Celebrating their six years with a very special show at the Goldhawk, Hoboken
Back in December of 2000, a man named Lazlo set out to on a mission. With the knowledge that there is more to the Garden State than Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, he was determined to create a haven for indie and DIY bands. He called his mission BlowUpRadio.com and has featured a bevy of great bands all hailing from New Jersey.
From a simple vision of creating a place for his neighbors to be heard, we now have a treasure chest of fine music. Over time, Lazlo enhanced the website with blogs and began promoting live shows as part of the ‘Folk You’ series. Now most of us here couldn’t imagine not having BlowUpRadio.com as an ally.
Tonight’s celebrations were taking place at The Goldhawk (936 Park Ave, Hoboken). All decked out for Christmas with lights and a white tree, the joint had a built-in festive look. The large harp on stage made the scene picture perfect. It’s just too bad I didn’t have my camera with me. Luckily Merave Szmer—who is the girlfriend of one of the performers, Joshua Van Ness—took a few pictures that I could use.
The aforementioned harp belonged to Double-Breasted, as did a cello. Along with the hand percussion, they had a very unique set-up indeed. The classical sensibility and beautiful harmonies combined with a serious rock attitude.
Next we had Joshua Van Ness with his soulful rock sound. I was sitting at the bar talking to Alana from the band Six To Eight Mathematics. I confessed that I had no intention of sticking around. I was tired and not feeling well. But when Joshua opened his mouth, I was impressed to say the least and found it hard to leave.
Sadly however I did not have the stamina to stay thru another set of music. So I missed Geb and John of Echofission’s set. I did take the time later to check out their stuff online and really dug it. I’m curious now to know how they recreated some of their more eccentric, jam-rock sound acoustically, but I definitely got the sense that they could pull it off.
So I was off. Alana was also leaving. Since it was a nice night I offered to walk the extra few blocks to where she had parked. The Goldhawk validates parking up to five hours at the garage on 15th and Park, by the way. The cool but not too cool night air felt good. Before getting to the club, I was standing in the hot, crowded City Hall for two and a half hours (for the ‘Water Music Project‘ vote).
Congratulations to Lazlo for six years of showing off the best and brightest of the New Jersey scene to the rest of the world. Proof once again that we have a lot to be proud of here.
See Also:
Photo Gallery
BlowUpRadio.com
The Goldhawk
Double-Breasted
Joshua Van Ness
Echofission
