Monday, July 21, 2014

The Bouncing Souls Played The Stone Pony Summer Stage w/ The Menzingers and Ted Leo, 7/19/14


Home for the Summer

The Bouncing Souls celebrated their 25th anniversary as a band on The Stone Pony's -- a venue celebrating its own 40th anniversary this year -- outdoor Summer Stage on Saturday. The band had help from Ted Leo and The Menzingers. It was a cool and beautiful evening, and the whole night really brought home for me what a wonderful little musical community we have here in our area.

I'd won tickets to the show from Live Nation a few days before. Swim meets and poor planning, though, meant that CoolMom couldn't join me; and my +1 went unused. Heading out solo did give me the opportunity to leave early and stake out my place in the front. I knew I'd see plenty of familiar faces.


Almost immediately upon arriving, I saw the guys from Corrina, Corrina right up front. I'd be seeing more of them as the evening progressed -- mostly as they surfed atop the crowd during the sets by The Menzingers and The Bouncing Souls. I met our barricade neighbor from one of last year's Home for the Holidays shows leaning on the rail just like she'd been in December. Scotch LaRock showed up, his boy wearing the shirt he'd had autographed by Greg Attonito at the Play Date show a few weeks back. Chris from Speak Into My Good Eye joined us for a while before disappearing into the sea of bodies during The Menzingers set.

Ted Leo came out at around 6:30 and did a solo electric set featuring favorites like "Timorous Me" and "Me and Mia." He played new songs -- one so new, he had to stop a few times to remember the chords -- and a song or two from his project with Aimee Mann, The Both. He talked about seeing The Bouncing Souls in Newark when he was younger and noted that this was the first time in the band's twenty-five year history that they'd ever shared a bill. He had several fans (like me) up front who clapped in time in all the right places and sang along. Even those less familiar with his work looked like they were won over by the end.

The Menzingers took the stage at just about 7:30, I guess. Things went absolutely bonkers in the pit. The band played a full 15-song set; and, almost from the first guitar notes of "I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore," people started cruising overhead into the waiting arms of the beefy security contingent manning the buffer zone. Hey, Brian! Hey, Luke!


Everybody around me sang every word. The LaRocks headed for environs more appropriate for second-graders; and Chris R. disappeared into the fray, fist-pumping and screaming along. I held firm and tried to take some pictures. A few security guys came into the audience to set up a perimeter around the mosh pit, but there was plenty of leakage.


Little did I know that what I'd just experienced was only an amuse-bouche when compared to what was coming for The Bouncing Souls. My December friend from the front directed a couple of guys and me to set up a bro-proof wall around her so that she could enjoy the show in relative peace. I did my best; but, as the band broke into "Hopeless Romantic" after taking the stage at around 8:45, the heave of the much-larger-than-indoors crowd brought me to the realization that my efforts at protection (and picture-taking) would be futile. I did what I could through, I think, "East Coast! Fuck You!" but I beat a path toward the back soon after.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the set. Compared to the eclectic sets the band usually play in December, Saturday's show was a nice greatest hits collection that included "Lean on Sheena," "Manthem," "Lamar Vannoy," a cover of "Do You Wanna Dance," and "True Believers" among others. And I do prefer getting sweaty up front to watching things from a distance, but at some point -- and after a couple of Converse-induced near concussions -- self-preservation comes into play.

The band and The Stone Pony shared a cake in celebration of their respective anniversaries. Family and friends of both were onstage for the entire set. I found the LaRock boys again and we sang along with the rest of the show from a safe distance.

When the show was done, the gates to the street were thrown open and I made a bee-line for the boardwalk and some Korean tacos. As we all walked away we could hear the exhortations from the stage to be respectful to the surrounding community, and I'm sure everyone had no problem abiding by that one.

After tacos, it was over to Asbury Lanes for the after party where a good chunk of the familiar faces from the Pony had made their way. A young man getting ready to ship out for navy bootcamp asked me if I'd seen any of The Bouncing Souls come through. He wanted to get his poster signed before he left home. I pointed him in the direction of Pete Steinkopf. A few minutes later, he came by -- absolutely beaming -- to show me Pete's signature.

Alabama's Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires and local favorites Lost In Society each delivered rowdy and sweaty sets to the big, late-night crowd. Bains was among the crowd, mauled as he shredded away on his SG. Lost In Society's Zack Moyle scaled one of the speaker towers, leaping back down to the stage at the end of his band's set.

It was an uplifting night -- a party from beginning to end that celebrated the thriving music community we have here in our backyard. I'm really happy that -- over the last two-plus years -- I've gotten to know some of the people who work so hard to keep it going. They've all given us a great summer of music so far; and I'm glad that, thanks to The Bouncing Souls, they got a night to celebrate.

You can see my pictures from the night up at Flickr. See you at the next show.

No comments :

Post a Comment