VENUESNOW ALL-STARS

All-Stars: Club

Avant Gardner

Brooklyn, N.Y.

By Eric Renner Brown
In the industrial bowels of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, Avant Gardner has made a name as the area’s premier live destination. The sprawling complex houses two indoor venues — 3,400-capacity Great Hall and 800-capacity Kings Hall — and the outdoor Brooklyn Mirage, which accommodates up to 6,000, allowing Avant Gardner to host massive, multistage parties. To wit, the venue’s top earner since its 2017 opening was the Cityfox NYE Festival on Dec. 31, 2019, which grossed $1.03 million as nearly 10,000 attendees came to ring in the new decade with several buzzy electronic acts. While the venue generally traffics in big-name EDM acts, it’s also proved to be a haven for hip-hop (J. Cole and Meek Mill both sold out Avant Gardner shows in 2019) and jam bands (Avant Gardner was set to host several of the genre’s biggest names for “Brooklyn Comes Alive” in March before the live industry shutdown).