Wetlands Preserve

On February 16, 1989, a former Chinese food warehouse became Wetlands Preserve, a new kind of New York music club founded by Larry Bloch to combine activism and education with entertainment. As the East Coast home of the nascent "jam band" movement, Wetlands counted Phish, Moe., Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler among its flagship acts. But the club (sold in 1997 to 24-year-old Peter Shapiro) also drew enthusiastic crowds for KRS-ONE's socially conscious hip-hop, the California hard-core sounds of Agent Orange and the New Orleans funk of the Rebirth Brass Band. Oasis, Pearl Jam, Sublime, Rage Against the Machine, The Wallflowers and Counting Crows all made their New York debuts on this small stage. Wetlands hosted countless benefits, seminars and organizational meetings; its merchandise was sold from the extravagantly painted shell of a vintage Volkswagen van. When the Hudson Street building was sold for conversion to co-op apartments, Wetlands lost its lease. The final show, on the fateful night of September 10, 2001, climaxed in a memorable set by DJ Logic, Allman Brothers Band/Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes and Phish bassist Mike Gordon. A documentary film, Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club, was released in 2008. Shapiro created the annual Jammy Awards and the website jambands.com.