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Big sounds, small venues in NJ and NY

An exciting aspect of Seton Hall's location in South Orange is its proximity to New York and New Jersey's biggest music venues, such as Madison Square Garden, the IZOD Center and PNC Bank Arts Center. However, there are many much smaller, accessible venues hosting shows from the tri-state area's burgeoning music scene, including popular and obscure bands.
Kevin Stevens can be reached at kevin.stevens@student.shu.edu.

The Starland Ballroom

The Starland Ballroom always offers a diversity of musicians for its eclectic fans. For example, the venue's upcoming shows include the glam rock stars, AFI; the infamous rappers, Snoop Dogg, Method Man, and Redman; punk-rockers, The Misfits; ska superstars, Streetlight Manifesto; and alternative-rockers, Third Eye Blind. For classic rock fanatics, Starland also regularly hosts the renowned cover bands The Machine (Pink Floyd) and Get The Led Out (Led Zeppelin), bringing back the acid-rock of the ‘70s with enthusiasm and lots of psychedelic lighting effects.

450 Jernee Mill Rd.,
Sayreville, NJ 08872


The Wellmont Theatre

If you are willing to pay a bit more but want to stay local, look no further than Montclair's newly furnished Wellmont Theatre, which holds a bigger crowd than Starland and Maxwell's combined, also boasts much higher ticket prices. However, the aesthetics are unparalleled, which has helped to attract modern bands like The Shins, The Decemberists, and Paramore as well as classics like Brian Wilson (of The Beach Boys), Lenny Kravitz, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

5 Seymour S.t
Montclair, NJ 07042


Maxwell's

The area's most intimate venue, Maxwell's, is an ideal location for fans to see their favorite bands. Located in the heart of Hoboken's bustling Washington Avenue, Maxwell's offers a concert venue like few others: high quality sound in a room with a capacity of no more than 200 people.
Maxwell's has quite a history of shows, hosting bands ranging from Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo to Thursday and My Chemical Romance. The venue itself barely has a stage and contains no barriers, so fans receive an unprecedented level of intimacy with artists, who have to walk through the crowd to get to the platform.

1039 Washington St.
Hoboken, NJ
The Bowery Ballroom
On Delancey Street, the Bowery Ballroom's daily offering of indie-rock's biggest names goes for around 20 dollars a show. Mostly, indie bands that have received attention from popular websites like Pitchfork and Stereogum will stop by the ballroom (very recently bands like Titus Andronicus, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Blitzen Trapper, and Dirty Projectors have all played or planned shows there), but the Bowery also hosts more established artists like Coldplay and The Shins.

6 Delancey St
New York, NY 10002


Terminal 5
Terminal 5 is also a great stop as one of New York's bigger but more affordable venues, and it is newly furnished with a beautiful second-level balcony for those who want to watch the band safely with a drink in hand. In the venue's short history, it has hosted Nine Inch Nails' farewell tour. Additionally, Coheed and Cambria's played with their "Neverender" tour, where they performed all four of their albums over the course of four shows.

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610 W 56th St
New York, NY
10019


Music Hall of Williamsburg
If hipster-ville is more of your ideal location, then take the L train to the Music Hall of Williamsburg. It is a small venue with excellent acoustics and an underground bar, plus it is located by a record store and lots of dining options. Also, an American Apparel is closely available for anyone for revels in buying overpriced t-shirts.

66 North 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211



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