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Archive for the ‘Asbury Lanes’ Category

The Lemon Twigs / Brute Force (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 13, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Brute Force, The Lemon Twigs on August 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 13, 2026] The Lemon Twigs / Brute Force

I really liked The Lemon Twigs’ Do Hollywood album and their follow up EPs showed even more development.  Since then they have put out a few albums, and I have enjoyed them.  Their sound has changed over the years and they are very settled in a kind of 60s pop vibe.  They are excellent at it, but it’s not quite what I loved from them.  I finally got to see them open for Car Seat Headrest and they were great.  I definitely wanted to go to this show and up until the last minute I was considering going.  But since I was going out the following two nights and my son was leaving for Europe in a few days, I figured I’d stay home.

I think my wife would really like them, so maybe next time they come around I’ll drag her along.

I can’t believe that I have never heard of Brute Force–look at this bio:

Stephen Friedland (born September 29, 1940), known as Brute Force, is a singer and songwriter who attended Asbury Park High School,. He wrote and performed with The Tokens in the 1960s and wrote songs for Peggy March, Del Shannon, The Chiffons and The Cyrkle, and others.  Brute Force may be best known for a song that barely saw a release. Written by Friedland and produced by The Tokens, “The King of Fuh” is a story about a monarch in the land of Fuh referred repeatedly to as the “Fuh King”. John Lennon admired the record; so did George Harrison, who acquired the track and overdubbed eleven strings of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, arranged by John Barham. It soon became obvious that neither EMI nor Capitol Records would distribute the single, so Apple Records pressed and distributed 1,000 copies (catalog number Apple 08) in 1969. After the initial Apple pressing (and no radio play), Friedland teamed up with Jeff Cheen and issued the tune on his own Brute Force Records label (b/w “Tapeworm Of Love”, which later received airplay on the Dr. Demento radio show).

He played that song and many other funny songs.

Now I rather wish I had gone.

 

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Pollyanna / Little Hag / father’s daughter (Baronet Rooftop at the Asbury Hotel, Asbury Park, NJ, July 30, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Baronet Rooftop at the Asbury Hotel, father's daughter, Little Hag, Pollyanna on July 30, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 30, 2026] Pollyanna / Little Hag / father’s daughter

Two years ago, Pollyanna played a show at this very venue.  But our vacation wound up being this week.  So no Pollyanna, yet again.  This was actually the 6th time that I’d failed to see them. I was planning on going out the following night and then we were off to vacation, so it felt like a bad idea to head out to Asbury Park on a July night.

Fortunately, they are playing a show in October.  I hope I still like them by then.

Little Hag is a from Asbury Park.  They opened for Blvck Hippie back in May and I wished that I havd been abe to get to that show for all of the bands, but especially Little Hag.  They formed in 2016 in the suburbs of central Jersey by Avery Mandeville, guitarist Matt “Fern” Fernicola and drummer Owen Flanagan; joined in recent years by bassist Mitchell Warren-Devlin and keyboardist/vocalist Cara Introcaso.   Narc Magazine says “fans of opinionated, unflinchingly explicit, female-led punk rock should jump straight into this one.”  Musically they’re a bit softer than one might expect with more synth than feedback.  But the lyrics to Show Me Your Head alone make them worth checking out

Remind rich men that they’re ugly
Remind rich men that they will always be ugly
Remind rich men that we hate them
Remind rich men that we can and will kiss them

Mark, show me your head
Elon, show me your head
Jeff, show me your head
I want to put a hole in it
Donald, show me your head
JD, show me your head
Ben, show me your head
I want to put a hole in it

father’s daughter lists themselves as “your dad’s new favorite band.”  I can’t find much out about them, but they are from New Jersey and have two songs out.  Kind of a shoegazey/heavy vibe with restrained vocals that I really like.  I hope they play around the area, I’d like to check them out.

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Rx Bandits / Catbite (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, July 18, 2026 // Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Catbite, Philadelphia, PA, Rx Bandits, Union Transfer on July 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 18 & 19, 2026] Rx Bandits / Catbite

Two years ago Rx Bandits played a show at Asbury Lanes and the following night at Union Transfer.  I was not familiar with Rx Bandits when they announced this show.  Indeed the only reason I was interested in at all was because Zeta was announced as the opener.

So I went to the Asbury Lanes show and really enjoyed them a lot.  I liked the music and I found the band members charming and entertaining.  There were people at the show ho were major diehard fans, and I felt a bit like poser, but I enjoyed myself.

I did seriously consider going to these shows, too.  The Asbury Lanes one didn’t work because I had been to two shows in a row before this one.  But I did think I might make the Union Transfer show (it would have been interesting to see them on a much bigger stage).  But as tends to happen, things got hectic and I wound up never buying a ticket.  So I stayed home.

Maybe in three years they’ll tour the Mandala album as well.

I saw Catbite open for Fishbone in April and really enjoyed their old school ska.  The venue I saw them in was really small and it would have been fun to see that in a larger, hometown venue.  But they’re not going anywhere and I’m sure I’ll be able to see them again.

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An Evening with Geordie Greep (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, June 6, 2026) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Geordie Greep on June 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 6, 2026] Geordie Greep

Geordie Greep was one of the vocalists in Black Midi (who are no more and I’m really glad I got to see them when they came to the States).  He’s a fascinating dude with a fascinating voice.  When I saw that he was doing a solo tour, last year, I was really intrigued, but the shows sold out before I found out about them.

