Very few things about New Jersey upset me long term. I can't really complain about living here, hell, you might say I have strong Jersey Pride, but a recent trend is really starting to bother me. The punk scene is starting to struggle. Most recently, Maxwell's in Hoboken announced its' closing at the end of July.
For those of you who are unaware of Maxwell's, it's an iconic venue in a residential neighborhood that fits less people than my kitchen. Okay, maybe it's not that small but the capaicity is only 200 people, not much larger than a New Brunswick basement show. One of it's owners? Steve Shelley, the drummer of Sonic Youth. It's part of NJ music history and it's closing down once the lease is up.
One of the biggest complaints is parking, if you've ever tried to park on the streets of Hoboken, you know the pain. And in the NJ.com article, Todd Abramson, the club booker states "I've had bands whose vans have been booted because the signs are so unclear."
And the public reacted:
Maxwell's is just part of a long list of venues that are closing around New Jersey. All these places that took a chance on smaller bands are quickly disappearing. The Pearl, a place to grab a drink, some Chinese food, play some foosball, and watch a live band closed down in late 2009, early 2010. The Court Tavern in New Brunswick (the setting of The Gaslight Anthem's Andy Diamond's Choir) was closed down for a bit and only recently reopened. Mainstage in Pompton Lakes closed, where Folly played their last official concert together. The Bloomfield Ave Cafe may have been the grossest place known to man, but was home to one of the greatest stages in North Jersey for punk music. The School of Rock in Hackensack was planning on moving back in 2011, according to a Facebook post, but never reopened. You had Aldo's Hideaway in Lyndhurst catch fire in 2004. And the list just goes on.
Soon, all that's left will be basements, The Stone Pony, and the big venues like the Izod Center. Places that gave Catch-22, The Bouncing Souls, The Ergs!, and so many more their first shot on a stage are becoming extinct. Even VFW shows are becoming less and less a thing. I don't want to say, "The New Jersey punk scene is dying" but every time an iconic venue like Maxwell's closes, I get leery and worry what the future holds for less iconic places.
Long Live Punk.
And thank you Brian Picc for helping me put this list together, without you, I am lost in the sea of NJ punk.