Hoboken's Legendary Club Maxwell's to Close at End of July

Georgia Hubley and James McNew of Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's. The famed Hoboken club will close at the end of July.

Maxwell's, the little club that put Hoboken, NJ on the musical map and has kept it there for more than 30 years, will close at the end of next month. The news began to spread through Twitter this afternoon, with many comments referring to an article that appeared today on NJ.com.

Ironically, the reason is not an astronomical rent hike, as with so many other rock clubs in the NYC area. Instead, Maxwell's co-owner and booker Todd Abramson cites the city's changing demographics and the increasing difficulty in finding parking that customers, and bands, have found. Parking has always been tight, and it's gotten even more challenging in the last few years. A number of new high-rise apartment buildings have gone up in the uptown area of Hoboken where Maxwell's is located.

Maxwell's opened in 1978 and soon became known because of a number of up-and-coming bands that lived in or hung around Hoboken, including The Bongos, the dB's, and The Individuals.

This is obviously a huge loss for Hoboken and the NYC-area music scene. I started going to shows at Maxwell's in 1980, and can't even count how many shows I've seen there in the succeeding 30-plus years. In addition to the ones mentioned above, there was a rising Athens, Ga. band called R.E.M. (I saw them at Maxwell's in 1981, back when Michael Stipe still had hair).

They hosted many other bands that eventually became big stars; unfortunately, I missed them because I wasn't yet familiar with them. But folks who were more in the know than me were able to see Beck, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden.

I did manage to see Throwing Muses, which played there many times (though unfortunately I didn't see them at Maxwell's until after Tanya Donnelly had left the band). In the last year or so I've seen bands there including Dum Dum Girls, Screaming Females, Trophy Scars, The Lemonheads, and the Psychedelic Furs (who played Maxwell's during their heyday in the 1980s).

And to kind of bring things full circle, last year I saw The Baseball Project at Maxwell's—a band that includes two former members of R.E.M.

Who else did I see at Maxwell's? I can't remember them all, of course, but some of the bands that stick out include The Fall, The Fleshtones, Japandroids, Lee Bains III and the Holy Fire, The Muffs, and of course Yo La Tengo (I may add more names as they come to me).

I'd already bought tickets to a few more shows at Maxwell's before I heard of the closing, including Rachael Yamagata and Titus Andronicus (whose one show became a two- and now three-night stand). I'll probably get tickets to a couple of more (sooner rather than later, since there may be a higher demand for the Last Shows Ever at the club).

Among the other acts appearing at Maxwell's in its last month-and-a-half: ChickFactor 21st anniversary show with The Pastels and Condo F*cks (June 15th), Sinkane (June 16th), Sky Ferreira (June 17th), The Trophy Scars performing "Goodnight Alchemy" (June 22nd), Os Mutantes (June 28th), The Feelies (July 4th, 5th, and 6th), The Flamin' Groovies (July 7th), and ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (July 23rd).

Many clubs have come and gone over the last few decades, and it's always sad to see a much-loved venue close. For me, this one hurts more than all the others combined. The good news is that there are still more nights of rocking to come at the legendary club at the corner of 11th and Washington.

[UPDATE, June 7th: More dates have been added, most of which (such as Ted Leo) quickly sold out. As of this writing, tickets for The Muffs are still available, as are those for Lee Ranaldo and The Dust.

Abramson has said that he plans to have the club go out the way it started, with a reunion of the band called "a" on July 31st (though the show does not yet appear on the Maxwell's website). That band, whose members went on to The Bongos and The Individuals, were the first act to play Maxwell's back in 1978.] 

ChickFactor 21 Shows On Sale Now

A brief update on some great upcoming shows: Last year, the long-running zine ChickFactor celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series of shows around the country, including a number in the New York area.

ChickFactor celebrates 21 years with shows in Brooklyn; see info below.

Now that ChickFactor is a legal adult at 21, its celebrating again with ChickFactor 21, a three-night stand at the Bell House in Brooklyn. The shows take place June 11th, 12th, and 13th (Tuesday through Thursday), and tickets went on sale today. ChickFactor says they're going fast, so if you're interested you'll want to act soon. Here's the lineup for each night (see brief descriptions and links to tickets here). Oh, and the website says there will be special guests each night.

• June 11th: Lilys, The Cannanes, Versus, and Rose Melberg
• June 12th: Future Bible Heroes, The Aluminum Group, Honey Bunch, and True Love Always
• June 13th: The Pastels, Dump (featuring Yo La Tengo's James McNew), Jim Ruiz Set, and Lois

These are some great pop groups, some of which either don't play out very often or didn't perform in years before last year's ChickFactor shows. Get your tickets today if you're interested.

Chickfactor 20th Anniversary Show Fills Maxwell's with "Love of Pop" (Photos)

The Chickfactor 20th anniversary tour pulled into Maxwell's last night, with four different acts filling the Hoboken club with bouncy tunes and oodles of hooks that exemplified the zine's motto, "For the love of pop."

(Note: the Chickfactor party moves to Bell House in Brooklyn starting tonight, April 10th, and continuing on the 11th and 12th. See the Chickfactor article about the shows for info on tickets and availability; although the shows may be sold out, individuals may be looking to sell tickets here and there.)

First up at Maxwell's last night was Musical Chairs, which began in the late 1980s as a one-man project of Ian Schlein, then became a band. The band last performed a decade ago and Schlein has since been working on a project called The Aspersions (he recently started a Facebook page for Musical Chairs/Aspersions news).

