The RockNRoll Hi-Fives Played Their Two Final New Jersey Shows Ever, 12/27-12/28, 2019

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM in Jersey City

Make It Happen

So, that's it. This past Friday and Saturday, The RockNRoll Hi-Fives -- the father / mother / daughter / son rock music powerhouse -- played their last-ever shows in the state where the band was born. Two of the best rock and roll cities in New Jersey, maybe in the world, got doused in confetti and loving vibes as The RockNRoll Hi-Fives bid farewell to their friends and fans with shows at Asbury Park Yacht Club and FM Jersey City.

In Asbury, the band were joined by Mulch (who cover Dentist's catalog so well, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Mulch and Dentist are the same band). At FM, Well Wisher, Shithead's Rainbow, and WAVE helped with the send-off. Fittingly, Dancing Tony Susco, who gave The RockNRoll Hi-Fives, their first-ever gig, booked the show at FM. At both venues, confetti and glitter covered the floor and the audience by the end of the night. There were hugs and maybe some tears but no sadness. Everyone the Centenos reached through their music and exuberance over the last five years is happier for the experience, and that's something you just can't shake.

Mulch

Mulch

WAVE

WAVE

Shithead's Rainbow

Shithead's Rainbow

Well Wisher

Well Wisher

As far as CoolDad Music is concerned, The RockNRoll Hi-Fives have been one of the most important bands to this site over the last five years. I received a package containing the band's first EP, Make It Happen, and a bio / press release written by good pal, Michael VM, back in 2014. I listened to the music expecting to hear songs about rainbows and the ABCs. Instead, I heard a blend of power pop, punk, and indie rock that would appeal to fans of any age, and I was floored. The band tell me that I was the first site ever to write about their music, and I still remember Joe Centeno telling me that he couldn't wait for the kids to get home from school so they could see that they'd gotten a review online.

Later, The RockNRoll Hi-Fives would open the 2014 Little Dickman Records / CoolDad Music Holiday Benefit making them the first-ever band on the first-ever show I had a hand in booking. They would play that same event the following year, and it was there that they debuted Joe's trademark cape. The RockNRoll Hi-Fives opened the CoolDadMusic Fifth Anniversary show in 2017, upstairs at Asbury Park's Convention Hall.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

Personally, one of the greatest things ever to come out of running this mid-life crisis project I call a blog is the friendship I've developed with Joe, Gloree, Eilee, and Evren Centeno. I still have the setlist from the show they played with A Giant Dog three days after my brother died, and the fact that they dedicated their set to my family and me from the stage during one of their most important shows up to that point is something for which I'll always be thankful. They've already opened their new home in North Carolina to me on multiple occasions. Late-night IM sessions with Joe have become part of my regular weekend post-show wind down. Our travels together through Japan -- from all the shows to eating Mexican food in an Osaka office tower to climbing on foot to the Nunobiki Herb Gardens in Kobe -- are some of my fondest memories.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives have one, final show remaining on their calendar. It's on January 11th at Reggie's in Wilmington, in their adopted home state of North Carolina. Even after they decided to pack it in as a live act, in true RockNRoll Hi-Fives' fashion, they couldn't turn down a request from a good friend to play just one more time.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at FM

If you missed out on The RockNRoll Hi-Fives during their run, you missed something great. But it's still possible to take inspiration from the band. There are few better things in this world than sharing what you love with those you love. If you do that, you can't help but send some excess good vibes out into the universe. When Eilee shot those confetti cannons out into audiences, the band were showering entire crowds with love and positivity. People took that home with them, took it to work with them on Monday morning; and the world was a little bit better for it. We can all do something similar in our own lives. I'm sure of it. Just stick to the plan and make it happen.

Pics:

APYC, 12/27/19
FM, 12/28/19

Jersey City and Asbury Park with The RockNRoll Hi-Fives, Lost Boy ?, NO ICE, Vacation, Resounding No, Daddies, and The Vansaders, 8/16 & 8/18, 2018

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

Home and Away

This past weekend was a big one in terms of New Jersey shows. I'm only one person, so I always have to make choices. Ever since Rose Lamela started contributing here, though, I've had the opportunity to squeeze in coverage of a few things I would otherwise miss. On Thursday night, we were both in Jersey City. Rosi hit Monty Hall for Vacation, Daddies, and Resounding No; while I made it over to FM for the first of two homecoming shows for The RockNRoll Hi-Fives. That one also featured a solo performance from Lost Boy ?'s Davey Jones as well as NO ICE.

