Freddy's Bar Re-Opens February 4th!

This time it's official with a date and everything! I have seen the inside and can vouch that it is quite like no other place, it's got elements of the old Freddy's but it's been taken up quite a few notches. Here is the official press release in it's entirety.

"Freddy's Bar is very proud to announce its Re-Opening on Friday Feb 4th.

On this special night the doors will open at 5 pm, and will close at 4 am.

The headline music act of Les Sans Culottes will go on at midnight, with opening acts of Apple recording artist Brute Force and eclectic world roots band The Magpie kicking things off.

An exhibition of glitter and flock paintings by N.Y artist Nancy Drew will be on display.

The new bar is not the old Freddy's, but many items did make the long journey from demolition to re-birth, including the original prohibition era red mahogany bar, the old booths and tables, and a few special items as well. The “Chains of Justice” will still grace our bar as a reminder of our fight against eminent domain abuse and the power of the community bond. The video art of Donald O'Finn will still be prominently featured. The decor is unique and vibrant, a mixture of old and new, antique Hollywood Regency chandeliers, steam punk accents, vintage wallpaper as well as handmade erotic wall-paper and permanent art installations from local art stars like Nancy Drew and Steve Pauley. The stamp of co-owner/artist Donald O'Finn is evident almost everywhere you look, from the fish tank sunk into a wall with giant albino frogs to the barn wood wall constructions and oversized gothic frame mounted to a flatscreen TV.

The entire bar has been created almost exclusively out of re-cycled, found or hand made objects, with next to nothing being purchased “New,” Thus we are “Green.”

We have been built by the community, thus we are for the community. The creation of this bar is owed to the hard work of the new owners (all previous staff members), and especially to the generous efforts of other staff members and many a bar regular, who all pitched in with innumerable hours of contribution. Owned by staff and built by regulars - the old guard is out and the new guard is in, the inmates now run the asylum.

The Music!
LES SANS CULOTTES: "The seven-headed beast from the hardscrabble streets of Menilontant," Brooklyn-based francophonic rockers, LES SANS CULOTTES, made their US debut at Freddy's Bar back when Freddy's was the preeminent domain of a pre-eminent domain Prospect Heights.

BRUTE FORCE: Apple Records recording artist, currently on "Come And Get It, The Best of Apple Records," and Bar None/Sony, Confections of Love, teams up with Steve deSeve, drums, Andy Mattina, bass, Jon Keay, guitar and Daughter of Force, vocals...to perform The Best of Brute Force.

THE MAGPIE: Moody and gritty old world roots music sourcing every corner of the globe for influence.
* See The Magpie at Cafe Steinhof this Wednesday night!

The Artists!
NANCY DREW: NY Artist Nancy Drew has created permanent installations of handmade flocked & glittered wallpaper, a Pollock-esque floor painting, Clyfford Still-esque painted silver walls, as well as an endless video loop "Bill - The Drinking Cat." Bust Magazine said “Nancy Drew caused quite a stir with two NYC solo shows…masterpieces bursting with intriguing tactile surfaces and layered with sparkly girl power.“
“Painted in her trademark glitter and flocking on canvas, Nancy Drew’s painting embrace and amp up the notion of ‘retinal art’ by making it vibrate with familiar if unexpected associations. -- Christian Viveros Faune, Village Voice

STEVE PAULEY: Artist Steve Pauley has made a site-specific granite engraving specifically for Freddy’s. It is a re-construction of the original Freddy's men’s room graffiti, faithfully carved into a wall-mounted 100-pound piece of black granite.
Holland Carter of The N.Y. Times calls Pauley's granite engravings “striking and unorthodox.”

LISANNE McTERNAN (that's me!): Designed and collaged 2 bathroom doors with cult and camp media imagery for the new Fred's. Her work can currently be seen at Proteus Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY.

DONALD O'FINN: Donald O’Finn’s cult art videos are the product of re-purposing and re-contextualizing appropriated media samples. They have been shown nationally and internationally and most recently enjoyed a solo exhibition in Berlin Germany.

“Donald O’Finn’s feverishly edited encyclopedically strange video collages…” Village Voice – Best Of 2001 – 2008

“The most tripped out and intelligent re-cuts of movie clips, commercials and various other resources you can imagine.” OpenAchedemic.org

The new Freddy's Bar is located at 627 5th Ave,between 17th and 18th Street in the South Slope. It is one block from the Prospect stop on the R train, and 8 blocks from the 4th Ave and 9th Street stop on multiple trains.

Thank you
Freddy’s Bar
The new owners:
Matt Khun
Matt Kimmett
Donald O’Finn