Tier 3 (nightclub)

Tier 3 (aka TR3) was an influential but short lived 300-capacity no wave art nightclub, founded by Hilary Jaeger in 1979, located at 225 West Broadway in downtown TriBeCa, Manhattan. Tier 3 was a major venue in the city's TriBeCa underground music and counterculture post-punk art scene, along with the Mudd Club.[1] Live performances showcased punk rock, no wave, ska, noise music, free jazz, new wave and experimental music.[2]

Besides Hilary Jaeger, who booked the bands and ran Tier 3 (initially giving 100% of the door money to the bands), the DJs were Bob Gurevics and Simeon Gallu. The Lounge Lizards had one of their first gigs at Tier 3[3] and Lindzee Smith occasionally showed films of the No Wave Cinema on the third floor.[4]

On the second floor, art and photography shows were hung. Kiki Smith, of Colab, painted a mural there.[5] The third floor had a dance area lit by a disco ball and a DJ booth that Jean-Michel Basquiat had painted. Basquiat also painted a mural on the wall between the bar room and the music room on the first floor, that had only a 10" stage, due to the low ceilings throughout. This low stage offered an intimate, face to face, relationship between musicians and the audience.

Due mainly to substance abuse issues, Tier 3 closed in December 1980. Jaeger and her crew quit Tier 3 in December 1980 at around the same time the club received an eviction notice.[6]