Sweet Lizard Illtet at Maxwell's (08-04-1990)

On August 5th, 1990, Sweet Lizard Illtet played at Maxwell’s! The band were Hoboken locals and their sound spliced together hip hop, hard rock, industrial grooves, and jazz into a genre-bending style. Shortly after this performance, the band signed with Warner Brothers and released their debut self-titled album in 1992.  The band also appeared at the Lollapalooza Festival alongside Ministry and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the group got to jam on shows with the likes of Maceo Parker. 

Mike Watt at Maxwell's (08-02-1995)

On August 2nd, 1995, Mike Watt played at Maxwell’s! The legendary bassman from San Pedro, California came through Hoboken in support of his debut solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, which was released in February of that year. Watt brought along quite the backing band for this epic summer tour. His backing band included Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and then-Foo Fighters drummer William Goldsmith. Opening acts included Hovercraft, the multi-media project helmed by Beth Liebling, and the upstart Foo Fighters, who had just released their self-titled debut album in July.

Without a full-time band, Watt recruited a wide variety of friends to record Ball-Hog or Tugboat? In addition to Grohl, Smear, Vedder, and Goldsmith, the album also featured contributions from fellow SST Records alumni like Henry Rollins, members of Sonic Youth, Curt and Cris Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets, former Saccharine Trust guitarist Joe Baiza, and J. Mascis. Flea, Kathleen Hanna, Frank Black, and a whole host of others are also credited on the record!

Tiny Lights on The Uncle Floyd Show (February 1991)

Hoboken, New Jersey indie rock outfit Tiny Lights appeared on the Uncle Floyd Show in February of 1991. The videocassette indicates that the show aired sometime in 1991, and during their performance, the band mentions that their upcoming tour was scheduled to begin on March 2nd. So, based on those context clues, I'm guessing this episode aired sometime in February of 1991. The Uncle Floyd show aired on local access television in New Jersey from 1974 through 1998. Starting in late 1986, the show aired on statewide cable channel CTN. At this point, the show went through various incarnations with Floyd sometimes hosting a music-only show showcasing local bands. The video was provided by Donna Hamilton of Tiny Lights.

Greg Ginn Interview at Maxwell's (04-1986)

Enjoy this rarely heard interview between Dave Mckenzie and Greg Ginn of Black Flag from April of 1986. I believe Dave conducted the interview and then an edited written version appeared in a zine. This is the source material! It sounds like the interview occurred in the back room of Maxwell’s right before soundcheck. A very awesome relic!

Johnny Thunders at Maxwell's (04-06-1986)

On April 6th, 1987, Johnny Thunders played at Maxwell’s! After two gigs in New York in February of ‘86, one of which is available on The Mckenzie Tapes site, Johnny Thunders continued an extensive tour of the entire country that eventually circled back to Hoboken on this April night. The band would play The Lonestar Cafe in Manhattan the next night. In 1985, Thunders released Que Sera Sera, a collection of new songs with his then band The Black Cats, and "Crawfish", a duet with former Snatch vocalist Patti Palladin. This tour was originally scheduled to happen in 1985, but was rescheduled to start in February of 1986.

Tommy Keene at CBGB (03-28-1990)

On March 28th, 1990, Tommy Keene played at CBGB’s! Unfortunately, I believe this cassette only captures a 20-minute portion of his set. Nonetheless, it sounds great!

In 1989, Keene released his third full length, and second with Geffen Records, Based on Happy Times. He’d go on to release another eight studio albums. He played guitar on the Goo Goo Dolls' hit song "Broadway" which appeared on their 1998 album, Dizzy Up The Girl. Keene also collaborated with Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices in the mid-aughts. He handled guitar duties on Pollard’s 2006 solo album, From A Compound Eye, and the two released an album together, Blues And Boogie Shoes, as The Keene Brothers.

Sadly, Keene passed away in 2017 at the age of 59.

Descendents at Maxwell's (03-12-1987)

On March 12th, 1987, the Descendents played at Maxwell’s! This period was a time of transition for the legendary Los Angeles punk band, as in late 1986, Doug Carrion and Ray Cooper were replaced by Karl Alvarez and Stephen Egerton on bass and guitar, respectively. Also, the band’s label, New Alliance, was sold to SST Records. In January of 1987, the band recorded their fourth studio album, All. The album is titled after the concept of “All” invented by drummer Bill Stevenson. Based on the goals of achieving "the total extent" and "to not settle for some, to always go for All", the philosophy was the subject of the one-second title track, the two-second "No, All!", and "All-O-Gistics".

