Trying to keep four walls from doing their worst.

Hmm... since my miserable Wednesday night, what have I been getting into? Then I'm going to attack my first topic in a very roundabout way. Pat made some crazy suggestion about Asbury Park, NJ and the declining something, and the building of stuff, and other things I'm not totally processing. Instead, I'm going to recap the top 3 shows I've seen in Asbury Park, NJ over the past 10+ years I've lived on the East Coast. Believe you me, children... this one isn't going to be easy. I'm going to list them in no particular order, because I think once I narrow it down to 3 shows, placing them 1 through 3 would be more difficult then the initial process of weeding out. However, the best show and one of the most bittersweet perfect nights of my life were spent in Asbury Park, NJ. I will always think of that November night when ever I think about live music, friends, or NJ. On with the show(s)...

The Cramps/Bouncing Souls/Blanks 77. 2/6/1998. Stone Pony.

This was my first Asbury Park show. My first NJ show, and the only time I would ever see the Cramps. Lux Interoir passed away this year, so the chances of seeing the Cramps again are beyond slim, and right next door to none. Blanks 77 started off the show with their fast, drunk and fun brand of 1977 style punkrock. They played mostly songs off of their first record Killer Blanks and a few songs off of their (at the time) upcoming record Tanked and Pogoed. The first time I saw the Blanks was at a ballet studio above a record store in Duluth, MN in 1996. I picked up their demo tape at that show (with the Quincy Punx) and fell in love with music right around that time. I remember being at that show and everyone who walked in through their painted/studded leather jackets in a huge pile. In my mind, that pile was like a small mountain, but thinking logically about it, it couldn't have been more than 25 jackets. Anyhow, I'm off topic.

Next to play that night was The Bouncing Souls. This would be the first time I'd seen the Souls in their home town, and it was shortly after the release of Maniacal Laughter. It was fantastic. They ripped through most of the perviously mentioned record, and played songs off of The Good The Bad and the Argyle.

The Cramps were next, and the room was really hot, and really crazy for a February night by the ocean. They exhausted their catalog and put on a pretty amazing show. I wasn't so into this band at the beginning of the night, but by the end of the night I was hooked, and proceeded to gobble up their back catalog in the years that followed this show. What a cool introduction to NJ, and punkrock on the East Coast.

Teenage Bottlerocket/The Unlovables/Psyched To Die/The Jurks Asbury Lanes. 10/22/2008.

The Bouncing Souls, living in Asbury Park, NJ worked with some local kids and opened up a bowling alley/show space on 4th street in Asbury Park. As of this show I had been there many times, but the gist of the place is a bar/bowling alley/show space. It's all ages, and embodies everything that should be about a safe fun place for kids and adults to hang out and see live music. Every major city should have a venue like this. The first time I was there, I knew that I was in the middle of something special that would be talked about and thought about for the rest of my life.

The Jurks were terrible. Case and point. I'd debate this all day long. They were awful. Next.

Psyched To Die played the 4 songs off of their recently released demo. Mike from the Ergs! plays in Psyched To Die and I was looking forward to hearing what the new project would sound like. They're more in the vein of early to mid 80's hardcore mixing elements from both the East and West Coast scenes. The set couldn't have been more than 10 minutes, and they didn't stop from the first count off to the last note.

New York City's The Unlovables played next. Mike Erg, once again playing double duty for the night, played drums for the band. They played songs off of both LP's and their early EP. I never got to see this band when Chelsea was sharing vocal duties with Hallie, but the early stuff reflects that their voices formed an almost perfect union.

Teenage Bottlerocket was next. They had just released Warning Device and the set was very heavy on that. They played a few tunes off of their 2nd release Total and at my request played One Helluva Party from Sack's (Kody's "party band") Get Wrecked. The atmosphere at this show was unbeatable, and by the end of the night I was ready to do some sleeping after some tough drinking at the Lanes bar... which I'm thinking heavily involved the keg of Pabst kept in the corner behind the bar.

