TrickTenza Rocks Cedar Grove

Members of the four-piece band TrickTenza, an original and cover band from Cedar Grove, can’t even explain what a TrickTenza is, but Joe Tencza, on guitar and lead vocals, said, “You have to experience it.”

The band frequently plays at the Grasshopper in Cedar Grove, located at 292 Grove Avenue, Grasshopper Too in Wayne, and Whiskey Café in Lyndhurst. TrickTenza will perform at the Grasshopper on June 10, Sept. 16 and Nov. 25, and at Grasshopper Too on July 9 and Oct. 1.

The four-piece band, which consists of Tencza, Joe Winkle on vocals and lead guitar, Tony Morano on bass and Stu Joel on vocals and drums, formed in the summer of 2009 when Tencza, Winkle and Morano did a few informal parties and, “Things really lit up right away,” said Tencza.

The trio then put together a set list of songs and local performance dates, and recruited Joel as drummer, in December 2009. The quartet honed its sound in time for its first performance in March 2010, a benefit show for the Footprints in the Sand Foundation's Jeff Rizzuto Family Fund, in which the band helped raise $1,000 for the cancer foundation. This past October, TrickTenza performed to an audience of 1,700 local residents at Oktoberfest hosted by Our Lady of the Lake parish in Verona.

TrickTenza is self described as a rock band that performs up-beat, party rock and songs that have attitude. As children of the ‘80s, Van Halen’s Panama, Rick Springfield’s Jessie’s Girl and Journey’s Stone in Love are performance favorites, but Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name, Buckcherry and Killers songs are also known to be on set lists. No matter what songs are on the set list, “We put the TrickTenza stamp on it.” said Winkle. “Let’s face it: lots of cover bands play the same song or two. But you haven’t heard these songs with the energy that TrickTenza puts into them.”

TrickTenza’s energy is during performances is what separates it from typical bar bands. “People have told us that going to see TrickTenza is like going to a concert, not a bar,” said Winkle. “We rove through the room. We climb on the tables. We dance with the girls in the crowd. We’re not your average stand-in-the-corner bar band, that’s for sure.”

New songs are constantly being added to TrickTenza’s song list. “We don’t want crowds getting bored, hearing the same set over and over,” said Joel. “So we mix it up from show to show, moving songs around and adding new ones.”

TrickTenza also takes requests. “It works out best when they request a song we know,” said Joel. “Thinking back on our shows, there’s been at least one song every show that we played right there on the spot, having never played the song together before, let alone in front of a room full of people. And there’s always somebody who comes out of the crowd to sing a song or two with us.”

TrickTenza has two original songs it performs, Open Road and Radio Generation. Open Road was the first song the band wrote together. “After a few shows, you start to see people recognizing [Open Road] and then singing along,” said Morano. “That’s a great feeling, having people sing your own songs. One night, a guy didn’t get to the show until later in the night and was mad because he missed hearing Open Road.”

Morano said he is grateful for the support the band has received. “To get such a great response and support is fantastic,” said Morano. “The folks who keep coming to see us are just amazing fun. A group of our fans even dubbed themselves the “Tenzettes.” It’s been a great time so far, and we’re looking forward to a lot more fun.”

For more information about TrickTenza, visit the band's Facebook page.