Eminent Domain This

King Khan and the Shrines at Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, July 24th 2012

Asbury Park has had it pretty tough over the years.  Competition from other attractions for the dollars of summertime crowds and shoppers, civic unrest in the 1970's, failed redevelopment attempts, and good, old New Jersey government "mismanagement" have worked together over the years to deal the city some heavy blows.  In the last five or ten years, though, things have been getting much better.  Businesses have reopened on the boardwalk and in the downtown area.  Slowed a bit by the changes in the real estate market that have affected everyone, Asbury Park continues to improve.

The latest phase of Asbury Park's redevelopment efforts, started in 2002, calls for the city and a developer, Asbury Partners, to work together to build new town homes.  Last week, Asbury Partners released a list of seven properties that it intends to acquire, either via straight-up negotiation or eminent domain, and redevelop.  On the list:  Asbury Lanes at 209 Fourth Avenue.

Asbury Lanes has operated (I don't believe continuously) since the 1960's and currently offers bowling, burlesque shows, two bars, and both national and local musical acts.  Along with the Stone Pony and the Wonder Bar, Asbury Lanes is a big part of Asbury's musical history, and I, for one, would be sad to see it go.  After last night's -- and there's no other word to describe it -- insane performance from King Khan and the Shrines, I'm even more convinced that Asbury Park needs Asbury Lanes or someplace like it.

Another cooldad and I decided that we could handle the weeknight show, since it was local.  We grabbed a bite and a few beverages before heading over to the Lanes.  We caught the last half of openers Sikamor Rooney.  They, like Hector's Pets who followed them, were a fun, garage-rock style band who seemed to have a number of fans in attendance.

Asbury Lanes is a working bowling alley, and people bowled through the first two sets.  It has one "main" bar and a really nice second, more lounge-y bar that, strangely, wasn't operating last night.

At about 10:30, King Khan and the Shrines took the stage, complete with a three-piece horn section.  The King himself wore a sparkling shirt and a crown of green feathers on his head.  Immediately, the band started a relentless assault of punky, psychedelic soul that didn't let up for the full hour and a half set.  King Khan came down from the stage, into the crowd, several times; and the whole place took his oft-repeated advice to "freak the f*ck out!"  As a lead singer, Khan obviously takes some cues from James Brown, screaming and "Unh!"-ing his way through almost every song.

At the end of the last number before the encore, King Khan grabbed one of the ubiquitous PBR's from someone in the front, twirled it over the crowd like a lawn sprinkler, and then sent the half-empty can sailing over the audience until it found its landing spot squarely on top of my head.  I laughed, thinking about how, just hours before, I was cheering on CoolDaughters 1 & 2 at their summer camp swim meet.

For the encore, Shrines returned one by one to the stage, followed finally by a caped, shirtless, wig and bedazzled briefs-wearing King Khan.  The band powered through three or four more songs at the same relentless clip until Khan and his lead guitarist descended into the audience and disappeared toward the back while his keyboard player surfed on top of the keyboard as it was held aloft by the crowd.  Someone handed me the now abandoned mic and I passed it on as we filed out.  Khan had already made his way, still costumed, to the merch table.

I really don't have much information on how Asbury Lanes is performing as a business.  Maybe a negotiated sale to Asbury Partners is just what the owners need to settle their debts and retire comfortably.  But we will have lost something around here in the Jersey Shore 'burbs if it's no longer just a ten minute drive from sweating profusely at a kids' swim meet to sweating profusely at a crazy rock and roll show.

This doesn't give you a sense of the live show, but here's the latest from King Khan and the Shrines.