On November 6, 2025, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw made their way to a hidden space in the East Village in New York City for a special performance. Slipping into the 200-capacity room at the Silver Lining Lounge at 184 Bowery, the doting parents danced along, watching their daughter, Audrey McGraw, perform. The intimate show is one of many that have taken place at the venue, hidden inside the Moxy Lower East Side hotel and curated by New York City musician and podcast host Scott Lipps.
Show by show, Lipps is slowly and surely helping revive a New York City nightlife that’s long been gone.Within a short amount of time, the bi-weekly Lipps Service Live! series has picked up buzz, particularly after an August show featuring an acoustic performance by the newly reformed Sublime, featuring Jakob Nowell, son of the late frontman Bradley Nowell.
“We want to stir things up,” said Lipps, “to get people talking about music, the East Village, and rekindle the magic of New York live music nightlife.”
Under Lipps’ direction, the venue has already featured a collection of intimate shows with Native Sun, Des Rocs, Beauty School Dropout, Nova Twins, Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro), Royal & the Serpent, Alexa Dark, Demi Ramos, Telescreens, Richie Quake, and Dead Tooth. Upcoming shows include Winona Fighter, Thesaurus Rex, Damnage, Mary Shelley, and St. Lucia. Past performers also include Benson Boone, Wycleff Jean, Lola Young, Suki Waterhouse, Yungblud, and the kid LAROI.
While on their Drops of Jupiter Tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band’s breakthrough album, Train also made a stop at the Silver Lining Lounge on November 12, 2025, for another sold-out show, playing a six-song set, throwing in Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On,” a cover the band has been playing for more than 20 years.
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“Train was incredible,” says Lipps. “And for the 250 people or so that got into the room that night to see them play, they never get to experience them playing in such an intimate setting like that. You’re not sitting so far away, and you can connect with the artists, so that’s something that’s really special.”
A direct extension of his Lipps Service podcast, which started in 2018, and has featured guests including Mick Fleetwood, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis, Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, Zakk Wylde, Perry Farrell, Hozier, Dove Cameron, and Måneskin’s Damiano David. The Silver Lining shows have been a blend of performances by bigger bands and more up-and-coming and local artists.
“A few people had suggested to me early on, it would be great to take this live,” says Lipps, who gave the series a test run at the Bitter End in June 2025, with Ed Kowalczyk, members of Gogol Bordello, Thesaurus Rex, and Puzzled Panther, among others. The event sold out and created some buzz, leading to Lipps’ reconnection with the hospitality company Tao Group, parent company of the Moxy, and landing at the Silver Lining Lounge.
“In New York, when you think about what’s happening here, it’s fragmented,” says Lipps. “There is the scene, yet there aren’t a ton of people curating it. And given my history, I wanted to bring the iconic rock fans in the space and do this major underplay moment with the newest generation.”
A longtime collaborator and drummer for Courtney Love, and founder of the model and talent agency, One Management, Lipps cites the British brother and sister duo the Molotovs, who recently opened up for Yungblud and have also played with the Sex Pistols and the Libertines, and the New York City band Telesscreens, as some to-be-seen acts at the venue. Now, Silver Lining Lounge is in a position to expand with exclusive performances, from album launches, charitable events and more.
In January 2026, Lipps already has Audrey McGraw returning with Toni Cornell, Chris Cornell’s daughter, and outlaw pop artist Devora, along with Izzy Escobar and other surprise guests.
“When you think about it, in New York, there’s only five or six venues that are doing this kind of thing, and a lot of them don’t do the major underplays,” says Lipps. “You might see a big band, but I think the whole concept of this is to get people this incredible experience of seeing really famous bands every now and then for 20 bucks, 100 bucks. Those have been the best concerts of my life … like when I got to see Prince playing for 200 people.”
He continues, “Those are experiences that people will never forget. A friend said to me ‘You’re giving people this experience where they can get to see their favorite band in a small setting.”
Lipps remembers friend Nur Khan doing something similar for the Rose Bar in Chelsea during the early ’00s, helping to bring in Velvet Revolver, the Cult, the Black Keys, and more to the smaller venue. “It was like 200 people in the room watching Guns N’ Roses, and it’s the best concert you’ll ever have in your life, says Lipps. “So it’s something I’ve been involved with on the periphery for many years.
I don’t feel like an outsider who’s come in to do music stuff. Music has always been my soul and my passion.”
Photo: Train at the Lounge (Courtesy: Silver Lining Lounge)
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