All marked the end of the Descendents' original run, as following this tour, singer Milo Aukerman left the group to pursue a career in biochemistry. The band was relaunched under the new name All, and released eight albums with other singers between 1988 and 1995, before reuniting with Aukerman under the Descendents name in 1996.

Soundgarden at Maxwell's (03-11-1989)

On March 11th, 1989, Soundgarden played at Maxwell’s! In 1988, the Seattle grunge legends released their debut album Ultramega OK on SST Records. After touring in support of their debut album, Soundgarden left SST, signed with A&M and began work on its first album for a major label in 1989. They’d go on to release Louder Than Love, their major label debut, in September of 1989.

Velvet Crush at Maxwell's (03-05-1991)

On March 5th, 1991, Velvet Crush played at Maxwell’s! The power-pop trio originated in Providence, Rhode Island in 1989. Members Paul Chastain and Ric Menck recorded for Sarah Records in the 1980s as The Springfields and for Bush Stop as Bag-O-Shells. Opting for a more rock-oriented power pop sound, the duo formed Velvet Crush in 1989, with Jeffery Borchardt of Honeybunch. In October of 1991, they released their debut album, In The Presence of Greatness, on Creation Records

Peter Holsapple on WFMU (02-25-1983)

On February 25th, 1983, Peter Holsapple performed live on WFMU! The dB’s guitarist played a solid 45 minutes of stripped-down songs, including covers, and classic dB’s tracks like “It’s Cool” and “She Got Soul,” both of which would appear on the band’s 1984 album, “Like This.” The set also includes one of my perform favorite songs of theirs, “Nothing Is Wrong,” from the dB’s 1982 album “Repercussion.”

Dinosaur Jr. at The Ritz (02-18-1989)

On February 18th, 1989, Dinosaur Jr. played at The Ritz! The Amherst, Massachusetts trio had just released one their most well-known records, Bug, in October of 1988. Their set included several songs from Bug, including “Budge,” “Freak Scene,” and “Yeah We Know.” The group also played several favorites from 1987’s “You’re Living All Over Me,” such as “The Lung.”

Gumball and Teenage Fanclub at Maxwell's (02-11-1991)

On February 11th, 1991, Gumball and Teenage Fanclub crossed the Hudson River for a great show at Maxwell’s!

Superchunk, Gumball, and Teenage Fanclub at CBGBs (02-09-1991)

On February 9th, 1991, Superchunk, Gumball, and Teenage Fanclub played at CBGB’s! This tape is the first in a series of tapes from February of 1991 and captures these three bands in the early stages of their careers.  Superchunk would release their legendary second album, “No Pocky For Kitty,” later that year, while Teenage Fanclub would release “The King” and perhaps their most well-known album, “Banwagonesque,” in the second half of the year. New York City’s own Gumball would release their first album “Special Kiss” in June of 1991.

Rage to Live at The Palladium (01-1987)

In January of 1987, Rage To Live played at the Palladium! Formed by Glenn Morrow in the mid-1980s, Rage To Live originally started in Hoboken as a side project while Glenn was still fronting another four-piece from the mile square city, The Individuals. Fronted by Morrow, the band included Rich Grula on bass, Bob Riley on drums, and Ed Tomney on guitar. Their self-titled debut, released in 1986, was the first ever release on the Hoboken based label Bar None Records. Their set includes several classic Rage To Live tracks, including My Heroine, and a fun cover of “Rock The Boat” by the Hues Corporation.

Located on E. 14th street between Irving Place and Third Ave., The Palladium began hosting concerts in the last 1960s following the closure of The Fillmore East. Legendary New York City acts New York like Patti Smith,, Lou Reed, and Television graced its stage over the course of the venue’s 30 year history. The final concert held at Palladium was a sold-out performance by Fugazi on May 1, 1997.

