HOBOKEN, NJ (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The owners of Maxwell's, the long-standing landmark rock club in Hoboken, have announced that the club will be closing at the end of July.
According to the Star-Ledger, the venue's owners decided to take to not renew when their lease expires at the end of June.
"We were offered a renewal with rates that weren't necessarily onerous," Todd Abramson, the club's booking agent and co-owner told the Star-Ledger "But after much thought, given the changing nature of Hoboken and the difficulties of trying to run a business in this town, we decided it was time."
Originally opened in 1978, the restaurant and music venue helped to spawn a vibrant music culture in downtown Hoboken that became known for the "Hoboken sound." The club spent a short time in the 1990s as a brewpub after the club's original owners sold it, but current club book Todd Abramson, Steve Shelley (drummer of Sonic Youth) and Dave Post (the Amazing Incredibles and Swingadelic) revived the club as a music venue in 1998.
The club played an important role in indie rock and punk in the 1980s and 90s, and numerous bands performed there, including Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, and The Pogues to name a few. R.E.M. performed there regularly and Bruce Springsteen recorded the video for "Glory Days" at the club.
A final show is being planned for July 31st at the club with some of the bands who first performed at the club's opening.
"On July 31, I think we're going to go out the way we came in — with the band 'a'." Abramson told the Star-Ledger. 'A' is comprised of members of The Bongos (who are also performing that night) and Glenn Morrow of Bar/None Records. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
