Record Stop in Patchogue transforms into live music venue

After the sun goes down, downtown Patchogue’s Record Stop transforms from a purveyor of records and CDs to a live venue where crowds bang their heads to electric guitars and drums.

After clearing out its back-of-house warehouse space in 2024, the Patchogue shop started welcoming singer-songwriters to share their latest musings. Over the past two months, the concrete-floored stageless space has hosted local alternative, hard core and punk bands for in-your-face, intimate rock shows.

"The punk scene, hardcore scene is huge and we’re just trying to get more exposure to these bands because there’s not a lot of venues that book these kinds of bands, or any bands," store manager Michael Houlihan, 27, told Newsday before one recent Friday night concert. That evening’s lineup included Flak Jacket, Space Turtles and Half Dizzy.

Record Stop will host several local bands in the coming weeks, including Slate on Feb. 12, Married Knot on Feb. 13, The Skags on Feb. 20, Some Good Evil on Feb. 21 and Greenhaven on Feb. 22.

Recent Friday and Saturday shows drew crowds of about 30 fans, many of whom were moshing (playfully circling and shoving one another), pogoing (jumping straight up and down) and skanking (a punk-ska-reggae-inspired two-step that requires plenty of elbow grease).

"It was a surreal experience," Luys Bolen, 18, of Mount Sinai, said of watching his favorite local act, Flak Jacket, perform at the store last month. A first-time concert attendee, he said he was "happy the entire time," especially since the intimate space has enough room to dance.

"It’s very comforting," Bolen added of the space. "I just feel very comfortable here because there’s a lot of people like me ... people who are alternative."

DIY aesthetic

Members of some of the punk acts who recently played the Patchogue record store said there are a few other stages that welcome them with open arms, such as Amityville Music Hall, Mr. Beery’s in Bethpage and Shakers Pub in Oakdale. But others have mostly played in backyards or basements and mourn the losses of two shuttered do-it-yourself  havens: The Cave in Medford and Suite 208 in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Orion Mercado, the singer for Rods And Pins, described Suite 208, born out of an office space, as "an underground venue for us punk kids, or any sort of music kids in the underground scene who just wanted to have a good time." Suite 208 now exists as a concert booking enterprise.

The Cave only exists as a memory. Its basement ceilings were so low that The Skags, who co-founded the spot, once had to cut their set short because someone accidentally punched out a light bulb.

"The Cave was one of a kind," The Skags frontman John Stacc, 24, of East Northport, said. "But I think there’s always going to be underground stuff like that."

While Record Stop is not literally underground like The Cave, its white brick walls and storage facility aesthetic lends itself to the punk scene. Solo acts wielding acoustic guitars during afternoon performances also fit into the space dotted with discount record bins.

Having played Record Stop once before their recent Saturday show, Mercado, 25, of Farmingville, said "the acoustics in there are really good" before her performance. She and her bandmate Matt Parrish, a guitarist whose injuries following a car crash inspired the band’s name, wore their same classic punk attire — pin clad black leather jackets and spiked and studded accessories — as they would at playing a basement. The Skags sported their matching leather vests adorned with the band’s name and logo.

The cleared warehouse space is large enough for casual observers to sneak away from the action, but the lack of a lifted stage invites fans to sing and dance with band members. At The Cave, audience members would grab Stacc’s microphone to sing the band’s songs. The same phenomenon occurred at Record Stop last month.

"It doesn’t get more intimate than that," Skags' lead guitarist Joe Guarineri, 24, of East Northport, said. "Sometimes there’s no difference between the band and the crowd. No big venue could ever replicate that."

Dry atmosphere

Most Long Island venues that host punk bands are bars, where fans toggle back and forth between grabbing a beer and watching the performance. Record Stop is a dry venue that serves neither alcohol nor any other food or drinks. For many in the audience, this is a welcome change.

"Bars are great but it gets tiring, and it’s the same thing," Zephyr Zodiac, 42, of West Babylon, said after moshing during much of Half Dizzy’s recent Record Stop set. "It’s good to have a different vibe and it’s good to have an all-ages venue where younger people can find the music that they’re going to love their whole lives."

Record Stop concerts have attracted audience members between 16 and 70, according to store manager Houlihan.

Those under the legal drinking age, and those who choose to stay sober, said they prefer a venue where they are invited and don’t feel out of place.

"I prefer to be 100% sober," said Flak Jacket fan Bolen, a Mount Sinai High School senior. "It’s really nice to see other people not drinking. It makes me feel not left out."

For the bands who enjoy a few drinks before, after and even during their performance, Record Stop could take some getting used to.

"The no drinking is a change," Stacc said. "Other than that, it’s just like basement shows, definitely intimate. Nothing says the scene more than a record shop because they have all the [stuff] that everybody listens to."

Record Stop, 30 Railroad Ave., Patchogue; 631-585-3294, record-stop.com and @recordstopny on Instagram