Polvo & Sebadoh at CBGB's (01-17-1992)

On January 17th, 1992, CBGB’s hosted a double bill featuring Polvo and Sebadoh! Polvo had just wrapped up recording their first album, Cor-Crane Secret, earlier that month. Sebadoh had released their third studio album, III, in late 1991. III was the first full-length Sebadoh album to feature Jason Loewenstein, who joined the band's two founding members Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney in 1989, and debuted on the "Gimme Indie Rock" single earlier that year.

Sebadoh were also featured in the New York Times on the same date. Below is an excerpt, and you can read the whole thing here. The New York Times then reviewed the show on January 20th, 1992, which you can read here.

They called the project Sebadoh (pronounced SEB-uh-doe), a nonsense word, and their first songs, some less than a minute long, were about friendship, isolation, trust, jealousy and very tentative affection; distorted, low-fidelity recording and extraneous noises made the music sound like sketchy rock rather than earnest folky songs. When Dinosaur Jr.'s album "You're Living All Over Me" was released in 1989, cassettes of Sebadoh's first collection, "Weed Forestin'," were given away with it at Boston record stores. Not Self-Indulgence

….

Sebadoh is to perform tonight at about 10:30 at CBGB, 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in Manhattan, followed at 11:30 P.M. by Luna, a band led by Dean Wareham of Galaxie 500, and at 12:30 A.M. by Superchunk, a band with its own mixture of rock tunefulness and noise.

Handsome Dick at Maxwell's (12-31-1989)

On December 31st, 1989, Handsome Dick played at Maxwell’s! Handsome Dick is the moniker for Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba, the lead singer of New York City punk band The Dictators. The Dictators arose during the New York punk-rock scene of the mid-1970s and released a trio of albums during that decade before splitting in 1981. In the mid-1980s, Handsome Dick formed Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom which eventually included so many former members of the Dictators that they reverted to that name in the early 1990s.

Henry Rollins Spoken Word Performance at Maxwell's (11-30-1986)

On November 30th, 1986, Henry Rollins performed some of his spoken word poetry at Maxwell’s! This is entertaining and interesting stuff. Plus, a few original photos from the performance taken by Dave Mckenzie.

R.E.M. at the Beacon Theater CMJ Awards (11-09-1985)

On November 9th, 1985, R.E.M. performed at the Beacon Theater as part of the CMJ Awards! Earlier in the night, the band received the Album of the Year award for Fables of the Reconstruction, their second consecutive win, as Reckoning snagged the award in ‘84. The band played a set of acoustic songs followed by an electric set. Michael Stipe performed the last song ac apella, as Peter Buck threw his guitar at one of the television crew members and storming off the stage after 'Can't Get There From Here' due to frustration that the crew were unwilling to help with the sound. '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville' features Peter Holsapple of The dB’s on guitar and Susanna Hoffs & Michael Steele of The Bangles on backing vocals.

Acoustic set:

1. The Wayward Wind

2. Driver 8

3. All I Have To Do Is Dream

4. Angel

5. Swan Swan H

6. Time After Time (Annelise)

7. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

8. Tired Of Singing Trouble

Electric set:

1. Feeling Gravitys Pull

2. Second Guessing

3. Can't Get There From Here

4. Moon River (Stipe a capella)

Screaming Trees at Maxwell's (11-04-1989)

On August 4th, 1989, Screaming Trees played at Maxwell’s! In April of 1989, the band released their fourth studio album, Buzz Factory, which was their last release on SST Records. In 1990 the band signed major-label contract with Epic Records. and released their fifth album, Uncle Anesthesia, the following year.

Set list:

1. Change Has Come

2. Feathered Fish (The Sons of Adam cover)

3. Lines & Circles

4. Too Far Away

5. Wish Bringer

6. Transfiguration

7. Smokerings

8. Flower Web

9. Ivy

10. End of the Universe

11. What Goes On (Velvet Underground cover)

12. Cold Rain

13. Tales of Brave Ulysses (Cream cover)

14. Orange Airplane

Saccharine Trust at Maxwell's (11-01-1986)

On November 1st, 1986, Saccharine Trust played at Maxwell’s! Widely considered the “black sheep” of Los Angeles based independent label SST Records, Saccharine trust blended punk rock, jazz, and free-form jamming. In 1986, the band released their second studio album, We Became Snakes, which was produced by Mike Watt. It would be their last studio effort until the release of The Great One Is Dead fifteen years later. Dave Mckenzie also took a handful of great photos at this gig, which you can check out below!