CoolDad Music hosted the second Hi-Fives show at Asbury Park Yacht Club on Saturday. We got help that night from a huge post-Gaslight Anthem crowd and the always amazing Vansaders.

But first, Thursday...

Here's Rosi.

Thursday Trio

Thursdays have been my Fridays for most of the summer as I get some nice perks at my day job. Last week was the end of that, and the feeling that summer is coming to an end was getting me down. There is nothing like a three-band line up at Monty Hall to cheer you up after a case of the end of the summer blues.

What could possibly cheer me up? Getting to see Daddies, Resounding No, and Vacation was all I needed to feel like I can take on the rest of the year.

Daddies gave us a little bit of their garage punk antics and even featured back up singers for a few tunes.

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Resounding No brought me back to a more pensive place with their crunchy grunge sound.

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Vacation was the final push for me to get back to where I wanted to be. They absolutely rocked Monty Hall. There were times I was scared I might get hit in the head with a plastic Fireball bottle, but it wouldn't have taken me out of the refreshed mood I inhabited as I shared my last summer week with a gang of rock misfits. It's the little notes and beats in life that get us moving on to what is ahead even if it's the possibility of a cold dreary winter.

Vacation by Rose Lamela

Vacation by Rose Lamela

Vacation by Rose Lamela

I absolutely feel what Rosi is saying there. For me, personally, there really are very few downer type emotions that a live show can't cure for at least a few hours. That's what it was like at FM in Jersey City on Thursday night.

Davey Jones of Lost Boy ? performed new songs from his upcoming Paranoid Fiction. He sang to tracks that he'd recorded, produced, and played every instrument on and did not lose a single step as a frontperson without a band.

Lost Boy ?

Lost Boy ?

It had been about two months since I'd seen The RockNRoll Hi-Fives as they'd been on a nationwide tourcation. Among friends, they played loose and relaxed, filling in the spaces between songs with stories from tour. I can't tell you how good it felt to see and rock with them again.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

NO ICE closed out the evening. They are one of the most fun bands out of Brooklyn right now. They can write a damn rock song, and the people who stuck around late all sang along.

NO ICE

NO ICE

That whole show was love, friendship, and smiles all around -- a real escape from whatever could have been eating at you for the rest of the week.

I spent Friday with friends and family as we geared up for the show at Asbury Park Yacht Club on Saturday night.

With a sold-out Summer Stage show and Ted Leo and The Pharmacists over at The New Legendary Asbury Lanes, Asbury was hopping. We'd had a few storms, so the temperature was coming down to a comfortable level; but, once I finally found parking and made my way inside APYC, I realized that the heat and humidity from earlier in the day would be hovering in the bar for the entire night. This turned out to be the hottest show I've ever attended (with, maybe, the exception of Lost Boy ?'s Goose Wazoo release show at Shea a couple years back).

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives took the stage just as the place was starting to pack out following The Gaslight Anthem. They brought it, even in the face of crushing heat. Confetti flew everywhere; and I was right in the line of fire. My sweat dissolved the colored tissue paper into pink, purple, and blue tattoos on my skin.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

I'd been trying to book the Hi-Fives on a bill with The Vansaders for a while, and the fact that it finally came together for Saturday's show was probably the best possible outcome. The Vansaders are a Damn. Good. Band. Great songs. Full of emotion. They deserve to be big.

The Vansaders

The Vansaders

The Vansaders

When the music ended, the crowd was sopping wet. I had purple rectangles on my face, pink squares on my arms. We filed out onto the boards and took in the cool, beach air. Again, the music and community made us all forget the heat and any other negative energy for a little while.

This wasn't only a homecoming show for The RockNRoll Hi-Fives. It was also a going away party of sorts. The band have relocated their base of operations to North Carolina, and Saturday's was their last show as residents of New Jersey. It was a pretty emotional night in that way. If you've been a reader here for the last little while, then you know that the Centenos are family to us here, and we'll miss having them close by. They're Jersey through and through, though; so we'll get plenty of opportunities to see them when their need for real bagels and real pizza gets the best of them (like 9/8 at the 4th Annual Bond St. Block Party in Asbury or 9/30 at The Hoboken Arts & Music Festival).

If thoughts of the end of summer or back to work or back to school or maybe missing your friends start to get you down, head out to a show and feel happy. It really has a way of changing your perspective and putting a positive spin on the world.

All of the pics from the weekend by Rosi and me are up at our Flickr galleries.

