The State of New Jersey has a diverse population that produces a significant number of live music performances and venues.
Rock, indie and punk live music As of 2023, focal points of live local rock include: •
Asbury Park has a number of local venues with open mics and other performances. It is also home of
Convention Hall, the
Asbury Lanes, The Wonder Bar,
The Saint, House of Independents, and
The Stone Pony. Acts like
Bruce Springsteen,
Bon Jovi, and
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes frequented Asbury early in their careers. • Dingbatz in
Clifton is a venue for hard rock and metal bands. •
New Brunswick, formerly home to the
Court Tavern and
the Melody, is known for its "basement show" circuit. • The "Orange Loop," an off-boardwalk area of
Atlantic City, has a growing number of small live music bars, open mics, and rock clubs. Named for the orange-colored streets in the
Monopoly (game), it runs roughly from the boardwalk inland to
St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church.
Other venues •
Boardwalk Hall is located in
Atlantic City. • The Spring Camp Jam in The Pines is held every year, allowing people to camp on farms in southern New Jersey and enjoy a variety of live music performances. • The final American concert of the
A Conspiracy of Hope Amnesty International tour was broadcast live on
MTV from
Giants Stadium on June 15, 1986. The concert was twelve hours long and featured multiple acts including;
U2,
Lou Reed,
Joan Baez,
Bryan Adams,
Peter Gabriel, and a reunited
The Police. •
Live Earth, a worldwide television and Internet-streamed benefit music event promoting causes to stop
global warming, took place during the spring of 2007 in the state. It used
Giants Stadium in
East Rutherford as the stage for its American concert venue. A wide array of performers, from a variety of music genres, took part in raising proceeds. Former Vice President
Al Gore helped organize the effort. •
The Velvet Underground gave their first performance as a band at
Summit High School in
Summit, New Jersey. •
The Folk Project has hosted many local and internationally known folk music acts such as
Richard Shindell,
Bob Franke, and
Odetta. • The
Prudential Center in
Newark hosts concerts. • The
New Jersey Performing Arts Center, home of the
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is also located in Newark. • The
Count Basie Theatre in
Red Bank, is an historic venue that has hosted a variety of musical and performing artists over the past decades. •
MetLife Stadium is located in East Rutherford. • The
City Gardens was a famous punk venue 1978–1998 located in
Trenton . • The
Capitol Theatre in
Passaic hosted a number of famous acts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including
The Clash,
Motörhead,
Ozzy Osbourne,
Van Halen, and
Bruce Springsteen. The concert
DVD R40 by the rock band
RUSH features several songs performed by the band at the venue in 1976. • The
Sports Illustrated Stadium is located in
Harrison. • The Rustic Cabin, which was located on Route 9W in
Englewood Cliffs, was the roadhouse where
Frank Sinatra was discovered in 1939. • The
New Jersey Folk Festival is held annually by undergraduates of
Rutgers University at the Douglass campus. • The
Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in
Salem County, offers educational programs as well as performances of a wide variety of the arts. •
RWJBarnabas Health Arena is located in
Toms River. • The
Susquehanna Bank Center in
Camden is an outdoor amphitheater located on the
Delaware River. • The Osprey Hotel in Manasquan has hosted many Jersey Shore acts for years. The legendary band
Salvation played a record 11 summers there from 1969 to 1980. • The
PNC Bank Arts Center in
Holmdel is an outdoor amphitheater that hosts concerts and events. •
Palisades Amusement Park in Fort Lee/Cliffside Park staged major concerts at its famous music pavilion, featuring current pop/rock acts and teen idols, throughout the 1960s. They were hosted by then-
WABC (AM) Musicradio disc jockey
Cousin Brucie, a.k.a.
Bruce Morrow. The attraction closed permanently in 1971. Coincidentally, the park's popularity inspired the monster 1962 rock hit, "
Palisades Park", by
Freddy Cannon. The tune was written by
Chuck Barris, before his days as a pioneering TV game show producer. The song was covered by the
Ramones on their 1989 album,
Brain Drain. • The
CURE Insurance Arena is located in Trenton. •
The Pipeline in Newark hosted massive punk, skinhead, ska, alternative industrial and Goth acts in the 1980s and 1990s. • The
Bergen Performing Arts Center is located in
Englewood. • The
Jersey Mike's Arena is located in
Piscataway. • The
Paper Mill Playhouse in
Millburn, is a venue famous throughout the state for presenting musicals. • The
State Theatre is located in
New Brunswick. • The Crossroads in
Garwood hosts a variety of live music. • The
Wellmont Theatre is located in
Montclair. •
Starland Ballroom is located in
Sayreville. •
Hard Rock Live is located in Atlantic City. •
Maxwell's on Washington Ave., opened in 1978, was the center of the live music scene in
Hoboken for decades. The club closed in July 2013. The venue opened under new management in 2014 as Maxwell's Tavern. •
Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band played a record setting ten dates in a row at Giants Stadium in 2003. • The
Monsters of Rock tour in 1988, headlined by
Van Halen, had one of its stops at Giants Stadium. •
Waterloo Village in Byram Township was one of the locations where the
Lollapalooza Festival occurred in the early 1990s. • The first
Orion Music + More festival was a large two-day music festival hosted by
Metallica in June 2012 at
Bader Field in
Atlantic City. • The three-day
All Points West Music and Arts Festival was held in the summers of 2008 and 2009 at
Liberty State Park in
Jersey City. • The
Wildwoods Convention Center is located in
Wildwood. •
The Bamboozle was an annual three-day event that has a wide variety of musical acts and comedians. This festival has been held at the MetLife Sports complex as well as in Asbury Park. Bands vary from being independent label acts to acts known throughout the world. This was last held in 2012 and it is currently unknown whether it will make a return in the future. • The Aquifer Music Venue in
Clinton Hosted highly acclaimed Metalcore and Hardcore acts from all over the world in a suburban town off of
Interstate 78. •
TD Bank Ballpark is located in
Bridgewater. • The
Mayo Performing Arts Center in
Morristown has live music performances. • The Galaxy Night Club
Somerdale – Where some of the hottest 1980s metal bands were scouted and signed including Bon Jovi, Skid Row,
Cinderella, and
Britny Fox.
Frank Sinatra (from Hoboken, died 1998) had at least one #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit with "
Strangers in the Night" in 1966.
Frankie Valli (who was portrayed in the play
Jersey Boys) had 7 #1 Hot 100 hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including "
December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)".
Kool & the Gang had a #1 Hot 100 hit with "
Celebration" in 1981.
Bon Jovi had 4 #1 Hot 100 hits, including "
Living on a Prayer" in 1987.
Whitney Houston (died 2012) had 11 #1 Hot 100 hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "
I Will Always Love You" in 1992.
P.M. Dawn had one #1 hit with "
Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" in 1991.
Lauryn Hill of the
Fugees had a #1 Hot 100 hit with "
Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998.
Akon (who moved to Jersey City) had 2 #1 Hot 100 hits in the 2000s, including "
I Wanna Love You" in 2006. The
Jonas Brothers had one #1 Hot 100 hit with "
Sucker" in 2019.
Halsey has had 2 Hot 100 #1 hits like "
Closer" with the Chainsmokers, in 2016. ==Audio broadcasting==