Club Cumming’s love for live music is being investigated by the New York State Liquor Authority.
The club founded by actor Alan Cumming is under the watchful eye of the SLA for “not complying” with the original license it was granted upon opening in the fall of 2017.
“Club Cumming applied as a bar with no live music or DJs,” an SLA representative told Page Six on Wednesday. “The SLA opened an investigation after receiving complaints from the local Community Board that the licensee was not complying and charged the bar with failure to conform on February 23, 2018. Club Cumming can submit an application to change their method of operation to allow for live music/DJs.”
When reached for comment, promoter and partner at the East Village venue Daniel Nardicio acknowledged the error.
“Due to rookie mistakes Alan and I didn’t apply to have live music, but we feel this is just an oversight,” he told Page Six in a statement on Thursday. “When the Community Board sees just how much Club Cumming brings to the area culturally, we’re pretty confident they’ll ok the change of method of operation.”
Referring to the club as a “forefront of an even larger movement to legitimize and honor NYC Nightlife, Music and Arts,” Nardicio touted appearances by Paul McCartney and Emma Stone at the hot spot, adding that “because of the fact that Club Cumming has no record of issues with the police, or calls to 311 about noise, and because of the overwhelming support we’ve been getting from our actual neighbors, we cannot foresee any problems with this slight bureaucratic change to our method of operations.”
They will be meeting with the Community Board in the “near future,” he said. Club Cumming occupies what had been the space of Eastern Bloc for 12 years.
On social media, Tony-winning Cumming has reached out to locals to sign a petition in an effort toward granting permission for live music acts — such as performer Amanda Lepore, who took the stage Tuesday night — and DJs in the club.
“Do you live within a two block radius of @clubcumming? If so PLEASE come in and sign our petition to help us keep live music and DJs happening in the bar every night,” the “Instinct” star pleaded on Instagram on Tuesday. “We need to convince the State Liquor Authority to do so and we need the signature of as many local residents as possible. We hope we are an asset to the community and we are asking you to help us stay one.”
So far, they’ve garnered over 100 signatures with over a month left to get the number required.
“We feel good about this, and look forward to working with our local community board to resolve this so we can continue our work at Club Cumming,” Nardicio said.
In the interim, the show goes on at Club Cumming. According to the venue’s website, DJ Matty Glitterati will perform Thursday night and DJs Ana Matronic and Seth Kirby are scheduled to perform Friday night.