Band’s final show at Sinatra Park ripe with political irony
From the first crack of the snare, the mass of kids were jumping and dancing around with innocent abandon. My friend Shadneh said it would be nice to see the adults be so free. I agreed. I’m actually one of the first to admit to not being as free as a child. It’s something I’m working on.
Tonight the large crowd of young and old gathered on the shore of the Hudson in Hoboken’s Sinatra Park to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the band Skanatra. Yes they are exactly as the name implies; Ska versions of Sinatra songs. Sadly this was also their final show ever. Or so they say. Some of us suspect they’ll be back before long.
Are they just a novelty act meant to make you laugh? Are they a group of talented musicians whose tight vibe gets folks moving? Well, both actually. For the past ten years this band of Hoboken hipsters has been keeping the sounds of Old Blue Eyes alive in their own unique way and keeping folks dancing at the same time.
More than this, the group is a part of Hoboken lore. Lead singer Fran Azzarto in particular was honored tonight as a model business owner thanks to the Goldhawk lounge and his recording studios. He was given a proclamation by Mayor David Roberts who sounded off with a moving, albeit ironic speech. He thanked all of the artists and musicians that have made this town the cultural capital it is today. This despite the fact that Hoboken’s cultural identity has been shrinking at an alarming rate for the last ten years.
In fact, Roberts and his thirst for homogenous commercial development played a major role in forcing independent artists and musicians to leave town. It nearly caused tonight’s honoree Fran’s recording studios to shut down. Apparently the historic building was in the way of some new, ugly condo development. Luckily that fight was won by the musicians. Still Hoboken, whose music scene once thrived, is left now with only a handful of venues that feature live music regularly.
To make matters worse, Senator Robert Menendez—an occasional Hoboken resident himself—got up to say a few words. He confused me by saying how great the diversity in Hoboken is thanks to the United Nations in NYC. Funny, I thought the diversity in Hoboken came from … oh I don’t know … the diversity of those actually living in Hoboken. Then again, I’m not a Senator. He went on to say how fitting it was that we were in Sinatra Park to be a part of the final Skanakra show.
Wait … what? Did he say Skanakra? Ok so he got it wrong. No biggie. Everyone makes mistakes. But then he went on to say how Hoboken can be proud to be the birthplace of Baseball, Frank Sinatra and Skanakra! He did it again. Proudly, loudly. OK I know he’s outta touch but come on! Could he seriously not make the connection between Sinatra and Skanatra? I guess not because he said it again.
Menendez made a quick getaway but Roberts stuck around and was heard asking an aid, “So we just need to do this thing and then we can go, right?” Yeah … from all the musicians in Hoboken let me just say thanks for your support (in case you can’t hear it, my sarcasm alarm is going off).
After the show and a few beers in the make-shift beer garden, we all wound up at the Goldhawk. The joint was packed and I was hearing a noise I had not heard in many years. I call it the Hoboken Murmur. It’s a mix of high-pitched girls, pushy guys, various timbres of cackle and music that keeps getting louder and louder to stay above it all. This is certainly not the norm for this place and, since it was a special night for Fran and his Skanatra cronies, we the regulars were forgiving. Still a few of us moved on to a quieter pub; Carpe Diem.
After an interesting night of joking and fending off a very drunk, angry Irishman, it was time to go home. My buddy Dave and I live right around the block from one another and we were standing on my corner at like 2:30 talking politics. This is not all that unusual. Anyway, we notice in the distance a hip looking chap staggering towards us. It was Fran going home from the party at The Goldhawk.
He told us how, at like five minutes past 2:00 a cop barged into the bar and gave him shit about having people there. Hoboken is very strict about a bar’s closing time. He had to go thru his payroll records. Everyone had to show IDs. It was a mess that he was eventually able to work out. But then Dave said, “Hey, you should have showed him your proclamation from the Mayor!”
This made us laugh, but it was another brick in Hoboken’s wall blocking the arts. Here we have a man that was, just a few hours earlier, being praised as a gift to the town for his music and entertainment, now being harassed over a few lousy but innocent minutes. Oh the irony in the speeches from both the Mayor and the Senator was now resonating in my head even louder than that Hoboken Murmur.