He admitted to being nervous at the idea of performing some of the songs for the first time in years (a common sentiment among the night's acts), and after a couple of missteps did a 35-minute set of pop tunes on solo electric guitar to start off the evening. For fans of Musical Chairs, he mentioned that a compilation featuring that group and The Aspersions would be forthcoming.

Musical Chairs (Ian Schlein).

Following Musical Chairs was Rose Melberg. While she also performed solo (also playing only electric guitar), she earned acclaim and much love from the indie-pop community as a member of such bands as The Softies, Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, and Brave Irene. Listening to her catchy tunes and heartfelt lyrics, it's easy to see why these bands became such favorites. Though I'm not familiar with all of these groups, it seems Melberg played tunes from most if not all of them, as well as a couple of covers.

One of the latter was a gorgeous version of "They Don't Know," the Kirsty MacColl tune that became a moderate U.S. hit for Tracey Ullman. Melberg dedicated the tune to Gail O'Hara, one of Chickfactor's co-founders.

Rose Melberg.

 As enjoyable as the first two acts were, good, catchy indie-pop is best served by a full band (to me ears, at least). So the night kicked into high gear with the North Carolina band Fan Modine, fronted by Gordon Zacharias. They rocked their way through a 40-minute set of songs including "Through the Valley" and Meet Me at the End of the Line," both from their latest album, "Gratitude for the Shipper."

Fan Modine.

The reunited Black Tambourine was the headline act of the night, and their set displayed the songs, musicianship, and fun that has made these gigs so anticipated. How much work went into bringing Black Tambourine together? As singer (and Chickfactor co-founder) Pam Berry said, she hates flying and lives "on a different continent" (in London, from what I've read), so that in itself was a big hurdle to overcome. She mentioned that a Kickstarter campaign had raised funds to make the financial aspect of the trip possible.

Black Tambourine, back at Maxwell's.

Besides Berry, the band features Slumberland Records head honcho Mike Schulman and Brian Nelson and Archie Moore, both of whom played in Velocity Girl. Although they collectively have tons of experience in these and other bands, Black Tambourine hadn't played together since 1991 before this past weekend's shows in Arlington, Virginia.

Despite that, they rattled off a 50-minute set beginning with "For Ex-Lovers Only," and they displayed plenty of energy and fine playing (see a photo of the setlist below). You certainly wouldn't have guessed that they hadn't played together for more than 20 years.

In addition to their own songs such as "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge," "We Can't Be Friends," "Can't Explain," and "Black Car," Black Tambourine also played covers including "Heartbeat" and the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." And Rose Melberg joined Berry in singing the last couple of songs, adding even more love of pop to the end of an evening of great, catchy tunes from the good old 1990s (and beyond).

If you're in the Brooklyn area and can find tickets (check here), by all means go. There will also be some vintage issues of Chickfactor on sale (including some no longer available at the zine's online store), each of which is packed with articles and news to take you back to the good old '90s. Seeing photos of the various musicians in their much-younger days is pretty much worth the price all by itself.

Pam Berry and Rose Melberg.

Black Tambourine setlist.

Chickfactor Celebrates 20 Years with String of NYC/NJ Shows

Back in the '90s, before there were music blogs, news about all types of music were spread by fanzines (often just called zines). It so happens that 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of Chickfactor, an indie-pop zine created to cover the East Coast scene, and its having a series of shows called "For the Love of Pop!" to celebrate the occasion. Two shows were held Easter weekend in the Washington, D.C. area, and the tour rolls into the New York area this week.)

Chickfactor was founded by Gail O'Hara and Pam Berry, who both worked at the Washington City Paper. Since the very first issue of Chickfactor was handed out at a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken in Sept. 1992 (according to zine's Facebook page), it's only fitting that the Washington Street club will host the first New York-area Chickfactor concert, on Monday night, April 9th. (As of this writing, tickets for the Maxwell's Chickfactor show are still available. If the online tickets are not available, there may still be tickets for sale at Other Music or Tunes in Hoboken.)

On the bill for the Maxwell's show are Black Tambourine (featuring Pam Berry, and Brian Nelson and Archie Moore, who also played in Velocity Girl); Fan Modine; and Rose Melberg, as well as a promised "special guest." (See a good Washington Post article on Black Tambourine here.) According to the article, because Black Tambourine was a side project for its members it never played a lot of gigs, and has a modest recorded output as well. So this week's Chickfactor shows will be a rare chance to see the group.

You can hear and download a set of four mixes of Black Tambourine songs here, and find a Washington Post review of Saturday's Chickfactor show (featuring Black Tambourine) here.

Many of the bands taking part in "For the Love of Pop!" haven't played out in years; Black Tambourine is said to be playing its first shows in 21 years.



The lineup for the Chickfactor New York shows, all at Bell House:

• Tue., April 10: Black Tambourine, Small Factory, Versus, The Lois Plus, and special guests. (The show is sold out, but you might find people selling tickets on the show's Facebook page)
• Wed., April 11: The Aislers Set, Pipas, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, Bridget St. John, and special guests. (Sold out online, but Other Music may still have tickets.)
• Thurs., April 12: Stevie Jackson (of Belle & Sebastian), Honey Bunch, The Softies, The Pines, and special guests

See videos of many of the Bell House performers at this article by Maura Johnston at the Village Voice.

Chickfactor will also have an anniversary show in Portland, Oregon on May 30th (ticket info).

Gail O'Hara appeared on WFMU radio Sunday; you can see the playlist and hear the show here. Songs by a number of groups playing Chickfactor's 20th anniversary concerts were featured.