One of Those Weekend Round Ups Featuring The Brixton Riot, Dentist, The RockNRoll HiFives, L.A. Witch, Honduras, Lyons, Pink Mexico, Waxahatchee, and Ought

Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield

Full Weekend

This past weekend will go down as one of the absolute best I've experienced show-wise in a long time. I got to spend lots of time hanging out with friends while seeing some great bands. I went and checked out New Jersey's newest concert venue. I took and edited a whole bunch of pictures, which is why I'm so late getting this recap posted today (well, that and the weird power brownout we had here for about 4 hours).

On Friday night, CoolDad Music sponsored the release show for The Brixton Riot's latest album, Close Counts at Asbury Park Yacht Club. We had our friends in Dentist and The RockNRoll HiFives on the bill, and all three bands delivered big time.

The confetti flew on Friday night.

The Brixton Riot

The RockNRoll HiFives kicked things off; and, even after a full day of work and school, their energy level was off the charts. The floor of APYC was a sea of confetti following their set. The Brixton Riot's Close Counts is song after song of expert power pop, and the band brought all of that great, tight songcraft to their set. Dentist shared some new material, and it sounds like some of their best so far. I'm really looking forward to hearing what they've been doing in the studio. Beyond just the music, though, the show felt like a real party; and it was fantastic to have CoolMom, the Dickmans, Mint 400, and all the bands there to celebrate.

Dentist

Saturday brought a show I'd been looking forward to for what felt like months. Little Dickman Records assembled a bill at The Saint that featured L.A. Witch, Honduras, Pink Mexico, and Lyons. Asbury turned out in force for the show, and the people who were there saw a good one. The sound at The Saint is top-notch, especially with Hinge at the board on Saturday nights. Pink Mexico took full advantage of it and shook all the dust from the ceiling during their set. Lyons played to an enthusiastic crowd of friends and brought out some new material of their own. Honduras are like some kind of psychedelic post-punk combo and BLEW. ME. AWAY. L.A. Witch closed things out in almost total darkness with reverb-heavy, psych rock vibes.

Pink Mexico

Lyons

Honduras

L.A. Witch

A quick stop over to Bond St. Bar to wish a happy birthday to Dentist's Emily Bornemann turned into a not-so-quick stop. It's okay, though, because we gained an hour; and I got home at a semi-reasonable time.

Come Sunday, I was pretty spent. Kind of a weird day in general with the whole reversion back to Eastern Standard Time thing. CoolFamily ate dinner at around 4:30 because we were going by the kitchen clock which nobody had bothered to adjust. That worked out because I had one more show to get to for the weekend, and it was all the way up in Jersey City. I'd be heading up to the brand new White Eagle Hall for Waxahatchee and Ought.

White Eagle Hall is a beautiful venue. Kind of a cross between something like Bowery Ballroom / Music Hall of Williamsburg and WARSAW. Lots of space. Good sound. Food. Access to the bars didn't seem too bad. It also had really nice stage lighting, which always makes me happy. Security were a little weird about wanting to maintain a "buffer zone" between the audience and the edge of the stage. Everybody was relatively laid back, though, so it wasn't really a problem. Looking forward to the next time I can make it up there.

I've been a fan of Katie Crutchfield's Waxahatchee project since its lo-fi, bedroom beginnings on American Weekend. The band has evolved quite a bit since then with the latest record, Out in the Storm, being the most polished and -- I think -- most consistent. I've seen Waxahatchee / Katie Crutchfield in various live incarnations over the years, but it's been a while. On Sunday, I saw a set honed by years of touring and performing. Crutchfield and her band have really taken things to another level performance-wise, and the set touched on most of Waxahatchee's back catalog as well as the new material. There were moments of all-out rock and moments when it was just Crutchfield, her amazing voice, and her guitar.

Katie and Allison Crutchfield

Katie's sister, Allison, is part of the Waxahatchee touring band playing keys and guitar. The pair's voices play off of each other beautifully.

Post-punk band Ought opened the evening and turned in a pretty amazing set of their own. It reminded me how much I liked 2014's More Than Any Other Day, and I spent most of today listening to that. The band have another LP coming out early next year, and people in the audience already seemed pretty familiar with single "These 3 Things."

Ought

So, what is that? Nine bands over three days? Kinda crazy I guess, but I've been happily reliving it all by going through the pictures today. You can check those out in the Flickr galleries or on the Facebook page. I thought briefly about making it four nights in a row by heading out again tonight, but I am totally exhausted. Live to fight another day, I guess.