Jump to content
capt14k

Remembering NJ Rock Clubs and the Bands you saw there

Recommended Posts

Mrs. Peel Stanhope House is still open.

I saw Squeeze at the Hole In The Wall back in the day. I think the opening act was The B-52's. 

Biggest mistake I ever made was some friends said the were going over to Hitsville in Passaic to see some new band from Ireland. I blew it of. The band was U2.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw Corrosion of Conformity at some shithole just outside of Dover.  Them and a couple of other bands.  

Bad Brains at The Ritz.  NYC, not Jersey, but it was a good night.  Possibly GBH there as well.  
    Music that I haven't listened to in a very long time.  

I've probably seen some other stuff that I can't remember.  I was never much for "going out" except for my stint being employed by U. Sam.  And at that point it was mostly clubbing and such.  Or, as much as it could be being it was Killeen Texas.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 6/26/2017 at 10:50 PM, Mrs. Peel said:

I'm going to date myself here... but anyone remember City Gardens in Trenton?

Yup was trying to remember what the name of that place was. I've been there a couple of times. I honestly don't remember all the acts I saw at all the places. But I saw rollins band there. Not even close to the craziest mosh pit in NJ though. 

Loved Birch Hill, lots of good bands there.  Definitely saw Gwar more than once there. Also saw Marilyn Manson, Lunachicks, Anthrax, Life of Agony, Living color, etc. There were a good three years or so where it seemed like I was there once a month. 

Club Bene: I only ever saw Brian Setzer there shortly before it closed for the last time.  

Stone  Pony: Been there a few times, only remember seeing bad religion there with (IIRC) unwritten law and dancehall crashers. 

Then there was everything at the waterloo concert field in Alamuchy.  Saw the first lollapalooza there, so (once again Rollins Band),  Ice-T/Body Count, Living Colour, Janes Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, etc. Also saw Stevie Ray Vaughn there  a few months before he died (I believe that was the locale anyway), Steppen Wolf, Nazareth, John Cocker, and a bunch of other stuff. They don't seem to do that stuff there any more. 

As for other places that seem to not do much if any live music anymore there's:

Rutgers - they used to do lots of live bands at the RAC on livingston. Saw (once again) Rollins band there with  beastie boys and cypress hill. Quite the combo. HORRIBLE acoustics in the place though. 

Then there was Middlesex County College. Back in the early 902 they regularly held local hardcore shows and did a big one each year. Honestly the most insane mosh pit I have ever seen. I went to one of the big ones, with Sick of it All headlining and about half a jillion opening acts. The first "band" had a drum set made up like a cymbal, a couple plastic buckets and a cardboard box. Once things got really underway the pit was HUGE. Most of the venue, and rather than just crowd surfing you had people just walking on it.  It was a toss up between the pits you would get there for the bigger shows, and the one's you'd see at Airport Music Hall in allentown. Those were weirdly organized and BIG. Also saw the weirdest lineup there. Danzig, Soundgarden and (IIRC) Manowar subbing for Corrosion of conformity due to some illness or conflict. 

Oddly, only Brian Setzer seems to grasp that NJ is highly interconnected, has parking, and has about 16 million people within a couple of hours to buy tickets.I had to go to NY or PA to see so many bands. Honorable mention goes to The Red Spot and On Stage in staten island. They got a lot of the overspill for when the limelight got shut down in the early 90s and were much cheaper and easier to get to. Saw type o negative, gwar, prong, corrosion of conformity and a bunch of others in those two places. I believe it was on stage with the worst bar idea of all time. IIRC it was called Quarter Power Hour. 15 minutes, $0.25 shots. Drunkest mosh pit I've ever seen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice! I was at that Rollins, Cyprus Hill, Beastie Boys show at Rutgers and Lollapalooza at Allamuchy. 

Did you catch Rollins Band and X at Starland Ballroom in 2006? Best Rollins show I was ever at. It’s like they asked me for a list of my favorite Rollins Band songs when they made the set list.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
9 hours ago, High Exposure said:

Nice! I was at that Rollins, Cyprus Hill, Beastie Boys show at Rutgers and Lollapalooza at Allamuchy. 

Did you catch Rollins Band and X at Starland Ballroom in 2006? Best Rollins show I was ever at. It’s like they asked me for a list of my favorite Rollins Band songs when they made the set list.

I’ve only been to a couple shows there. I’ve gota mild case of tinnitus from so many shows so I have cut back a lot. I’ve seen Rollins play a lot at this point, so he’d have to be playing with a band I really want to see and haven’t.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

City Gardens in trenton ,  Royal Manor  Rt1 new brunswick,  , The Shady Lane in locktown,  the River View in Raritan.

Shady lane was close to the Pa. border, 5 min from the bridge back when NJ was 18 yr old legal and Pa was 21.  Always a hopping place with 3 or 4 bands on a Saturday night.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice to see this old thread that I didn’t know existed.  Birch Hill was essentially my backyard growing up. Fear Factory, Korn, God Lives Underwater, Biohazard, COC, Life of Agony (when Keith was still a dude), so many others...man I miss those days. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow... I’ve been to a lot of these places.  

saw Springsteen at Ichabod’s in Seabright.  The building is still there but it may be a restaurant now.  A lot of glass.  

