting public history of violence and regular arrests amongst the parties involved in G-Unit? who want's that kind of liability in there house?

on Robbie's behalf, he has been nothing but polite, well spoken and considerate throughout every occasion we have conversed or met... it is not his fault that he brought a philosophy/product to NYC that is being rejected by the market... it happens, and then businesses change their model and clean out house and usually begin focusing on new strategies to generate revenue...

a personal attack on the owner sounds more like a cheap shot and an abuse of publicity...

Good Luck Robbie.

if spirit goes under will anyone really notice??? they never had any awesome bookings, like mutiple headliners. never any one off parties with mad djs. where are the parties these days anyways??? and everyone i know who went there was like "ummmmm...it has potential." sell the spot, get a new venue, get a promotor who knows whats up and knows what people want to hear. do we really need another club for the uk prog/trance djs?? FUCK NO!