Hoboken Pier Sessions Return

Imagine it: hanging outside with your friends and drinking a cold brew while your favorite local band plays in front of the glittering Manhattan skyline on a warm evening. Is there anything more quintessentially summer than that? Not if you ask the team behind the Pier Sessions, which is hosting the third annual outdoor concert series in Hoboken. 

The Pier Sessions began in 2009, a joint effort between Hobokenites Marc Giannotti (a solo artist who also plays in local rock band and performs on the comedy sketch series ) and Lea Simone (a former bartender at and ), who wanted a way to bring the creative resources in town together for a real DIY, grassroots celebration of art, music and culture in the Mile Square.

“The initial inspiration for the Pier Sessions came from the closing of GoldHawk,” said Simone, who was a fan of their Open Mic nights. “I was so impressed by the talent of so many people I had run into or just known in town, as well as the strong sense of support and community they gave each other.”

Simone called the closing of GoldHawk, “a loss” to the community: “I started to wonder about where this amazing piece of Hoboken culture would go and what would happen to it. It was at that point I came up with the initial idea for the Pier Sessions. I wanted a way to provide a space for musicians to play and be able to give back to the community.”

For help with the production and marketing of such a large series of events, Simone and Giannotti enlisted the help of neighbor and friend, Scott Katz.

“Marc and Lea are like, ‘We want to be like All Points West!’” Katz said, of his involvement with the project.

For equipment, they reached out to local businesses and were able to get most everything donated. Guitar Bar helped out a lot, said Katz, and drums were supplied by Pete Martinez at The Drum Den.

“I had never done anything like this before so I was a novice to the whole process,” said Simone of planning their first concert, three years ago. “I basically asked people I knew to play or word spread around town. Sometimes I didn't know who was playing until a few days before!”

This year, with a much more organized approach and a call put out for performers months ago, Simone said the only problem this year that they have too many bands who have asked to play, and not enough spots to accommodate everyone.

The first Pier Sessions performance will kick off Thursday night at the Shipyard Marina, at Sinatra Drive and 13th Street. Marc Giannotti will perform at 7:30 p.m., The Prettiest Meltdown at 8:10 p.m., and Montclair’s Bern and The Brights at 8:50 p.m.

The show will be emceed by Bill Hamilton, Giannotti’s bandmate in Nipsey and fellow comic performer. Katz has planned local vendors selling handmade crafts, art and – of course – food. The Shipyard Marina also has a liquor license, so fear not, beer will be on tap.

“The first thing to go is always Pabst Blue Ribbon,” Katz said.

Because of city noise regulations, the show must end promptly at 10 p.m., so the party will then be taken down to , where the bands, crew and music fans can kick back with a cold one.

In total, the team has 10 weekly shows scheduled for Thursdays through the summer.

In a new twist this year, the Pier Sessions has teamed up with the who will have a table set up at the shows were patrons can donate clothes, food for the pantry, or just write a check.

“(The shelter) is right around the corner from me, I pass it everyday,” said Katz. “Any way we could help out the community, we wanted to.”

“The Pier Sessions began with an idea to give local musicians another home and my small way of giving back to a community I love and it grew into so much more,” said Simone.

In the end, Giannotti, Simone and Katz all just hope for a smooth season of music, friends and fun.

"If the Pier Sessions fosters a stronger sense of community among artists, musicians, and families in the area while promoting awareness of places like the Hoboken Shelter," Simone said, "I feel that the shows have been a great success.”