Maxwell's
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Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant and bar. The intimate, cozy venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.
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[edit] History
The club was opened in the early 1980s by Steve Fallon. When the Fallon family bought the corner building in uptown Hoboken with its street-level tavern, Steve's sister Anne and brother-in-law Mario were interested in turning the factory workers' tavern (General Food's Maxwell House Coffee factory was a block away on the Hudson River) into more of a restaurant, while Steve started booking bands into the back dining room. Over time, Steve's booking taste, freewheeling personality and respectful treatment towards musicians made Maxwell's and Hoboken a looked-forward-to stop on many bands' tours. By making the blue-collar mile-square city with a rough-and-tumble reputation a cultural gathering place, Maxwell's was instrumental in sparking Hoboken's first wave of early 1980s gentrification - the artists and musicians. In that light, it is also believed that Anne and Mario may have offered the first successful Sunday brunch in Hoboken.
Maxwell's having become so successful that it spawned not only Pier Platters, an independent record store near the PATH train station that Fallon invested in, a whole music and cultural "scene" epitomised by the Hoboken Sound (which was featured in an hour-long television special on a local NYC station), and Fallon's own record label Coyote Records, Steve hired Todd Abramson to take over the booking of the acts in the late 1980s. Abramson has, essentially, been booking the venue ever since.
At a time when one of the Fallon siblings wanted to divest of their interest in the business, Peter Buck (Guitarist for R.E.M.) bought their piece to help his friend Steve Fallon keep it open as a resource for enthusiasts of new music. Later, Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü, Sugar and a solo career bought out Buck's ownership for the same reasons.
Sadly, when Steve wanted completely out, he and his partners sold Maxwell's to someone who failed to turn it into a brewpub. Booker Todd Abramson, Steve Shelley (drummer of Sonic Youth) and Dave Post of Swingadelic arranged to bring Maxwell's back, and re-opened on July 26th, 1998. While some longtime patrons miss the more free-wheeling Steve Fallon days, Maxwell's is now as vital a part of the indie music community as it was in the 80s and 90s.
[edit] Bands
In the mid-1980s R.E.M. played there on a frequent basis. The club was important to emerging trends as diverse as Punk and Grunge and Indie-Rock of the 1980s/ early '90s. Bands like Husker Du, fIREHOSE, the Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Archers of Loaf, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, The Neutral Milk Hotel, Mudhoney, Fire in Cairo, Tad, The Melvins, Nirvana, Hole, the Afghan Whigs, and G Love and Special Sauce all have played there. Buzzcocks, The Fall, The Minutemen, Robyn Hitchcock, Flipper, Rain Parade, The Cowsills, Wire, The Pogues, PYLON, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, John Cale, Snakefinger, David Byrne and the Slits also made appearances on stage at Maxwells. The Bongos, The Cyclones, Individuals and the dBs were mainstays in the beginning with the Feelies playing frequently towards the later half of the eighties. They continue this tradition today with bands like the Dirtbombs, the Crooked Fingers, and the Montreal-based band Stars.
[edit] Notable events
Parts of the music video for Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" were filmed at Maxwell's on May 28, 1985. Directed by Hoboken resident John Sayles.
In the early 1990s Maxwell's was voted the "Best Club In New York - Even Though It's In New Jersey" by the New Yorker Magazine.
In the 2005 Village Voice Best of NY poll, Maxwell's was voted "Best Reason to Leave the State for Dinner and a Show"
New Order played one of their first American concerts at Maxwell's. Depending on who you talk to, either it was a shambles with the band not so ready to play after the demise of Ian Curtis from Joy Division, or it was a fantastic show, according to Tony Wilson, Factory Records chief in UK music mag Uncut July 2006 issue.
[edit] Live albums
Several bands have recorded live albums at the venue, including The Reigning Sound ("Live at Maxwells") and The Meat Puppets ("Live at Maxwell's 2.08.01").
[edit] Ongoing events at Maxwell's
In addition to serving as a concert venue, Maxwell's offers monthly swing music by owner Dave Post's accomplished band Swingadelic, provides a forum for local musicians (with its free "New Jersey Songwriters in the Round" concerts), and opens itself up to weekly Tuesday DJ nights. Maxwell's also sponsors monthly art exhibits on its walls, with supporting opening events.
The legendary indie rock band Yo La Tengo rents out the club for the 8 nights of Hanukah every year, though not in 2006.
