SOB's

SOB's is a live world music venue and restaurant in the Hudson Square & SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. S.O.B.’s is an abbreviation of Sounds of Brazil. Larry Gold started SOBs in June 1982, and he currently still owns the space. Gold opened the venue with the purpose of exposing the musical wealth and heritage of the Afro-Latino Diaspora to as many people as possible. True to its mission, it has become renowned as the premiere venue not only for world music, but all genres, in New York City and the world over. It has a standing capacity of 450, and a seating capacity of 160.

In its early days, SOBs existed on a barren stretch at the corner of Varick Street and Houston Street, just above the Houston Street subway station, but the area soon became the trendy neighborhood of SoHo. The venue's reputation began to grow with performances from Latin legends like Tito Puente, Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz & Eddie Palmieri. The tradition of Brazilian artists like Seu Jorge, Ben Jorge, and Astrud Gilberto have all graced the stage of the venue which gained its namesake from their native country. In terms of the new Latin sound, artists like Isaac Delgado, Orquesta Aragon, Los Papines, Manolito Simonet, Septeto Nacional Ignacio Piñeiro, and Los Van Van have recently played there. The venue gives more established artists the opportunity to connect with their fans on a personal level, due to its unique, intimate setting. Today SOB'ss draws both local and international crowds and continues to specialize in Latin music, Haitian, Brazilian, Caribbean, R&B, Hip-Hop and World music. It exists as a place to experience the lively sounds from all types of cultures within the global diaspora, a fact reflective in its slogan the “Home of Universal Music".