Remembering Anthony Trance & The Pipeline

Photo source: http://www.angelfire.com/nj/allmine/

It is worth noting that Anthony Trance of The Pipeline (Newark, NJ) died 20 years ago today.

A person’s impact is rarely understood until they’re no longer around. Looking back, it’s clear that Trance’s passing represented a major change to the NJ underground music scene – and it never recovered from that loss. The Pipeline went on for a bit after he died, but it wasn’t the same. Although The Pipeline had already been around for years (and I played there as early as ’93 when I was my stepson’s age – crazy to think about now), I think most people would agree that the club really made a name for itself once Trance starting booking there in the mid ’90s.

Trance didn’t always make everyone happy (which is a fate that befalls most show promoters), but the guy gave me plenty of great gigs in those days. I’ll never forget playing or attending those Thursday night shows, staying out all night and getting back home in time to take a quick shower and head off to a full day of work. Those Fridays were brutal for many of us.

Trance facilitated those incredible nights and the experiences that went along with them. Twenty years later, that needs to acknowledged and celebrated.

Interestingly, my last conversation with Trance was also the longest and most memorable. One night, I was at Connections in Clifton (which he also booked) on a fairly quiet night. I sat next to him at the bar, and we ended up bullshitting about all kinds of stuff. Away from the chaos of running the Pipeline pirate ship and dealing with pain-in-the-ass musicians like yours truly, he was incredibly jovial and very good company. He was dead not too long after that. I’m glad that he was in such high spirits when I saw him for the last time.

So much is different now. I’m sorry Trance and The Pipeline are gone, but I’m glad most of us are still here two decades later to tell the tales and look back at that special time with fondness.

Anthony S. Machovsky II, a.k.a. Anthony Trance: December 7, 1966 –July 3, 1998

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