You many have heard recent reports of drag-averse states banning showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I take this as a personal insult to Jersey City. Rocky Horror wasn’t created here, but we’ve got a long history with the movie and its attendant phenomena, including some memorably gonzo screenings and performances in the Harsimus Cemetery. Sal Piro, the longtime […]
Performing Arts
Posted inPerforming Arts
Rogue Waves March: Musical Events in Jersey City
This column is designed to call your attention to live music. Multimedia installations with recorded sound are a completely different kind of experience— usually one involving less moshing and fewer bottles of beer. But some art shows with musical dimensions are so weird and intriguing that they barge into the conversation about local musical events […]
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Two New Jersey Albums: Kena Anae and American Watercolor Movement
Kena Anae Hold On! Electric Songs of Protest Vol. 1 Study Group Records What sort of revolution is Kena Anae after? Certainly not a bloody one: this is a soul man with a disposition so sugary that he’s inclined to take political advice from a fortune cookie. Though Hold On! Electric Songs of Protest Vol. 1 lays on […]
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“The You Voice” Closes at MANA With a One-Of-A-Kind Multimedia Performance
In the middle of a circle of black chairs, a woman struggled with an imaginary object. She pulled it toward her, and then pushed it away, and then brought it back to her body. With each shove, she inched one foot closer to her invisible target. The other remained fixed. Her muscles tensed, and her […]
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Rogue Waves February: Six Concerts and an Entreaty
It’s the first of the month, and that means we’ve got some more Jersey City shows to discuss. But before we do, I’ve got an urgent entreaty for you. If you’re in a band, or if you’re a rapper or a pop vocalist, or a local producer, or studio owner — if you’re involved in […]
Posted inLatest News
Hudson County Community College to Honor MLK with Free Concert
To mark the 55th anniversary of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Hudson County Community College will present a special program of gospel, Broadway, and a variety of inspirational musical numbers performed by Angela Birchett and Joey Joseph-DiCarlo. The concert will take place on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. in the Atrium […]
Posted inPerforming Arts, Uncategorized
Rogue Waves January: Joe Bataan, CR and the Nones, Tom Barrett, Debra Devi, and More
Though it’s been imitated plenty of times since 1967, “Subway Joe” remains unique. Everything on the record jostles for attention like buskers in the subway. The piano and the Caribbean drums are blown out, distorted, and gleefully shoved into the red. Trumpets blare with impatience like car horns in rush hour traffic on Fifth Avenue. […]
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Nimbus Reimagines “The Nutcracker” for a Jersey Audience
There are three restaurants at the intersection of Grove and Mercer Streets — one Mediterranean, one Pakistani, and one American. Also, there’s City Hall. I mention this because it’s here that “Jersey City Nutcracker,” our version of the seasonal dance favorite, locates a magic manhole that allows its inhabitants a glimpse of the city as […]
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The Pop/R&B Ensemble Takes the Stage at NJCU Tomorrow
Two weeks ago, New Jersey City University held a two-day jazz festival. The event, which featured Jersey City percussion hero Winard Harper, the unclassifiable, frequently brilliant Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet, and many other artists, was distinguished by its excellent lineup of attractions. Its location was just as noteworthy. NJCU didn’t throw their party on campus. […]
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Rogue Waves December: Jersey City Nutcracker, NJCU Jazz, Fascinations Grand Chorus, more
Certain holiday traditions don’t budge. Mistletoe, for instance: that stuff comes out in December and gets retired once Santa returns to the North Pole. Nobody drinks egg nog in May. And if a dance company mounts a production of “The Nutcracker,” you know Christmas is right around the corner. Hudson County has its own “Nutcracker.” […]