As I wiped down glasses and folded napkins, a voice of an angel started to sing behind be. Then a beautiful ballad began in a quiet room, everyone minding their own business. This voice stopped me and lured me to turn around and see who this was. A young man standing on a small stage with one band mate next to him was rehearsing for his show later that evening. This rehearsal was by far best sounding warm up that I have ever heard. I immediately felt incredibly lucky to be witnessing this moment, without the lights and noise of the crowd. Just this silence and this voice in this beautiful room.
New York City has been the center of all things “trendy” for as long as we can remember. When it comes to night life, clubs, bars, and lounges in this city, they come and go in a blink of an eye. Through the ups and downs of grand openings and closing of countless hot spots. The Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel has managed to sustain its appeal and character through the past ten years of business. Rose Bar Sessions have been a key factor to pulling in new faces to fill the room, and new voices to perform a show. A Rose Bar Session is an event that brings in a well-known band to perform an intimate show for the guests of the event. Rose Bar has hosted sessions for bands from Guns and Roses, to The Borns, to Bastille. These sessions are curated to fit the ascetic of the room and the guests.
As I mentioned earlier, this angelic voice that I was hearing while preparing for the night was from the lead singer of the British indie pop band Bastille. To my joyful surprise, much more talented than I had anticipated. As a server at the Rose Bar these events become more tiring and tedious than joyful and exciting the more you work them. When you hear a voice as talented as that it brings you back to the reason why this place is so special, and has sustained for so long.
(In the upcoming Rose Bar Session, I will interview the creative director, general manager, and guests, for the event. Possibly someone in the band also can be interviewed.)