0:00
/
01:37
7.2 Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club
Documentary, Special Interest, Musical & Performing Arts
A lot have people have opened rock clubs for a lot of different reasons, but Larry Bloch is one of the few to have opened a music venue as a medium for social change. In 1989, Bloch and a handful of friends, none of whom had experience running a nightclub, opened Wetlands in New York City's Tribeca district, and as part of their business plan, each month a percentage of the club's proceeded were to be donated to a nonprofit Center for Social and Environmental Justice, with the annual payout often exceeding 100,000 dollars. In addition to the club's success as an avenue for fundraising, Wetlands helped give a home to a new breed of bands whose music suited the hippie-esque vibe of the club while opening new territories in improvisational rock, and Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, and Gov't Mule were among the acts who were regulars attractions at Wetlands before finding worldwide fame. Dean Budnick, a senior editor at Relix Magazine (a journal that frequently covers the jam band scene) makes his directorial debut with Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club, which examines both the music and the message behind this fabled venue.
Rating
NR
Director
Dean Budnick
- Good movie. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was their featuring of songs/performances entailed of 5-10 second, image slideshows set to recordings. Was expecting more video. But I enjoyed the backstory of the venue and the Dispatch sticker part way through.Reply
-
- Entertainingly builds a convincing case for the club's significance as a NYC outlet for the politically-conscious interplay of Americana rock, folk, and hip-hop.Reply
- If you never twirled barefoot in the funky old club, Wetlands Preserved may be of limited interest, but it's a loving and thorough document of a small slice of rock history.Reply
- A vibrant account of a remarkable place that will find a warm home in the heart of just about any music fan.Reply
- With its carefully-chosen soundtrack, funky animation, and enthusiastic interviews, Dean Budnick's affectionate documentary pays apt tribute to Wetlands, a local landmark that closed in 2001.Reply
- Wetlands Preserved is a fond account of the rising, thriving and eventual closing of the TriBeCa club known as the Wetlands Preserve.Reply
- Dean Budnick's nostalgic doc never wants for feeling or a sense of purpose as it examines not simply how this niche in the New York nightlife came to pass, but what it represented and how its presence has since affected the world.Reply
-
- You can't help but be impressed by how many great bands played through [the club] before it shut its doors, just days before 9/11.Reply
-
-