Profile

Petite Williamsburg music venue Bruar Falls, from the folks behind Cake Shop and Library Bar, boasts neighborhood-appropriate kitsch: old arcade games (Attack from Mars, PacMan) sit next to dark wood tables and benches, while chic chandeliers and a fake pressed-tin ceiling hang above. The crowd is par for the course as well, with tattooed, bearded bartenders serving a slew of plastic-rimmed glasses toting record nerds and musicians/baristas. Bands play nightly and the lineups are usually of the eager, proudly DIY variety: psych folk, noise, sloppy-on-purpose garage rockers. The stage located in the back of the bar is almost eye-level to the standing crowd; the wall behind the performers, draped in makeshift curtains, reflects trippy colors from an offstage projector. — Yelena Shuster