Hoboken, NJ is less than 5 miles from Manhattan -- but its main street couldn’t be more different from Wall Street. This quiet town with a population of 50,000 or so has served as the birthplace of baseball, the small-but-hardy rock venue Maxwell’s, and a long-running indie band called Yo La Tengo. We hear more when music writer Jesse Jarnow joins us with his new book, "Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock."
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Comments [7]
Yo La Tengo is great. We love to see them perform at Maxwell's in Hoboken!
Baseball-->indie rock
New York Mets-->Yo La Tengo
See, you learn something new every day!
Living in Hoboken 12 years and have been going to YLT's Hannakah shows on and off since 2002. Seen a bunch of great shows that always feel like it's in someone's basement including The National, The Walkmen, Fountains of Wayne, J. Mascis, Ted Leo and the Wrens. It's my favorite place outside of home.
I've lived in Hoboken many years, and have never seen a tour bus. Maybe the person who said that saw a musician's bus parked outside Maxwell's? (The Psychedelic Furs had such a bus parked on the street during their recent gig there). There are now long lines of people to see the "Cake Boss" bakery, but no buses as far as I know.
Maxwell's is still a great place to see bands, and its prices are still affordable. Because the booker has a good ear for music, I'll sometimes go there and see bands I haven't even heard of.
I'm very glad Maxwell's is still around.
I am enjoying every minute of this! I lived in Hoboken for years, and enjoyed many shows at Maxwell's. I've met Ira Kaplan a bunch of times and I love hearing about indie rock history. I would love to hear more episodes of Soundcheck covering this sort of thing.
Thanks for acknowledging the Hoboken music scene!!! Anyone interested in learning more, please check out:
Hoboken Overture
http://www.hmag.com/2010/07/hoboken-overture/
The "Glory Days" of Hoboken Music
http://www.hmag.com/2010/07/the-glory-days-of-hoboken-music/
FWIW, the baseball origin thing is a bit in question. Not in question: birthplace of Sinatra and Kinsey. :)
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