Stoked for the Summer Weekend, Asbury Park, 8/3 - 8/4, 2018

The Bouncing Souls

Sing Along Forever

I've written here quite a bit lately about my uncertainty over which direction I want to take the site. It's been, admittedly, a bit of a struggle for me to maintain my passion at the level that it's been for the last few years. Some of the reasons behind that should be obvious. As much as I try to keep pushing forward, my head really has never been on quite right for the last eleven months (to the day, actually). My home base of Asbury Park also continues to go through lots of changes, and I don't know how well I'm keeping up with any of it.

But, then, there are weekends like this past weekend. I'm not going to go into a long recap of either the Stoked for the Summer Pre-Party at House of Independents or the main event on the Stone Pony Summer Stage. I do want to point out a few things.

I'm still inspired to a goofy degree by live music. When looking at a roster of 10 bands over the course of 2 shows, I winced a little as I thought about shooting all of that. As usual, though, once I was down in it, everything was right with the world.

I love taking pictures at shows. Staking out a spot early in the evening is a pain. I stress out about whether I'm obstructing anyone's view. My feet start to hurt. I get so spent. I love every minute of it.

Small things, tiny moments of positivity are enough to boost me along for several more months. "I've seen some of your pictures, and they're fucking awesome." "Don't give up, CoolDad. I love reading the stuff at your site." Two things I heard that meant the world to me.

Bacchae at House of Independents

HIRS Collective at House of Independents

I got to see and spend a bit of time with Screaming Females and Titus Andronicus, two of the bands who helped launch CoolDad Music six years ago. DC's Bacchae blew me away as the first band out of the gate at House of Independents. I struggled to keep up with the raging energy from HIRS Collective, but I did my best and got a few shots. I allowed myself to be crushed by the scrum for the first two or three songs from Paint It Black. Against Me! played such a great set on Saturday that I found myself getting kinda choked up as I watched the crowd surging forward and throwing their arms in the air from my vantage point at the edge of the photo pit. The Bouncing Souls filled the stage with friends and family and sent waves of positivity out into the warm summer night. I made some damn good pictures, if I do say so myself.

Give at House of Independents

Screaming Females at House of Independents

Screaming Females at House of Independents

Paint It Black at House of Independents

So, I'll admit that I really don't know what form CoolDad Music is gonna take in the coming months. I'm gonna keep going to shows, though. Singing along. Taking pictures. Discovering new things. I don't think I could give up even if some part of me wanted to. And, after this weekend, I don't want to.

Tim Barry on the Stone Pony Summer Stage

The Smoking Popes on the Stone Pony Summer Stage

Titus Andronicus on the Stone Pony Summer Stage

Against Me! on the Stone Pony Summer Stage

The Bouncing Souls on the Stone Pony Summer Stage

Pictures from all the sets on Friday and Saturday are up in the Flickr galleries.

New Single from Worriers

Worriers at Knitting Factory Brooklyn in February.

"They / Them / Theirs"

Lauren Denitzio's Worriers have something that I really like. I've always been drawn to a politically-charged message wrapped in an accessible package. Billy Bragg took on big issues like war and peace and capitalism on all of those records that I loved throughout my high school and college years. Worriers take a more personal approach.

"They / Them / Theirs" addresses society's construct of the gender binary. "What if I don't want something that applies to me? What if there's no better word than just not saying anything?" and "We are floating between two ends that don't matter." Denitzio takes that very personal feeling and extends it out to kind of ask, "How about treating people like people before we try to put them into a category or a box?" The band deliver that message as a fast-paced piece of pop punk that should have audiences singing it in unison for everyone to hear.

The song is the first single from Worriers' debut full-length, Imaginary Life, which is due on August 7th from Don Giovanni. The album was produced by Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace.

I saw Grace being interviewed by Larry King once. King asked her what it felt like to be in the "wrong body" or something, and her response was something along the lines of, "I never felt like I was in the 'wrong body.' I just felt like me." Her collaboration with Worriers on "They / Them / Theirs" is a great one, and I look forward to hearing the rest of the record.

Worriers have also announced a tour that brings them to our area a few times. They kick things off tomorrow with a show at Brooklyn's Silent Barn that also features Caves, Sundials, and Alice. After a few weeks spent traversing these United States, Worriers come to Starland as part of the IDOBI Meltdown festival on Friday June 26th with Lifetime, The Menzingers, and Laura Stevenson. They close out the tour with a stop at New Brunswick's In The West on June 29th.

Check out "They / Them / Theirs" below.