Patti Smith shuttered the club with a farewell performance witnessed by several hundred fans, anxious for a last glimpse of punk rock history. CBGBs walls are plastered with flyers, its bathroom is a rock legend of its own and the bands that performed there since it opened in late 1973 read like a punk rock hall of fame.

    By its own admission "a small, dirty, beer-soaked, dark pit" the club -- officially named CBGB OMFUG -- or Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandisers -- was described by music magazine NME in 1975 as "toilet, an impossibly scuzzy little club."

    But for a generation of punk rockers the club was sacred ground. Among the performers who cut their teeth in the gritty environment of CBGBs are Smith and The Ramones.

    The owner, Hilly Kristal, blamed the club's demise on economics. He says he can't afford to pay 65,000 U.S. dollars a month rent.

    "They want me out and I can't pay it anyway," he said.

    Kristal, now in his 70s, has said he wants to reopen the club, possibly in Las Vegas, but Smith for one won't be visiting.

    "We had a job in Las Vegas four years ago and we sold 85 tickets and they cancelled the show and I vowed I would never return," she explained. "When you only sell 85 tickets out of 2,000 you don't go into that town.

    "What's going to happen to CBGBs is young kids all over the world are going to have their own clubs and they won't care about CBGBs because they're gonna have the new places and the new places are always the most important." Enditem

    (Agencies)