Last Weekend with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freaksgiving, and BOYTOY, 11/16-11/19/17

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Freaky Weekend

I've wanted to summarize how amazing last weekend was for a few days now, but half days for the kids and a pretty nasty back problem have been distracting me. Here are some quick notes on the weekend that was before we head into the holiday.

Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain

On Thursday, I got to shoot The Jesus and Mary Chain at The Stone Pony; and it was awesome. I think, if you discount bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Smiths are two of the bands who are responsible for most of the sounds I currently love. The wall-of-sound, reverb, and fuzz of The Jesus and Mary Chain are things in which I can always lose myself, and Thursday was no different. Being right up front, in the photo pit for "April Skies" and "Head On" has to be a 2017 highlight for me.

Mark Crozer and The Rels

Thursday's openers (JMC bassist) Mark Crozer and The Rels did a set of immensely enjoyable power pop. Guitarist Shawn Lynch took the time to say hi to me before their set and spoke briefly about how much The Rels were enjoying their weeklong run with The Jesus and Mary Chain.

On Saturday, the cooldaughters each had separate swim meets in separate parts of NJ. CoolMom and I had to do some juggling to make sure everyone was covered while giving me time to make it over to Asbury Park Brewery for our Freaksgiving: A Friendsgiving Fuzz Fest.

The RockNRoll HiFives

Dentist's Emily Bornemann and Yawn Mower. Do the robot.

The evening at the brewery was a beautiful experience with some of our best friends -- Dentist, The RockNRoll HiFives, and Yawn Mower -- doing great sets. For The RockNRoll HiFives, it was their 100th show. I've seen a good chunk of those; and it dawned on me later that The RockNRoll HiFives played the first show CoolDad Music ever presented back in 2014. All three bands are like family around here, and it was amazing to have everybody sharing the evening with us.

Winner of Miss Lady Luck

Outer Limits Beard Winner

The Garden State Beard and Mustache Society were the show's main organizers and held their 6th Annual Beard and 'Stache Competition between sets. Also presenting were the fine folks at Little Dickman Records who do so much to keep Asbury interesting. The evening was a benefit for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and, thanks to everyone's efforts, we raised nearly $1000 to help fund the research and community building done by that organization. Not bad for a $5 show.

BOYTOY with The Off White's Matty Beans

Von Mons

The Tide Bens w/ Colin Carhart jimmy-jangling

Speaking of Little Dickman Records and all they do, on Sunday night, the label threw a show at The Saint featuring The Off White, Von Mons, The Tide Bends, and BOYTOY. We had more swim meet stuff at home until the evening, so I walked in just after The Off White had finished. I love those guys, and they always bring it. Sad to have missed them. All of the other bands, though, were great. It had been a while since I'd seen the touring machine that is BOYTOY, and they have gotten even better. Some bands just have a charisma and a presence that can draw in a whole audience, and BOYTOY are one of those bands for sure.

It was a busy, tiring weekend for the books. I'm pretty sure all of the activity has something to do with my current back problems, but I'll take it. My back will get better, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss anything.

Pics from the whole weekend are up in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page.

Friday and Saturday at APYC with Dentist, The Battery Electric, Lost Boy ?, Sharkmuffin, and Von Mons, 8/7-8/8/15

The Battery Electric played to a wild APYC on Friday.

To Old Friends and New

CoolMom's baby sister is visiting us this weekend with her family. Our nephew is an 18-month old ball of non-stop energy. He is the cutest kid I've seen in a very long time, super smart, and absolutely 110% at all times. I can only imagine how exhausting it is trying to keep up with him 24x7, so I wasn't surprised when my brother-in-law decided to accompany me on Friday for some music and a few beverages as I headed out to see our friends Dentist and The Battery Electric play together at Asbury Park Yacht Club.

Dentist

The Yacht Club has been packed all summer, and Friday was no different. Dentist played with new drummer, Rudy Meier, for the first time and impressed the big crowd. CoolUncle even asked me to put their album on as we were making dinner the next night. The Battery Electric packed the place with their loyal following, and the incongruous site of crowd surfing at APYC happened again.

On Saturday, I ventured out on my own to catch the local record release from new Little Dickman artist Sharkmuffin at APYC. Lost Boy ?, who joined them when they played the carousel house for us last month, opened in their full-band configuration. Both bands were great, Lost Boy ? delivering their frenetic garage pop and Sharkmuffin's Tarra Thiessen engaging in some significant crowd interaction by singing and dancing among the audience for much of the set. Local garage rock virtuosos, Von Mons, closed things out with two sets of covers and originals.

