Photo: Tim Griffin/Brooklyn Vegan
The writing seemed to be on the wall when Megadeth’s show, which was scheduled to take place tonight (14) at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville NJ was moved to New York’s Best Buy Theater. And yesterday, an article came out in the Newark Star-Ledger that confirmed it: The Starland Ballroom will be closed until Spring as a result of damage from superstorm Sandy. The Raritan River crested and swamped Jernee Mill Road, the street Starland is on. The venue, which turns 10 years old next year, is promising to make repairs and open in the Spring. The following is a statement from the venue’s web site:
The last two weeks in New Jersey have been a testament to our state’s resilience. We’ve witnessed New Jersey’s worst days, but also its greatest humanity. We’ve seen destruction, but we’ve also seen hope, hard work and determination.
Our situation at Starland is a microcosm of these scenarios — yet one we realize is significantly less important than one’s home, family or livelihood. Hurricane Sandy devastated our electrical system and damaged our sound, lighting, heating / cooling and plumbing systems – all necessary ingredients in operating a public venue. Because of this, we do not anticipate being able to open again until Spring 2013.
We regret that any of these shows are going away, but not as much as we regret the pain, suffering and destruction experienced by our customers throughout the Garden State. Much like the spirit of New Jersey, you can’t stop rock n’ roll. And we don’t intend to.
Jersey proud, Starlanders. We’ll see you soon.
As a result of this, countless shows have been canceled through March, with no makeup dates of relocations scheduled. Those include Monster Magnet, Killswitch Engage, Black Veil Brides, 40 Below Summer, and, in what had been an annual tradition, the Clutch show in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Several shows have shifted around, like the aforementioned Megadeth show. A Sum 41 show scheduled there for November 24th will now take place at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, and two Taking Back Sunday shows will be combined into one, and will be taking place at Tom’s River High School North.
It’s a bummer that New Jersey is minus a venue for the time being. It was a reliable place to see shows, and the 2,500-capacity venue is one of the only places of that size in the state. While many of the tours playing there would also hit New York City, which is about 45 minutes away, Sayreville is enough of a secondary market that sometimes it would be the only place to see some tours. It will be missed, and best wishes for a speedy return.
