Sin-é

The Story

This was the small Irish cafe whose name in Gaelic means "that's all." It had only a cappuccino machine and a few tables when Jeff Buckley began a residency here in 1992. He played solo covers of Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Nina Simone, and Ray Charles alongside his own compositions like "Grace" and "Eternal Life." The performances were so impressive that they helped secure his contract with Columbia Records. On July 19 and August 17, 1993, two of these nights were recorded and released as the EP Live at Sin-é, the first official release of Buckley's career. The cafe also hosted Sinéad O'Connor, Shane MacGowan, and poetry readings by Allen Ginsberg and Marianne Faithfull. It closed in 1996, a victim of rising rents in the East Village.

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