The grind of running a club eventually got to Bloch Bourque. She ended up divorcing Larry and moving to New Hampshire.
“I was never trying to take my son out of his life. I was just trying to make my life easier. So, he made an agreement to move up here within two years. That’s exactly what he did. Larry’s a man of his word. He knew that within two years he’d have to get up here. You’d be surprised how long the hints were going on in the Village Voice ads. He would slip in a little one liner that said, ‘Steal This Club,’ because he was willing to give it to whoever would continue it in his way and there was one buyer before Pete [Shapiro] that got pretty serious before we found that they were gonna ditch the whole environmental thing as soon as they could. So, Larry got out of that deal and then Pete was found, finally. In the book it says, ‘First whispers of someone willing to take over by the rules.’”
In 1996 Bloch sold it to Shapiro, who continued Wetlands Preserve’s original approach towards music and activism. He ran the club until its closing on Sept. 10, 2001.
Bloch Bourque credits Dean Budnick’s 1998 book, Jam Bands for inspiring her ex-husband to start collecting the various parts that now make up Wetlands NYC History.
“It goes back to Dean giving Larry a copy of Jam Bands, she said and then reads the hand-written dedication. “Larry, I hope this book, and particularly the Wetlands essay, rekindles some pleasant memories. Thank you for all your help with this book but, more importantly, on behalf of many people, thank you for the Wetlands. P.S. I hold out the hope that one day you will write a book.”
A few years later, Budnick [who founded Jambands.com and currently serves as editor-in-chief of Relix ] directed the documentary, Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club.
“ Wetlands Preserved, the documentary, helped capture the club’s complete story. Larry had a dream and I helped set the scene. These memories are for and about the folks that made the dance come alive,” she said, “but anyone into the developing live music scene of the 1990s would find this entertaining and informative.”
Between those acknowledgements of the club’s importance and the Wetlands VW Bus, covered with hundreds of band stickers, displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Larry realized that there remained a high degree of interest in what he started. His initial move — posting old calendars on Facebook — received an enthusiastic response.
“He was telling me how much he thought a book of just calendars would go over. I said to him, ‘Larry, the place has now been gone almost as long as it was alive. Do you really think…?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, because of the response I get.”
Despite fighting pancreatic cancer, Larry continued work on the project until his death in 2012. The book idea was brought up again. Bloch Bourqe remained skeptical until, she explains, “When I heard that there was going to be a 25th anniversary show at the Capitol Theatre celebrating Wetlands, and there was a lot of excitement about it, I thought, ‘Okay, maybe he was right.’”
A Kickstarter campaign earlier this year exceeded its goal and she set out to complete what Larry had started.
Using his personal archives, which included a collection of calendar ads copied from the Village Voice after ’97, allowed Bloch Bourque to include its entire history.
“I had all the material and Larry really wanted me to share it. He wanted to give credit to everybody who ever had anything to do with club. And that’s basically what I’ve tried to do in this book was make sure I got all the information I could into it.”
Despite being forced to shut its doors in favor of condominiums, the seed from Wetlands had been planted and the club’s spirit lives on in the numerous bands that continue to crisscross the globe — attempting to capture lightning in a bottle each night – and by Shapiro whose gone on to become publisher of “Relix” and Jambans.com and promote events at his venues — Capitol Theatre and Brooklyn Bowls – as well as co-found the Lockn’ festival. Just as he’d done at Wetlands the aim continues to be to make concertgoing an experience rather than just a night out.
“There’s been a lot of writing, a lot of music that’s come out of there,” said Bloch Bourque. “Larry and I had one son together, and we also constructed Wetlands together. We used to joke that Wetlands was equal to having 12 children. I feel that grandmotherly feeling towards it. I love watching what Pete’s doing and knowing that I added a little bit of fertilizer in the beginning to that.”
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Wetlands NYC: Visual Encore is available online and at the Capitol Theatre and Boulder Theater. Laura will be signing copies at The Cap this Saturday, December 27.
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