Barbès Closing In On Fundraising Goal Ahead Of Benefit Show

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Barbès, the Park Slope music venue on the corner of Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue, is closing in on its fundraising goal after announcing that it may have to shut down because of soaring debt.

An Indiegogo campaign has raised about $51,000 of the $70,000 goal as of this writing, far surpassing the $20,000 it said was needed immediately.

"Barbès is definitely out of the danger zone and it looks almost certain that we will be able to stay open and keep doing what we do for at least another five years," owner Olivier Conan wrote on the Indiegogo page.

Barbès hopes to have the rest of that fundraising finished by Friday, when a benefit concert will be held at DROM in the East Village. The venue has pledged 100 percent of ticket sales to Barbès, and the bands are playing for free.

"Most people were a little bit shocked that we were in financial trouble, because we’ve been here for a long time," Conan told Patch. "We hadn’t complained before so they were surprised. But right away people were very supportive, saying they wanted us to stick around, that we represent something that’s unique."

Barbès has been in Park Slope for 15 years and gone from a neighborhood favorite to a destination spot in Brooklyn and New York City for people looking to see indie music. The bar has never offered a drink minimum and lets bands play longer sets of 90 minutes or two hours.

"I don’t think there's many places that do what we do," Conan told Patch. "Not just in Brooklyn or New York in general. We've been a little bit of an incubator for a few years. We give artists more room than most venues."

Conan recalls the days when Ninth Street was considered "South Slope" and rent could be had for $500 a month. While Park Slope was still a middle class neighborhood 15 years ago, artists found cheap rent in the area and flocked to Barbès to show off their talents.

"That's not the case any more," Conan said of the real estate prices.

Conan said tickets to Friday's show were "very close to sold out" but "there will probably be some tickets released at the door."

The show features a long list of artists — "friends of the family," Conan says — which you can see here. Anyone interested can buy tickets here.

Image via Google Streetview