Saw Twisted Sister, Foreigner, Bon Jovi and others at the Fountain Casino on 35.

@Mrs. Peel I’ve been to City Gardens in Trenton.  I have no idea who I saw there.  There was much alcohol involved.  Some local punk band is my best guess. Our friend Patty and her girl friend dragged a bunch of us there back in the early 80s. I think I had fun.

Wasn’t a fan of the band, but saw Flossie too many times and Backstreets a few times at the Hunka Bunka Ballroom in Sayreville.

Southside Johnny at the McCarter Theater in Princeton.  Yeah... there were yuppies there.  I don’t think they even knew who SS Johnny was...

Close Encounters on 35 was more of a club than a live music place but I think I’ve seen a few live bands there back in the day.  I think they had Tainted Love on a loop there.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 hours ago, Kevin125 said:

Close Encounters on 35 was more of a club than a live music place but I think I’ve seen a few live bands there back in the day.

OMG, I lived at that place! Good times, good times. We may have passed like ships in the night, lol.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I’ve seen mostly all of them at city gardens from about 1984 to 1989.  Those were wild times.  I even toured with mdc and the big thing from the philly area.  Lived with the mentors for about a week.   To be young again.  

  • Agree 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 10/7/2019 at 2:09 PM, raz-0 said:

Yup was trying to remember what the name of that place was. I've been there a couple of times. I honestly don't remember all the acts I saw at all the places. But I saw rollins band there. Not even close to the craziest mosh pit in NJ though. 

Loved Birch Hill, lots of good bands there.  Definitely saw Gwar more than once there. Also saw Marilyn Manson, Lunachicks, Anthrax, Life of Agony, Living color, etc. There were a good three years or so where it seemed like I was there once a month. 

Club Bene: I only ever saw Brian Setzer there shortly before it closed for the last time.  

Stone  Pony: Been there a few times, only remember seeing bad religion there with (IIRC) unwritten law and dancehall crashers. 

Then there was everything at the waterloo concert field in Alamuchy.  Saw the first lollapalooza there, so (once again Rollins Band),  Ice-T/Body Count, Living Colour, Janes Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, etc. Also saw Stevie Ray Vaughn there  a few months before he died (I believe that was the locale anyway), Steppen Wolf, Nazareth, John Cocker, and a bunch of other stuff. They don't seem to do that stuff there any more. 

As for other places that seem to not do much if any live music anymore there's:

Rutgers - they used to do lots of live bands at the RAC on livingston. Saw (once again) Rollins band there with  beastie boys and cypress hill. Quite the combo. HORRIBLE acoustics in the place though. 

Then there was Middlesex County College. Back in the early 902 they regularly held local hardcore shows and did a big one each year. Honestly the most insane mosh pit I have ever seen. I went to one of the big ones, with Sick of it All headlining and about half a jillion opening acts. The first "band" had a drum set made up like a cymbal, a couple plastic buckets and a cardboard box. Once things got really underway the pit was HUGE. Most of the venue, and rather than just crowd surfing you had people just walking on it.  It was a toss up between the pits you would get there for the bigger shows, and the one's you'd see at Airport Music Hall in allentown. Those were weirdly organized and BIG. Also saw the weirdest lineup there. Danzig, Soundgarden and (IIRC) Manowar subbing for Corrosion of conformity due to some illness or conflict. 

Oddly, only Brian Setzer seems to grasp that NJ is highly interconnected, has parking, and has about 16 million people within a couple of hours to buy tickets.I had to go to NY or PA to see so many bands. Honorable mention goes to The Red Spot and On Stage in staten island. They got a lot of the overspill for when the limelight got shut down in the early 90s and were much cheaper and easier to get to. Saw type o negative, gwar, prong, corrosion of conformity and a bunch of others in those two places. I believe it was on stage with the worst bar idea of all time. IIRC it was called Quarter Power Hour. 15 minutes, $0.25 shots. Drunkest mosh pit I've ever seen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did sound a lot at On Stage saw a lot of bands. Had Type O Negative play when they just got signed. Was a good time. Also October’s and Billy O’s. Then there was the Factory in Princess Bay in the old SS White dental factory.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Came late to this thread, but I niceto know that raz, HE, and I have VERY similar taste in bands. Ive seen the majority of the shows you guy mentioned.

Saw Manson at the Stone Pony, Clutch and High on Fire at the Cricket Club, SOD at Maxwell's, and many, many more.

My group of concert friends and I mainly went to the city so Roseland, Webster Hall, The Academy, Hammerstein, Palladium, and Limelight were are main venues. Seeing Rollins Band at the Limelight summer of '91 was a treat. I have a bunch of stubs from all the shows. Fortunate to have seen all the bands I like at least twice in small local venues. I miss those days.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Club Bene, Sayreville - Tower of Power

The Searchlight, Stanhope - Twisted Sister

County College of Morris - Mountain, Edgar Winter Group

Note: Edgar Winter was the last big time rock band to play at CCM due to the 'rowdy' crowd behavior, which included knocking down a couple of the entrance doors. "FRANKENSTEIN!"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...