The Ergs!/The Ergs!/The Ergs! - Asbury Lanes - 11/15/2008

The Ergs! came from South Amboy NJ and played pop punk songs... about girls, and everything else. They were excellent musicians, quality entertainers, and great guys. In November of last year they played their last two shows to a sold out Asbury Lanes. Friends from all over the world flew/drove in to Philadelphia and New York to be there for this night. We took full advantage of the evening and had the time of our lives. Tons of beer, sweat, high fives, hugs, butthole punches, and smiles graced the evening, and I wish that I lived with these friends and for this music for the rest of my life. We started the night before with the Ergs! last Philadelphia show, and went to an after party in Roxbourough. That night gets a little hazy, but I remember waking up on the couch bed, next to Jon and Dave and hearing nothing but a chorus of snores and disrupted breathing as we all tried to sleep off the previous nights destruction. We packed into cars and made the 2 hour trip to NJ so we could enjoy the day we'd all been waiting for. The supporting bands for the shows were Lemuria (Buffalo, NY), and Hunchback (NJ). There was a several hour break between shows for people to take a breather, get something to eat, and come back for the night cap. In between shows I went and hung out with my friend Chris from Seattle, who was incredible for his companionship for those hours. I had been going through quite the mess, and was determined to let my bad day start the next day, and not ruin my last night with pop punks finest. We drank some beers, peed in the hotel, and were generally chaotic until it was time to go back to the Lanes for the 2nd show. I was walking from the hotel to the car to put a poster away and I had a can of beer in my hand. I saw a police car approaching and attempted to ditch my beer in a pile of downed tree limbs. Sure enough, he saw me and stopped to talk to me and explain that I can't drink outside in NJ, and I needed to pick up my can before he gave me a ticket for public consumption and littering. I picked up my beer and crushed it in my hands. SLICE. Right into the tip of my middle finger and the blood started to flow. I still have a pretty kick ass reminder scar from this... just one more thing to never allow me to forget this night. I can look at the tip of my finger and instantly think of Rex, Dave, Drew, Brian, Mike, Jaime, The Ergs!, Mick, AllAgesDave throwing up and missing the show, hugging people I knew from the Internet, that overpriced shitty diner, ChrisCrusher and how amazing of a person and friend he is and how cute Sheena is.... off topic... back to it... I kept my "game face" on, thanked him for his kindness and proceeded to the car. I got back to the Lanes in time for the Ergs! to set up and get started. Highlights from this set were Ashley Sugarnotch, If You See Him Again, Pray For Rain, Your Cheated Heart, 1000 Letters... I could go on and on... They ended the night with the epic 17 minute jam Upstairs/Downstairs. The band ended the show by having Hunchback join them on stage to tear through the noisy version of U/D and destroying their instruments. They went out the best way possible. On the way home i threw my red Chuck Taylors out the window. They were filthy, soaked with beer, and I knew they would never see a night as amazing as the one they had just been though. I miss my friends from around the country, and would love to see them again... I'll see them in Baltimore this year, and we'll all share stories about how magical this evening was. This is embarrassing, but as I sit here and write this I'm all choked up with happiness. This was the best show, and best time I've ever had at a show all bottled up in one long, perfect day.

Do yourself a favor... http://www.noidearecords.com/ Pre-order the new Dear Landlord record. They're from Minneapolis, and are a much better band than anyone else wasting time making music right now. Mom, this one might not be up your alley... but, you get a shirt! I love shirts!

I'm gonna do stuff now. Come to think about it, I'm going to listen to the Ergs! now. If Lucy was here, and I was Charlie Brown... she would surely call me a Bloghead. I kill me. Have the best weekend ever, make it better than last weekend, but don't overdo it and ruin next weekend... every weekend needs to be better than the past, but a perfect setup for weekends to come. Get out there and enjoy.

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