Music of New Jersey - Venues and Events

Venues and Events

• The final American concert of the A Conspiracy of Hope Amnesty International tour was broadcast live on MTV from Giants Stadium on June 15, 1986. The concert was twelve hours long and featured multiple acts including; U2, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, and a reunited The Police.
• Live Earth, a worldwide television and Internet-streamed benefit music event promoting causes to stop what supporters contend is global warming, took place during the spring of 2007 in the state. It used Giants Stadium in East Rutherford as the stage for its American concert venue. A wide array of performers, from a variety of music genres, took part in raising proceeds. Former Vice President Al Gore helped organize the effort.
• Asbury Park, is home of Convention Hall, the Asbury Lanes, The Saint and The Stone Pony, where Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, deSoL, and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes frequented early in their careers, and which is still considered by many to be a "Mecca" for up-and-coming Jersey Shore sound musicians.
• Atlantic City has been a well known destination for famous musical acts for over a century. This seaside resort city has many venues that provide world famous entertainment.
• The Velvet Underground gave their first performance as a band at Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey.
• The Izod Center (formerly the Brendan Byrne Arena and the Continental Airlines Arena) is located in East Rutherford.
• The Folk Project has hosted many local and internationally known folk music acts such as Richard Shindell, Bob Franke, and Odetta.
• The Prudential Center in Newark hosts concerts.
• The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, home of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is also located in Newark.
• The Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey is an historic venue that has hosted a variety of musical and performing artists over the past decades.
• Princeton Record Exchange, the Northeast's largest independent record store, was founded in 1980 and is located in Princeton, New Jersey.
• Vintage Vinyl in Fords is another well known record store.
• Metlife Stadium is located in East Rutherford.
• Studio 1 in Newark hosted many rock and metal acts in the 1980s and 90s.
• City Gardens Calhoun St. Trenton, New Jersey Famous Punk venue 1978–1998.
• The Capitol Theatre in Passaic hosted a number of famous acts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including The Clash, Motörhead, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, and Bruce Springsteen.
• The New Jersey Folk Festival is held annually by undergraduates of Rutgers University at the Douglass campus.
• Mexacali Live in Teaneck hosts many local bands.
• The Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in Salem County, New Jersey offers educational programs as well as performances of a wide variety of the arts.
• The Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden is an outdoor amphitheater located on the Delaware River.
• The Osprey Hotel in Manasquan has hosted many Jersey Shore acts for years.
• The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel is an outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts and events.
• The Rainbow's End in Wood-Ridge on Hackensack Street hosted famous country music acts in the 1970s and early 80s.
• Dingbatz in Clifton is a venue for hard rock and metal bands.
• Jenkinson's Boardwalk in Point Pleasant is a popular venue for live music.
• Joe Pops on Long Beach Island has hosted live music for decades.
• Palisades Amusement Park in Fort Lee/Cliffside Park staged major concerts at its famous music pavilion, featuring current pop/rock acts and teen idols, throughout the 1960s. They were hosted by then-WABC (AM) Musicradio disc jockey Cousin Brucie, a.k.a. Bruce Morrow. The attraction closed permanently in 1971. Coincidentally, the park's popularity inspired the monster 1962 rock hit, "Palisades Park," by Freddy Cannon. The tune was written by Chuck Barris, before his days as a pioneering TV game show producer.
• Bloomfield Ave Cafe in located in Montclair on Bloomfield Ave.
• The Basement at Joe's Mill Hill Saloon in Trenton is the center of the state's still thriving punk and alternative scene.
• Aldo's Hideaway (1977-2004) on Marin Avenue in Lyndhurst hosted punk and alternative acts. The club was destroyed by fire.
• The Pipeline in Newark hosted alternative and Goth acts in the 1980s and 90s.
• The Bergen Performing Arts Center is located in Englewood.
• The Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey is a venue famous throughout the state for presenting musicals.
• The State Theatre is located in New Brunswick.
• The Wellmont Theatre is located in Montclair.
• Starland Ballroom is located in Sayreville.
• Maxwell's on Washington Ave. in Hoboken.
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played a record setting ten dates at Giants Stadium in 2003.
• The Monsters of Rock tour in 1988, headlined by Van Halen, had one of its stops at Giants Stadium.
• Waterloo Village in Byram Township was one of the locations where the Lollapalooza Festival occurred in the early 1990s.
• The Orion Music + More festival was a large two day music festival hosted by Metallica in June 2012 at Bader Field in Atlantic City. The festival will occur in 2013.
• The three day All Points West Music and Arts Festival was held in the summers of 2008 and 2009 at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
• The Bamboozle is an annual three day event that has a wide variety of musical acts and comedians. This festival has been held at the MetLife Sports complex as well as in Asbury Park. Bands vary from being independent label acts to acts known throughout the world.
• The Aquifer Music Venue in Clinton, NJ Hosted highly acclaimed Metalcore and Hardcore acts from all over the world in a suburban town off of Interstate 78.