Downtown Jersey City has a new venue called FM where "Dancing" Tony Susco will be booking the bands. And that, as Martha Stewart might say, is a good thing.

FM, at 340 Third St., actually opened a while ago as a retro '70s-themed restaurant, but it recently underwent several months of renovations, retooling everything from its menu to its mission, under the direction of new investors and Ed Snyder, the new General Manager.

"I don't want to compare FM to Maxwell's because that was a very unique thing," Susco said. "But maybe this is the new Uncle Joe's (the beloved rock club that closed in 2005). Maybe we can finally fill that niche of having a place where local and touring bands can find a good place to play."

Susco – known to practically every musician and music fan in town as "Dancing Tony" – sustained Jersey City's music community through some dire times in the last few years, as it seemed every month brought news of a different bar, restaurant or DIY venue closing. When opportunities dried up to play indoors, Susco created the hugely popular Groove on Grove series at Grove Street Plaza, as well as live music events at the Historic Jersey City & Harsimus Cemetery. He's also booked shows and events at Downtown spots like Lucky 7, LITM and Porta.

But he sees real possibilities at FM.



"We've built a stage, put in a sound system, and we started having bands on March 1," Susco enthused. "FM already had a retro vibe, but we're re-retroing the retro fit. We've taken the '70s-only vibe out of the equation and we've opened up the calendar. The days of $8 Colt 45's are over. That just didn't work. In the '70s, a Colt 45 cost a $1.50. You don't have to relive the '70s just to have a beer. That nostalgic part of FM is no longer there."





The new menu features affordable bar food with a modern twist – like the "Madonna Burger," which comes on lettuce leaves instead of a bun – and an impressive selection of draft, bottled and canned beers at musician-friendly prices. But the real innovation will be a steady diet of live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.



On Friday, March 9, FM will host two of the area's premier female musicians, Debra Devi and Karyn Kuhl, with their bands. Adam Bird, solo now after his years with Those Mockingbirds, will open. Pioneer The Eel, Young House, and SHRB – self-described as "Bayonne trash, with Jersey City style, Ridgewood cheese, and Newark Bay broth" – will perform on Saturday, March 10. Upcoming acts include Christina Alessi & The Toll Collectors, Brooklyn's Fancy Colors, Jersey City blues rocker Eliza Neals, Hoboken's Dirty Water Dogs, and local art-rockers Papermaker. The full schedule is available at www.fmjerseycity.co.

All of the March shows will have free admission to help introduce the new venue to the public.

"The shows are going to be a real mixture of stuff," Susco said. "We want to bring in bands not just from the immediate area, but we're looking to host bands from all over. We're not going to limit ourselves to local bands. We have a mid-sized room that holds about 150 people, so we have a proper little venue. Thursday will usually be our hometown heroes showcase, and then Fridays and Saturdays we'll have a little bit of everything.

"This is a challenging position for me to be in," he continued. "It's challenging because there are a lot of great local bands who'll want to play, but I'm going from a point where I'm booking almost the same number of bands in a month than I used to do in a year. It's going to be a much busier schedule for me, but I'm really happy about it."



FM's owners reached out to Susco when they realized the restaurant needed to be retooled and so far, the relationship has worked out well.

"I'm also working with Jack Breslin, who'll be doing some of the booking, I've reached out to Dave Entwistle (who used to book Maxwell's). I'm just reaching out to everyone in the local music community and saying, 'Hey, we have a stage, what do you want to do?' A lot of bands are already reaching out to me, and they will play, it's just a matter of when. The bottom line is this is a great opportunity to host, not just local bands but touring bands, too. We haven't had that Downtown in a while, probably since The Citizen closed. That was the last real venue Downtown. All the other music spots are great music spots, but they're bars and restaurants. We wanted to build a venue."



His responsibilities at FM won't keep Susco from pursuing his other activities. He's already gearing up for the spring opening of Groove on Grove as well as the annual "Pushing Up the Daisies" benefit at the Harsimus Cemetery.



"Groove on Grove will be starting up on May 2, and it's just a great opportunity for me," Susco said. "Booking at FM and booking Groove on Grove and doing Lucky 7's barbecue and the shows at the cemetery, it's obviously a little more difficult because I'm reaching out to more bands. But overall it's a very happy situation. Before, there was a lot less opportunity because there was a lot less venue. Now there's a lot more to go around.



"And mind you," he continued, "there are shows at the Pet Shop happening, Fox & Crow is going strong, The Hutton is doing shows, and then you have Monty Hall and White Eagle Hall. That's all great for Jersey City. What we're trying to do at FM is fill a little sector that we haven't really had, and that's the main point.

Susco noted that he'll be working with some of the other venues in town too. "Since we're so close to White Eagle Hall, we definitely want to do some things in conjunction with them," he said. "For instance, for the Guided By Voices show, we'll be having a Guided By Voices cover band playing both before and after the White Eagle Hall show. So maybe people can stop by and have dinner at FM and then see Guided By Voices, and then come back for a few drinks after the concert is over. We'll be trying to couple events that work together.

"FM has always been a destination spot since it opened," Susco added. "Now we want it to be a music destination."

If you go ...

FM, 340 Third St., Jersey City, hosts Karyn Kuhl, Debra Devi and Adam Bird on Friday, March 9, and Pioneer The Eel, Young House, and SHRB on Saturday, March 10. Shows start at 9 p.m. and admission is free. For full schedule, visit www.fmjerseycity.co.