Never say never. Nobody has officially told us that tonight will be our last chance to host shows inside the iconic Asbury Park carousel house, but we have nothing else planned. I'm hearing that the pop up shops and retailers proposed for that space have been approved by the city. That's all very cool. A unique and beautiful space like the carousel house needs to be used, especially in the summer time. If this ends up being our final show there, I'm fine with it. Let's just make it a party.
As a kid in the 70s and 80s, I'd go to the boardwalks in Long Branch and Asbury Park with my family and our neighbors. Long Branch, as I remember it, had a midway complete with Skee Ball, a waterslide, and the Haunted Mansion. My brother cried like a baby in the Haunted Mansion. Asbury Park had Howard Johnson's, Palace Amusements, and a carousel. That stuff was all probably pretty run down even when I was a kid, but it all represents a different time -- when the beach and the boardwalk were a little more "honky tonk" than they are now -- to me.
Whenever I see the carousel building from the outside, I think about those times; and they run through my mind looking like an old VHS tape or something. I see myself in those really short polyester jogging shorts with the piping around the edges and tube socks pulled up to my knees. I see the dark interior of Palace Amusements, and I see everybody's 70s and 80s hair.
All three times we've hosted shows inside the carousel house so far have made me think about how lucky we all are to live in a place with so much natural beauty and so much history. It's just cool, you know?
And tonight will be really cool. We have three great bands coming to play inside the iconic structure. It's free and family-friendly and a great way to kick off your summer.
Lowlight are an Asbury Park band who are kind of country, but kind of not. Renee Maskin is a fantastic songwriter, and the rest of the band have some serious chops. They call on influences as varied as Bob Dylan and prog rock to tell stories of wandering and whiskey.
Conor Meara's Roy Orbitron put out a beautiful and heartfelt album, Girls' Boyfriends, earlier this year. The Bordentown group are hard to classify, bouncing among Americana, rock, folk, and whatever sounds happen to work for the story at hand. But what comes through is an honesty, coupled with a biting sense of humor, that draws you in.
Roy Orbitron - Swimmer's Ear from Kevin Kelly on Vimeo.
Brooklyn's Looms pull together rock, jazz, pop, electronic, country, you name it into a style that's just unpredictable in a live setting. Great musicians with a tendency to improvise, Looms never play the same set twice. It's their first time in Asbury Park, so let's give them a warm welcome.
So bring the family. Get some dinner or some ice cream in Asbury Park, and then head over to the carousel to see the show. Doors open at 7pm, and it's free.
This could be our last one. Unless it isn't. But let's pretend that it is and make this one a blowout. See you tonight.
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