Was just scrolling through the JamBase calendar off on the right rail and noticed that Alex Nackman will be playing the Bowery Ballroom on Aug. 15. He’s opening for Kill the Alarm. (Click here for tickets.)

What a great venue. In case you’ve never been there, the Bowery Ballroom is a great little spot on Delancey Street right off Bowery. (Sorry, gotta throw in a befitting Wayne’s World scene… Tiny: Wanye! How you doin’? Wayne Campbell: Hey Tiny, who’s playing today? Tiny: Jolly Green Giants and the Shitty Beatles. Wayne Campbell: Shitty Beatles? Are they any good? Tiny: They suck! Wayne Campbell: Then it’s not just a clever name.)

When you first walk into the Bowery, you enter the downstairs bar, which to me always feels like I’m hanging out in a really nice cave or something. Dim lighting. Rugged walls. Candlelight. Got the vibe? What I especially love about this bar is that it’s a place where people who are there to chit chat can do so without blabbering over the music.

Upstairs is the main concert space, all general admission. There’s the floor level and then a balcony level, which sometimes has reserved seating. All told, the venue holds about 550 people.

I’ve seen everyone from Steve Winwood to Railroad Earth to Umphrey’s McGee at the Bowery, plus many more. Always a good time.

The Bowery Ballroom is owned by the Bowery Presents guys, who also own Mercury Lounge (fits about 200 or so people), The Music Hall of Williamsburg (fits about 550), and Terminal 5 (capacity about 3,000). Bowery Presents is a major promotion machine, and any band worth their weight wants to get in with these guys. What I love is that having all these venues of various sizes really gives a band a chance to grow up in the city.

Naturally, seeing Nackman on the bill for a Bowery show got me excited. But then I realized—very unfortunately—that I will not be in town for the show. Boooo me, I know. I’ll be up at my friend’s place for CABINFEST V – ALIVE. Suffice it to say that CABINFEST is a weekend of musical mayhem not to be missed, HIYA!

But I hope some of you can make it out to the Nackman show. I’ve seen him live in the city before and he’s a great entertainer. Oh, and if you go, you better send me some photos to post!