Venue Type: Live Music
Sure, Brooklyn is going to book cooler acts. But driving to Brooklyn, or training it out there, is akin to removing your own spleen with a dull spoon. Granted, I’ve done it several times to bring Hipster Jr. Jr. to some random K-pop show or other, but I’d never dedicate that much time and effort on myself. The boroughs are for suckers. And K-pop, apparently. But, no, White Eagle Hall doesn’t mean crossing the river to see a show — assuming, of course, you start your evening West of the Hudson. And, honestly, it still feels a bit like a hidden secret, despite sitting in the second most populous city in New Jersey — just being edged out by its cousin, Newark.
White Eagle Hall mostly feels special because, while it sits on a relatively main drag, it’s certainly more neighborhood-y than your typical music venue. It’s pretty easy to stroll by it with no idea you’ve walked past a venue built to host 800 fans and a bunch of dudes and dudettes with guitars and drums. Well, it wasn’t originally built for this purpose, but it’s what it became when they renovated the 1910 building in 2017 to become a modernized concert and event venue. Before that it was like a Polish social club and a bingo hall and the practice space for coach Bobby Hurley’s state championship powerhouse high school basketball team, St. Anthony’s. I can kind of see it. Left are the 30-foot ceilings, some cool stained glass skylights and the feeling you’re in a place with some age and history to it. You know, with character. And plenty of access to the bar or bars, which would have been awesome back when I was able to drink more than one beer without going into immediate hangover. And because we’re in Jersey and not Manhattan or another island in the NYC archipelago, the booze is a little cheaper and features at least a couple beers from local breweries. It’s all very pleasant.
I believe there’s pretty easy access to the venue both from NJT and the PATH if you’re coming from The City, but we chose to drive on our sojourns. This isn’t Hoboken, so a few swings around the block usually revealed a parking spot within a few blocks of the hall. Depending on what day of the week it is, I guess. The three times we’ve been here there’s never been a line to get in, and all the folks working here are very chill. There is a small merch space up front and I think a bar and whatnot before you get into the actual hall, but not a ton of space to hang out. The hall itself is pretty typical if you’ve been to just about any open hall-like staged space. Relatively narrow, dimly lit and ringed with a second floor balcony. I believe capacity-wise it’s exactly the same as Bowery Ballroom. But the shape of the room is longer and less wide and, frankly, a bit more classic and classy feeling. More like a theater and less like a club, I guess. But similarly sized and similarly set up.
The floor is flat, so your experience and sightlines may vary depending on how tall or short you are. But because the place is relatively small, there aren’t many bad vantage points. And, frankly, it depends on the audience and the level of ticket sales. When we saw The Dirty Nil, there were not a ton of people there and we could have pretty much stood right up against the stage if we so pleased with little-to-no view blockage. For The Beths, we had a good standing space and a perfect view of the stage because it was a pretty passive crowd — mostly made up of short women and skinny dudes — but we were packed in like sardines. For Spoon, it was packed, but we got lucky, scored a space dead center, a little bit back from the stage, but avoided any giants. I think people in Jersey are just shorter and smaller in general than they are in NYC, as I saw three shows without a single basketball center in a top hat or lunkhead who decided to wear his overstuffed puffer jacket and messenger bag blotting out the stage or hip-checking me into oblivion. Or we were just lucky. The sound is decent for the type of rock music I generally listen to, which is honestly surprising given the tall ceilings and many hard surfaces. And it’s decent in the fact that you’re able to stand in front of the amps and not have your eardrums blown out. Though I haven’t seen a Dinosaur Jr. here or anything to test that theory. I assume they actually got it right when they engineered this joint back in 2017 and managed to balance the sound so as to give you an even experience no matter your standing position. Which is not always a guarantee. Overall, this is a really great place to see a show if you’re looking to not have to hoof it to Brooklyn or pay Manhattan prices for your favorite indie band. Here’s to hoping more bands decide to stay on this side of the Hudson and make a night of Jersey City.
337 Newark Ave. – Jersey City
201/885-5166
whiteeaglehalljc.com
