For punk-rock pilgrims headed to 315 Bowery, until recently the site of CBGB and the mecca of all things safety-pin and duct-tape, there’s a real shock in store. When I toured the space’s reincarnation, I wasn’t fully prepared to see the former puke-and-piss palace converted into…a high-end clothing store.

Designer John Varvatos has leased the space and transformed it into his latest L.A. rocker-chic-friendly boutique. And while Varvatos has succeeded in keeping several of the club’s original elements intact, the space looks – and smells – starkly different from when I was last there, stepping on the carcasses of decades-dead mice drudged up during the move. Varvatos and his people have somehow managed to scour and scrub the dirtiest place in Manhattan – and transform it into a space that, I’ve got to admit, still manages to honor the memory of its former tenants. To his credit, Varvatos didn’t touch what remnants of CBGB were left behind before he moved in – whole sections of wall covered with rock fliers and graffiti remain, almost as headstones to the lore of this musical landmark, and even the crackled paint that covered the club’s walls wasn’t stripped away.

More after the jump.

And the contrast can be jarring. When the club first closed, you couldn’t even breathe the air, it was so clogged with dust. Crooked nails, old bottle caps, guitar strings, and splintered wood blanketed the rickety floorboards, and the space’s pipes and wiring were all exposed. Now, there are racks and racks of $200 jeans, vintage leather jackets, sunglasses and old biker boots – things no punk who caught a show here during its heyday would be interested in purchasing, or could even afford. (Not that many of the 70s heavyweights have set foot in the space for ages.)

All told, even with all his lifestyle props from various members of Velvet Revolver and Alice Cooper, the experience of visiting the Varvatos store was sad for me. This once-great bastion of all things punk has finally gone officially, and literally commercial, which goes against the club’s very ethos. Somehow, I think Joey Ramone wouldn’t approve.