Santos Party House permanently closed after hosting Skinhead festival
Santos Party House, a downtown New York music venue partly owned by Andrew W.K. and Queens rapper Despot, has reportedly closed. According to statements made by club manager Sean Kane, the building owner has decided not to renew the 10-year lease.
The abrupt closure comes on the heels of the venue’s decision to host the second night of NYC Oi, an annual festival widely reviled for its apparent ties to Neo-Nazi, skinhead, and overtly racist groups. A number of clips from the event seem to feature attendees performing the Nazi “sieg heil” salute and show one band covering songs from British white power group Brutal Attack.
The first night of the revolting event was hosted at Williamsburg’s Black Bear Bar before it was forced out and took to Santos for night two. Although the bar initially defended the event against the Southern Poverty Law Center’s repeated warnings, recent social media posts claim the event was shut down after owners actually realized the sinister nature of the event. In a thorough Facebook post, Black Bear Bar details the booking process for events and how Oi’s infamously crafty promoters will conceal the event’s skinhead ties and coax venues into complicity.
According to a YouTube video posted by New York Antifascist Action, the event’s promoter reportedly warned NYC Oi attendees via Facebook to keep their behavior low key by not wearing “obvious” or “over the top” clothing. The post also warns attendees to “not give them any more ammo than they already have” and actually instructs against “waving to Kyle,” a colloquial euphemism for the sieg heil.
Promoters are known to present the long-running fest with multiracial bands as the headliners and often fail to disclose the more shocking portions of the bill to venue booking staff.
Though the Santos story has become convoluted–with Despot claiming he attempted to shut down the event and the venue keeping mum–the club is now closed for good. An auto reply from the venue’s email server states “If you have an event scheduled after [Sunday, May 29] please consider it cancelled.”
H/T: Brooklyn Vegan
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Categories: Music