The Ties That Bind
Monday, September 16, 2024 Entry #115
Near the end of every concert, Springsteen bellows out the name of whatever city he is performing in. I had heard it ten previous times in the past 20 months, and The Boss always sounds like he couldn’t be more enthusiastic and proud to be exactly where he is at in the current moment. I must say, however, that Springsteen’s shout-out to Asbury Park at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival on the beach felt like it packed even more punch than usual. There was his trademark exhortation, passion, and joy, but his “Asbury Park!” shout-out on this particular night was also blended with what felt like a uniquely heartfelt sense of awe and triumph. Check out the video and see if you hear it as well.
Asbury Park was proud and triumphant right back. This was a sign seen around town, and it proved to not be a vain hope on this special weekend on the Jersey Shore.
I love this Facebook post by a local who was at the right place (the Saturday night before Springsteen played the festival) at the right time (The Stone Pony in Asbury Park), and excitedly reported in real time as her wishes and those of many others were fulfilled.
The whole thing was just very big news, especially in New Jersey.
Danny Clinch, the rock and roll photographer, Asbury Park gallery owner, and co-founder/co-producer of the Sea.Hear.Now Festival, raved about what all of us blessed to be there had witnessed together (exclamation points are all Danny’s):
“Bruce Springsteen on the beach in Asbury Park, next to the Stone Pony and Madame Marie’s, is insane!!…Happy 75th birthday to Bruce Springsteen (Springsteen’s birthday was only 8 days after the big show)! Thank you for putting together a set list for the ages! Thank you so damn much for sharing it with us all on the beach in Asbury Park at Sea.Hear.Now! It’s a day we will never forget!
Speaking of waxing enthusiastic, I adore this post from E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg’s son Jay. The younger Weinberg has become a rock drummer in his own right, most prominently with the heavy metal band Slipknot. Jay has also sat in for his father a few times with Springsteen and the E Street Band. Just last June at a Springsteen concert in Barcelona, Spain (during the second show; Amy and I were at show #1 a few nights earlier), Jay guest-drummed on “Radio Nowhere.” Here is Jay’s testimony of Springsteen’s festival gig as one who has been around the scene for his entire life.
I guess, after twelve blog posts(!), that (and this cool t-shirt and my Sea.Hear.Now entrance wristband) is all I got to “show and tell” you from Asbury Park, NJ.
I know this is totally “inside baseball,” and probably too self-referential, but when I started writing this Spirit In The Night blog, I was describing events that had actually occurred several months before I posted about them. I had gotten to April, 2023, after many entries about my trip to New York to see two concerts and to take a Springsteen origin tour. After that, I decided to jump forward in time to write about, more or less in the moment and in rapid succession, three Springsteen-fueled experiences: my road trip to Los Angeles (April, 2024), my experience in Barcelona (June, 2024), and the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park (September, 2024).
With all of that awesomeness behind me, my plan going forward is to return to where I left off way back after writing about NYC. I have an outline of Springsteen-related entries that I want to post, including topical essays, personal experiences, and one more Springsteen concert I attended that I have yet to report on here. Those entries will be dated between April 2023 and April 2024.
However, before I “catch up” with myself, I am pretty certain there will be a need for one more important interruption before this year is through.
Thanks so much for paying attention and for following Spirit Of The Night! I love writing these posts so much!
♥️ Reading them!