Tacocats, Dudes York, Sharkmuffins, Primitive Finkses, and Zombies, Asbury Park, 10/1/16

Saturday, Asbury Park, I Think It Was the First of October

Rainy, lazy weekend. I'd been feeling kind of under the weather, and the weather hadn't been helping. I decided to get off my ass, though, and head down to Asbury Park and get some pictures of the 2016 Zombie Walk.

The amount of available parking at around 3pm was pretty amazing to me. I guess the weather kept some people away. There were plenty of zombies prepping by their cars and milling through the Grand Arcade as I made my way over to Beach Bar to catch a bit of Philly surf band, The Primitive Finks. First, though, I stopped by Anchor's Bend to say hi to my friend, Johnny Frana.

Johnny

The Primitive Finks wear rubber monster masks even when it's not the Zombie Walk, so they fit right in with the day's overall theme.

The Primitive Finks

Then, I moved out to the boardwalk to get some shots of zombies. There were lots of people taking pictures.

Jeff Crespi

...and some pretty cool costumes.

I headed back home to fuel up before Saturday night's show at Wonder Bar featuring Tacocat, Dude York (both from Seattle), and Sharkmuffin. The show struck me as a real "Lanes Show" (something I'll probably have to stop thinking now that we've been without Asbury Lanes for a full year), so I was kind of worried what the turnout would be like at Wonder Bar. The overall party atmosphere of the day and the strength of the bill, though, seemed to generate a good amount of walk-up business, which was cool.

Sharkmuffin were playing their first-ever set at Wonder Bar and were impressive. I've really enjoyed watching how they've become part of our little scene here in Asbury Park, playing and supporting local shows while bringing some new faces into the crowds. Our buds from Little Dickman -- local stalwarts -- were there, of course; but so were some of Sharkmuffin's family, Brooklyn friends, and Little Dickman label mates. Just lots of warmth and fun.

Sharkmuffin

I wasn't familiar with Seattle's Dude York before Saturday, but they honestly kind of blew me away. Guitarist Peter Richards and bassist Claire England traded off on lead vocal duties as the band powered through a set of catchy, heavy pop rock. At the end of the set, Richards went audience member to audience member to let everyone who wanted take a turn screaming into the mic.

Dude York

Tacocat, whose album Lost Time has been a favorite of mine this year, brought their tongue-in-cheek approach to some pretty serious issues to what ended up being a relatively packed house. Singer / lead tambourinist, Emily Nokes, is a charismatic emcee, punctuating every beat to every song with her dance moves. She and the rest of the band churn out fun, poppy, punky songs about street harassment, mansplaining, menstruation, girls who love horses, and Dana Scully while the whole crowd bops along.

Tacocat's song "Bridge to Hawaii," which deals with the seasonal affective disorder that can creep up on residents of Seattle, and Peter Richards's "Capitol Hill" button from earlier in the night had me thinking wistfully of all the great moments CoolMom and I had together back when we were living in Seattle in the 1990s.

Tacocat

Just an overall great day and night in Asbury Park. Today is the one-year anniversary of the closure of our beloved Asbury Lanes, and it truly sucks that it's gone. It's easy to get caught up in looking backwards. I do it plenty. But there are still chances to make great memories if you look past the corporate bullshit and the scene bullshit and just focus on the music and, most of all, the people you love.

All the pics from the day are over at the Facebook page and in the Flickr galleries.