Lost Boy ?

Sharkmuffin

Von Mons

It was two amazing nights of music. I got to spend time with some good friends, while making some new ones. My brother-in-law got turned onto Dentist and The Battery Electric. Lots of Sharkmuffin's North Jersey and Brooklyn friends came down on Saturday, and I heard a lot of remarks about what a cool thing we have going in Asbury Park. The little guy did wake up super early both mornings after, but he gets a pass. He's cute and will make a great frontman someday if he keeps that energy level.

All the pics I took (messed a lot with flash) from both nights are in the Flickr galleries.

King Khan and The Shrines Played Asbury Lanes w/ Red Mass and The Von Mons, 6/8/14 (PHOTOS)

Without a Helmet

Sometimes you have a moment that just makes something click. I've talked quite a bit here about the fact that the first post on this blog was a review of the Titus Andronicus / Screaming Females / Diarrhea Planet show at The Stone Pony back in March of 2012. That was a great night, and I love all of those bands.

Then, about a month later, CoolDaughter #1 and I went to see Bruce Springsteen at The Izod Center. We won the lottery and got spots right up against the stage. She grabbed Bruce's boots and sang into his mic. I even got a little choked up at being so close to one of my heroes -- so close that I got to help hoist him back up onto the stage as he surfed back from the rear of the crowd. It's an experience that I will never forget.

But, if I'm being honest, the moment that really set me on the path to what I've been doing here for the last two-plus years was when that can of PBR landed on my head at the last King Khan and The Shrines show at Asbury Lanes. I can't remember the last time I'd been to the Lanes before that; but, at that second, as a half-full can of beer bounced off the top of my head, something happened. I realized that there is an amazing world of music happening right in our own backyard -- both touring acts and excellent local bands. As King Khan made his way through the crowd and the lights came up that night, the sweat poured off of me; my head ached a little; and I rode a high like nothing I'd experienced in a very long time.

That's what I was thinking about as I walked into Asbury Lanes last night to see King Khan and His Sensational Shrines once again. There was the great local band, The Von Mons. Like King Khan and his tourmates Red Mass, The Von Mons play pure garage rock and roll. They decked the stage with kitschy props and had the crowd moving, even in the pre-summer, non-air conditioned Lanes.

Montreal's Red Mass, a musical collective led by Roy "Choyce" Vucino that cites as many as 60 contributors, performed as a quartet last night. They dripped sweat along with much of the crowd throughout their set. The band's bass player eventually removed his shirt, revealing a pair of f-hole tattoos designed to make him look like a cello or, more likely, a hollow-body guitar.

The Shrines took the stage and vamped as guitarist, Mr. Speedfinger, called out an introduction for the King. It was an impostor that took the stage first and did an amiable job on the first verse or so of the opening song. The real King Khan eventually took his place and launched into a set of psychedelic soul that sent the crowd at the front of the stage into convulsions of dancing and gyrating.

Over the course of the 90-minute set, keyboardist, Fredovitch, hoisted his instrument above his head several times. Band members climbed down from the stage and moved among the crowd, shaking tambourines, blowing a sax. Khan talked of sex, drugs, and childhood run-ins with the law. We screamed; we got down on our knees; we exploded off the floor.

For the encore, Khan emerged in purple spangled shorts, a wig, and a cape. A trio of masked accomplices joined him -- a rat, a goat, and a donkey. Fredovitch stripped down to a pair of bright red briefs on stage. Khan dangled his mic over the crowd like a fishing line. And then it was done.

We filed out into the night; and the cool air, smelling of the ocean, felt wonderful. I was smiling, riding that same high again. It's different for different people. Some people love jazz or hip hop or country or folk or opera or classical music. For me, it's a communal rock show like last night at the Lanes.

It's been a little bit less than two years since King Khan nailed my noggin with that PBR. Before that, I probably hadn't thought much about Asbury Lanes. I've been to A LOT of shows since then -- all over Asbury, Manhattan, Brooklyn, LA, Albuquerque.  Last night, though, I sat on the steps of Asbury Lanes before the show started and snapped a picture of the cracked bowling pin sign that hangs outside for the CoolDad Music Instagram. I captioned it, "Home away from home?"

Here are some pics of King Khan and His Sensational Shrines. There are more up at Flickr, and watch this space for pics of the other bands.