If there was a mecca of indie rock, it wasn’t Manhattan’s CBGB or Minneapolis’ First Avenue or Chapel Hill’s Cat’s Cradle or Al’s Bar in L.A. It was Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey, just across the river from New York City — and you could almost guarantee that if a band like Nirvana , the Replacements , R.E.M., Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü or Hoboken locals Yo La Tengo was playing shows both in the city and Maxwell’s, the latter would be better.

Why? Because it was smaller and more welcoming than the usual gritty rock bar, industry types rarely made the trek so the audience was mostly genuine fans, and a major reason why the bands loved it was because it was also a restaurant, so they’d get a good meal. You’d walk or find a place to park somewhere near the nearby Maxwell House

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