09/23/09

Who said there's no place left to see a good Manhattan show?

by JayLove1115

Live performances have always been my thing. Been living in Manhattan my whole life and have started to see a bit of a downturn in the quality of production at live shows. The acts themselves have also been dwindling as of late, but there are still a handful of well all-around clubs that keep me happy...BB King's is one of them! I try to get there as often as I can - most recent show I saw was Rockin the Paradise, Styx tribute band in August. They were amazing and it was perfect for the club. They really know how to get a band to shine at this place - good job production! I didn't make it in time to get a table but I managed to get some pretty good nachos at the bar, i'd say try getting their as early as you can for a show so you get a table.

• Pros: Great live production! Cool & very unique environment
• Cons: Showed up late and missed the first few songs..

09/23/09

Big names for a pretty small venue

by MieRains

Saw Chuck Berry perform at BB kings in Times Square a few weeks back, was amazing to see him still going at it considering his rather old age for this business. It's great to see such a performer with an illustrious career as Chuck B. play at a smaller more comfortable venue than most of the venues I visit. Though the ticket prices were somewhat high, I was expecting them to be much higher for such a big name. ...Food prices pretty average for Manhattan - Times Square is a place I rarely visit, but I'll make an exception every once in a while to see a great show. Keep on bringin in the big names bbs, and I'll keep bringing myself to your shows!

• Pros: Finally! a smaller venue in NYC with big acts
• Cons: Times Square tends to drive me nuts

09/14/09

BEATLES BRUNCH!

by Charleyhorses

just attended my third beatles brunch at the bb king grill and was once again more than satified...these guys are seriously awesomme!!

couldn't ask for a better beatles cover band and i bet there isn't one anywhere in the world..and better yet these guys are at the bb king club every week!!!

• Pros: THESE GUYS ARE AWESOME
• Cons: TIMES SQUARE :(

09/14/09

Sunday Gospel Brunch

by bag274

A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The show was wonderful and food was great. Would have been nice if alcoholic beverages were included, but what in NY does? A great contrast to the hectic city streets.

• Pros: Great show and food
• Cons: located in crowded area (Time square)

08/11/09

Lucille's

by fellowyellows

I went to B.B King's Lucille's for drinks with some coworkers.

Our drinks were pretty good, but a bit overpriced. (it's times square, so we didn't complain too much)

Surprisingly there's free music every night. however, we weren't really interested because we were sharing nachos and wings. :P

the nachos were good, and really big, so we were glad we only ordered 2 (there were 9 of us).

the wings were ok, not the best i've had, but pretty good.

the room was really cold though...

• Pros: yummy drinks, and good nachos
• Cons: cold room, and had to walk up stairs for small bathroom

08/11/09

Lucille's - Sweet food and FREE good music!

by beeeezly

I checked out Lucille's a few weeks ago and I will most definitely be going back as soon as I can! They have good deals for dinner and you get to check out a live band for free! It was a little cold in there - but what NYC Club isn't freezing? They also had some pretty good beers on tap..Definitely check this place out if you can!

• Pros: Free music and real good food
• Cons: A little on the cold side

08/11/09

Toots & The Maytals

by ac9631

Toots & the Maytals at the B.B King Club was a concert I will never forget. I have seen this group before and they were excellent, but they shined even brighter at B.B.'s. Our table (and basically all of the other tables) were positioned so we could see the group very well - which to me is just as important as being able to hear them well.

The food was excellent - the service was not the best I've ever had but when I'm eating great food and watching an amazing live performance of one of the greatest reggae groups ever, the attitude of my waitress is the least of my concerns.

p.s. amazing burgers!!!

• Pros: Great food & great music!
• Cons: Servers not too friendly

08/11/09

Strawberry Fields!!

by nyannyan

Luckily, I knew some people who worked in the venue, so I managed to get a booth reserved for me and two of my friends.

The show was really entertaining, and the food was good. Since the show included an all you can eat buffet, it allowed my group to decide what we wanted to eat, however i do wish that there was more of a selection. I really liked the chicken fingers, but i do wish that they had a larger selection of beverages included in the buffet. However, our server was very nice and she gave us different recommendations for drinks, so that was great :P

I had lots of fun at Strawberry Fields, and it's really amusing to watch some not so young looking guys dress up and pretend to be the Beatles. Granted, they were members of Beatlemania, so it was lots of fun :)

• Pros: Family Friendly, Entertaining, Good Food, and yummy cookies
• Cons: Buffet did not offer alot of variety.

04/10/09

amazing show + awesome venue!

by deekatz

I go to metal shows all the time and usually the venues are small and pretty grimy..I completely did not expect BB king's to be so CLEAN and LARGE. it was kinda weird watching Dethklok here, but as soon as i heard the sound in this place, i was blown away!!

okay, and since it was my first time here, i had no clue what to expect but all the staff people were super friendly (not jerks like at hole-in-the-wall bars) and helpful (i asked a million questions..)

i will definitely come to shows (most likely more metal shows :D ) again

oh, and i got some food from the restaurant they have here, and it was amazing!! i was soo full afterwards :)

my friend liked the food too, even though he's kinda skeptical of venue food..

• Pros: great sound, fantastic band, gooood foood
• Cons: did not expect to watch a good metal show here

04/10/09

One of my favorite venues in NYC

by MrArnold

I've been to shows at BB King Blues Club a number of times over the past couple of years, though my latest experience certainly sticks out as probably the best of them all. I attended the Parliament/George Clinton show about a month ago and was thoroughly impressed by all aspects of the show. My friends and I arrived to the venue early and dined in Lucille's before the start of the show. The wait staff was very friendly, setting a great vibe to kick off the night. Our orders were taken promptly and we received our food in about 10-15 minutes, which we were very pleased by. I had the cheeseburger and fries, which was quite appetizing to say the least....my friends got a salmon dish, a steak sandwich and pasta/shrimp, all of which looked pretty damn good. Excellent service at Lucille's!

After eating we went into the main space to hang out and get ready for the forthcoming onslaught of funk. The people working the door were extremely friendly, greeting us with a smile and letting us pass through without any problem. There was a special on Magic Hat beer that night, which was absolutely perfect for the event. At most places you get stuck paying significantly more than you'd prefer for beer, however this drink special was very easy on our wallets. This was the first time that two of my friends had been to a show at BB King's and they were all very impressed by club's nicely furnished interior. We had an awesome time just hanging out and drinking beers, and before we knew it P Funk had taken the stage. The stage was lined with about 10 mesa boogie half stack amplifiers, and jeez was the sound awesome! P Funk tore through funk anthem after funk anthem, the entire crowd getting really into the music. The acoustics of the venue made for awesome sound quality, allowing me to discern everything that was going on on the stage. George Clinton was a man possessed that evening....even though he's old, he doesn't seem to have lost even the slightest step. I'm sure that he may have put on a more "youthful" performance back in the day, however I can't imagine that he had a whole lot more fire in his eyes back then than he does today. And I just can't emphasize how great the sound was for the show....the guitar solos were blazing and fully audible, the group backing vocals stuck out perfectly, and the bass was just hammering our faces the entire time.

All in all I would definitely recommend BB Kings to anybody who wants to have a unique concert experience. Everything from the venue's layout to the staff to the acoustics was pretty awesome for this show. My only gripe was that George Clinton didn't play for 7 hours straight like he would have back in the day...

(I've been to a number of other great shows over the past copule of years including Enslaved, Suffocation, Immolation, Summer Slaughter Tour, as well as this P Funk Show. As you can see, this venue is great for all styles for music!)

• Pros: awesome music, great food
• Cons: nothing off the top of my head