#Brooklyn Made is NYC’s first new live music spot since COVID-19

Not too long ago, the live music industry found itself in dire straits.

Venues were shuttering, stages were silent and musicians and fans had to make do with awkward Zoom performances. Questions about the artform’s future hung in the air like a bad note.

All the while, Anthony Makes was conjuring up New York City’s latest concert spot, Brooklyn Made, which opened in Bushwick in late September. It’s the first new music venue to land in any of the five boroughs since the pandemic began.

Makes, 53, said the COVID-19 crisis didn’t scare him when it came starting a new business. It inspired him to make a fresh start.

“Like a lot of folks, I was looking inside myself and considering my life,” said Makes, who, when he went into lockdown, was working for Live Nation as the president of the trailblazing entertainment company’s New York outfit. “I started as a concert promoter 30 years ago and wanted to go back to my roots.”

And so, in July 2020, Makes struck out on his own, founding Brooklyn Made: a concert-promoting company, and, eventually, a venue to go along with it.

Situated on the grounds of a former Troutman Street steel factory, it took just 11 months to build the venue, which has a 500-person capacity. Makes and business partner Kelly Winrich rolled the dice on the eventual return of live music to the Big Apple.

“I’m definitely more of an optimistic guy, and if you followed the science you knew the pandemic was going to wind down eventually,” Makes said of the self-funded enterprise, adding that it’s rare for new venues to open in New York City under the best of circumstances. Among the most recent to debut is Williamsburg’s Brooklyn Steel, which opened way back in 2017. “There’s a reason for that: it’s hard, it’s expensive, it’s tough.” 

On Sept. 30, Brooklyn Made strutted onto the scene with an opening show by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy. Recent concerts have featured indie rockers Band of Horses, the singer-songwriter Steve Earle and a set from veteran The Mountain Goats on the heels of the band’s 2002 song “No Children” going TikTok-viral. Makes said that 95 percent of his shows so far have sold out, with ticket prices ranging from $30 to $70 depending on the act.

The venue boasts a million-dollar sound system, state-of-the-art lighting design as well as a roof deck, which offers expansive views of the cityscape. It also features a bar and restaurant called Connie’s that has a pool table and remains open whether or not there’s a show — even throwing weekly brunches with DJs spinning tunes.

For performers, the building is equipped with a wrap-around carriage apartment furnished with $100,000 worth of furniture, as well as a private pool that turns into a hot tub in the winter. “Artists don’t want to leave,” says Makes, noting how comparable venues barely offer a respectable dressing room. “In order to compete in New York City as an independent promoter, I knew [our accommodations] had to be way over the top.”

He said it’s worked so far: “I’ve had multiple people tell me it’s the best venue they’ve played in their career.”

Prospect Heights firefighter and live music aficionado Luke Jackson was one of the fans in attendance for the opening and relished the chance to see Tweedy in the small venue, which, for comparison’s sake, can hold just 20 percent of the spectators that can fit in Terminal 5 on Manhattan’s West Side. “The space is designed well and looks very cool,” he told The Post. “I will say that the room felt a little cramped being that it’s narrow, which provides a larger stage but a slightly cramped audience experience.”

But Keri Smith, a bartender from Ridgewood, Queens, who recently saw Staten Island’s The Budos Band, thinks the dimensions are a plus. “The venue is really set up for music lovers and bands,” she said. “Any music fan will appreciate the size of the space and attention to the sound. And any touring band is going to appreciate a washer and dryer in their green room.”

Upcoming acts set to hit the intimate venue include Jakob Dylan’s The Wallflowers on Nov. 10, Matisyahu on Nov. 28 and 29 and Guided by Voices on New Years Eve.

Makes said he isn’t surprised by the triumph of concerts after COVID-19. “I always knew live music and live entertainment was going to come back,” he said. “It’s in people’s blood.”

428 Troutman St.; BrooklynMadePresents.com