2009 Groove on Grove Schedule Shapes Up

By • Apr 9th, 2009 • Category: Arts, Blog
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After last year’s debut, the free outdoor live music series Groove on Grove is set to return to the Grove PATH plaza this year with scores of bands scheduled to perform on Wednesday evenings (and a few Fridays) from May to September.

The series, put on by the Historic Downtown Special Improvement District, is much more robust than last year, with nearly 40 bands scheduled to perform so far. The schedule is definitely subject to change — be sure to check JCI‘s Cultural Calendar for the most up-to-date listings as the season progresses.

May 6: Higgins, Any Day Parade

May 13: The Hangmen, Brian Beninghove Trio

May 20: Miss Ohio, The Curvy Straights

May 27: The Puerto Rican String Quartet

June 5 (Special Friday show for JC Fridays): The Black Hollies, The One & Nines, The Milwaukees, Jupiter One

June 10: The Demands, The Subway Surfers

June 17: Bern & the Brights, WJ & the Sweet Sacrifice

June 24: The Coffin Daggers, Bongo Surf

July 1: Kilsy, The Touristas

July 8: Plowing Mud Forever, No Pasaran

July 15: Rik Mercaldi, The Fringe Dwellers

July 22: Binky Bianca, The Plastiq Passion Band

July 29: The One and Nines, Kiwi the Child

August 5: Beef and Butter, Manchild

August 12: The Poconos, Ben Franklin

August 19: The Swigs, Choirs of Titan

August 26: Tangos for 2 Guitars

September 2: The Third Party, Snowball 37

September 11 (Special Friday show for JC Fridays): Kilsy, Any Day Parade, The Milwaukees

September 16: Square Wave Punch, Pow Wow

September 23: The Devyl Nellys

September 30: Groove on Grove All Star Finale Show



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is the co-founder of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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  • Rhea

    UM, does it make sense that this thing takes place right in front of residential buildings? LIKE MINE?? GROVE POINTE?? The noise is so loud that I can feel the base in my living room and I can hear the music in the halls outside of my damn apt. I dont come home at 6pm to listen to this shit. There are at most 15 people actually listening at any given time and honestly the speakers really are not necessary. Especially when most of the horrendous things that call them selves bands just scream and belt anyway. Stuff like this should be taking place in secluded places away from peoples homes, like a park. I’ve already made several complaints and jersey city city hall is saying they’ll at least lower the speakers and they have not. really. this is unacceptable.

  • http://www.trismccall.net tris mccall

    1.) there is a long local tradition of using fitzgerald holota triangle for concerts. that tradition predates the construction of grove pointe. this probably isn’t something that your real estate pitchman told you when you were shopping for an apartment!

    2.) when schenkman kushner signed on to develop grove pointe, part of the deal with the city was the renovation of fitzgerald holota. the city and the downtown special improvement district wanted to make sure that the triangle would be spiffed up and made presentable for public events.

    3.) there aren’t any secluded parks downtown. if you want to have a live music series in downtown jc, fitzgerald holota is the most logical place to do it. especially since jcdowntown.org is the main sponsor of the series.

    4.) despite the miserable weather, the crowd on friday the eleventh was pretty nice. *lots* of folks stopped to listen to a band (overlord) that they didn’t know from a rutabaga. i don’t know if any of our audience was from grove pointe, but it’s a good bet that most of them were downtown jersey city residents.

    5.) of course speakers are necessary. you can’t have a rock show without a p.a. system!

  • rhea

    1) tradition doesn’t matter. things should change in accordance to the needs of people in the area. sure maybe people want to hold concerts but now there is a residential building here. and you just don’t hold loud concerts right in front of people’s windows. especially until 9pm. actually, this shouldn’t be an issue for anyone at any time of day.

    2) these events make grove pointe and surrounding apt complexes extremely undesirable. I already know of two apt complexes who have petitioned for these things to stop. if i could, and if someone was willing to buy right now, i would sell this place in a heartbeat and i’d go into nyc. does it make sense that my apt was so much quieter when i was living in union sqare? public events are fine as long as they don’t disturb me when I’m inside my home. all those vendors etc – i dont care. but loud music, bad bands, and the constant dull noise of the base of people talkin on mics is not okay. don’t you think so?

    3) well then the most logical idea would be not to have live music anywhere in downtown wouldn’t it? there are plenty of places in the city for people who need live music. they also have bars, lounges etc for that.

    4) i dont know what you consider to be “lots” but when i pass by, it’s definitely not a crowd you need a speaker system for. DEFINITELY not. even if the entire triangle was full of people. you still wouldn’t need a speaker system.

    5) Why don’t you go take the concerts & speakers to where you live. you place the bands right in front of your house and make sure to blast the volume on high, on Wednesday nights, Fridays and occasionally Saturdays. Let me know how that works out okay?

  • http://www.trismccall.net tris mccall

    this is why i am always so reluctant to do shows in public places. i imagine some grandmother — or some sick kid — trying to sleep and wondering what all the racket is about. hell, i have been that sick kid. who needs the extra anxiety of condemnation? i feel guilty enough as it is.

    the padna has done a pretty good job of educating newcomers. i think that most of the people who buy into that district know what they’re getting into. the same can’t be said about grove pointe tenants, though. i bet there’s quite a lot of buyer’s remorse in that building.

  • http://www.jerseybeat.com Jim Testa

    Rhea’s complaints are something you hear anytime a neighborhood becomes gentrified. People want to move into an area because it’s hip and groovy and filled with exciting artistic personalities, and then as soon as they’re paying the mortgage on a luxury condo, they want all that hip and groovy stuff to quit so they can watch Oprah in peace.

    Yuppies in Hoboken complain about the noise from the Italian festivals in the summer after flocking to those neighborhoods for their “authenticity” and “old world charm.” . And I’m sure the people who bought condos in the building that used to be Coney Island High wonder why St. Marks Place has to be so noisy all the time.

    Perhaps, to borrow a line from Shakespeare, the problem lies not in our rock stars, but in ourselves?

  • rhea

    well testa i think that may be an overgeneralization. i bought the building back in 2007 when there weren’t even many cars rolling around outside. i bought it because it was really quiet, new, and it was relatively cheaper than nyc apts back then. i was aware that the area would become gentrified and did worry a bit about the morning traffic, but did not expect to have these systematic annoyances. i didn’t, and still don’t want to have anything to do with jersey city, other than to hop on a train that’s right in front of my house to get to the city. so no. if i wanted “hip and groovy” it wouldn’t have been jc. and its not Oprah i need to do in peace but actual work.
    tris, glad that you understand. actually the noise level is getting much better. i’ve reported complaints and looks like there were lots of complaints made bc JC police dept finally just contacted me & others. im lookin forward to less noise bc otherwise, grove pointe would be great. i was also told by elizabeth young, who i think is the executive director of groove on grove that next year the events will be spread out so i’m happy about that.
    i’m sure artists are struggling as it is and i don’t feel great about fighting for those shows to be moved away from me but this just wasn’t really fair to begin with.

  • Chris

    Can a band (artist) still register for the event? Assuming that there’s still a slot :)
    Just in case you guys know how. thanks

  • http://www.jerseycityindependent.com Shane Smith

    @Chris: I’m not sure if there are still openings, but your best bet is to get in touch with the Downtown SID: info (at) hdsid (dot) org.