Maxwell’s is well-known for its relaxed bar and lounge, its great restaurant, its intimate performance room and its exposed red brick walls that are adorned with the work of local artists. But there’s a whole other setting to the popular venue that most of its patrons never get to see.
Hang a right past the bar, take a trip down a flight of stairs and take another quick right, and therein lies the “Green Room,” where some of the most creative and most obnoxious artwork in the club has existed for years.
This small room in the basement of Maxwell’s is where the bands hang out, and mostly drink beer and scarf down shots, before their shows. The gray brick room has a small wooden bench with a writing board directly behind it, and can comfortably fit about four to five people. The entrance is designed for a single person to pass at a time, the temperature is usually a cozy 85 degrees and the humidity level feels close to about 90 to 99 percent. Despite the climate, the bands usually hide out for hours in what was called “The Dungeon of Hell” by The Samples. One of the things bands do to pass the time is mark up the wall with graffiti.
All four sides to the room and the ceiling have been marked up, and most spots have been written on several times. Some of the band signings include some old and new popular Maxwell regulars including Gut Bank, The Muffs, Old 97s, Skanatra, Cropduster, Charlie Picket & the Eggs, The Cheshire Cats and Eugene.
“It would be interesting to peel the layers of graffiti to see some of the original markings,” said Todd Abramson, Maxwell’s co-owner and band booker.
Some of the bands on the wall crossed oceans to get to Maxwell’s, like the Scottish band Bis and the Japanese band Jackie and the Cedrics.
“I think it’s pretty important to the foreigners to leave their mark,” said Abramson.
So what’s the appeal of leaving a pen mark?
“It’s the one thing expected from bands anywhere you go, no matter what part of the country you’re in,” said George Hall of the band Secksbomba. “It’s like an enormous bathroom for musicians to leave their mark, moreso than they can with their music. It’s like you’re leaving your mark up forever.”
But Billy Atwell of Shirley Temple of Doom said he thinks it’s a vain attempt to rectify feeling insignificant.
“Fundamentally, it’s a pissing contest,” said Billy Atwell. “Henry Rollins stated in Musician Magazine that his MO was, show up on time, play your guts out and don’t write on the walls. Makes sense to me.”
Ironically, Atwell’s band is also known for decorating CBGBs’ walls with some of the largest posters in the club.
Although most of the actual drawings on the Maxwell’s wall are of the male and female anatomy and aren’t quite fit for description in a family paper like the Current, some of the messages are charming, like, “The 45’s killed my girlfriend,” “The 45’s also caused my houseplants to rot,” “Celtic are s**te! Hibbes rule,” and “I sucked an Insomniac here!”
Abramson said that the interesting fact is that most of the bands that have marked up on the Maxwell’s wall never became popular, top 40 musicians, but he had an explanation.
“The wall is cursed,” said Abramson. “It’s the kiss of the death. Bands are welcome to sign it, but then they’re doomed to failure. No one who has signed it has made it.”
Then as he started looking through the graffiti on the wall, Abramson started to notice bands like Sonic Youth, Everclear and Gomez.
“Oh, look at that, Gomez is on the wall,” said Abramson. “I take it back; the wall can’t be that cursed.”