There was a show announced at Ardmore Music Hall back in February and I grabbed a ticket and then couldn’t go.  But I knew he was also playing at Asbury Lanes, so I grabbed a ticket for this show.

And, as seems to happen in my house, a miscommunication meant that I was unable to get to this one as well.  I assume at this point that I’ll never see him because surely he’s going back home by now.

 

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Momma / Narrow Head (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 22, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Momma, Narrow Head on November 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 22, 2025] Momma / Narrow Head

I saw Momma back in May and really enjoyed their set a lot.  They play the kind of music that I just love–female fronted alt/grungy stuff.  When they announced this show in Asbury I was really sure I wanted to go.  I mean, they were great when I saw them last time and I think they only get better each time.

Plus, I suspect that their next album will show them growing their sound more.  I imagine they’ll be expanding their sound some. So the next time they tour, it will be for a new album and they won’t play these songs as much.  But sometimes things come up and seeing a band you just saw six months ago isn’t as important.

This was, apparently a double headline show with Narrow Head whom I’ve never heard of.  Turns out they did a split single with Momma.  They are from Dallas and sound a lot like Helmet or Biohazard or some heavy band like that.  They seem like a really odd match for Momma, but it was probably an interesting show.

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Spike and the Gimme Gimmes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Schizophonics, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] Spike and the Gimme Gimmes

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes was a band I knew nothing about but didn’t like, based on their name.  Then I learned that they are a cover band doing punk covers of classic rock songs and I thought their name was actually pretty perfect and I wanted to see them live.   I had a few opportunities but they kept falling through.

And then I saw that the band has changed its name to Spike and the Gimme Gimmes which isn’t as good a name but which apparently makes sense for some reason or another.

The band is made up of a bunch of different people who tour for a while.  Initially the band had a bunch of famous punkers and now it’s made of some less famous (to me) punkers, but they’re still fun as anything.

For this tour the band was Spike Slawson (of Swingin’ Utters and Re-Volts) on vocals and maracas.  He would be the Spike of the band name and has been their lead singer since they started in 1995.  We also had CJ Ramone (of The Ramones) on bass.  Yes and actual Ramone! (He was one of the first people to replace an original Ramone and was much younger than the rest of the band when he joined.  He was a fun guy to have back there.

On one guitar was Joey Cape (of Lagwagon) who has also been with the band since the beginning (I don’t know him).  Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters was in the band, but now his brother, Scott Shiflett (of Face to Face and Viva Death), plays guitar.  And that leaves the drummer–I can’t tell who it was from the Wikipedia page. (more…)

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The Schizophonics (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025) [SPIKE AND THE GIMME GIMMES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Schizophonics, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] The Schizophonics

I had not heard of The Schizophonics before this tour.  I looked them up just to see what their deal was and the reviews universally talked about how amazing the live shows are.

About 15 moinutes after Kate Clover left the stage, three people came on stage wearing black jackets with their names on them (fifties style)–Pat, Lety, Sarah.  They removed the jackets and began playing.

Lety Beers on drums and Sarah Linton on bass are great players–Lety’s drums are perfectly timed and Sarah’s bass is perfect for holding the songs together while Pat … does his thing.

Which is… being everywhere all the time.  Pat Beers sings and plays guitar.  And when he is not singing, he is dancing from one side of the stage to the other–skipping, spinning, dropping, rolling.  He ran down the steps on the side of the stage and ran back up on the stage.  All the while, he was still playing guitar.  Even as he dropped to the ground, did a backwards somersault and got back to his feet, the solo was still going on.  Were the solos intricate?  No.  But did he keep the solos going?  Yes indeed.  He plays guitar with one hand in an astonishingly powerful way.  At times he took his guitar off and held it aloft with his left hand and still played with one hand.

I took so many videos and I don’t think I ever captured the full insanity of his stage presence.

Near the end of the set, he put his mic stand on the floor, jumped down and then hopped the barrier.  He put his mic in the middle of the floor and then proceeded to sing and play and run around like a one-man mosh pit.  Even on the floor of the venue, he dropped to his knees, rolled on his back and almost crashed into everyone.  He also had fun singing to a 9-year old in the audience (Lety gave the girl a shout out).

Later, he jumped down without his guitar and sang in the audience,

It was phenomenal and the crowd responded in kind.

What were the songs like?  I have no idea.  They were fast, three chord  rockers.  He sang words but mostly screamed and yelped.  And then he soloed for ages.  The songs were all catchy and simple, but I couldn’t tell you if they were original or covers or what.

I was exhausted just watching him and I was very jealous at his ability to bounce around and get back up so easily.

I enjoyed the heck out of the set and so did everyone else.  They made a ton of new fans, at least of their live show.

I looked at setlists to see what songs they played and yet there’s no recorded setlists for any of their shows this year.  There’s a few shows from 2024 that have songs but I don’t think that’s what they played for us,

They played for about 45 minutes.  Pat was a sweaty mess by the end (although his button down shirt remained tucked in all night).  Pat even broke the heel of his shoe running up and down the stairs.  But he carried on regardless.

I’ve never seen anything like it and I can recommend seeing them one hundred percent.  They may work better as an opening act as I can’t imagine what 90 minutes of that behavior would do to the guy, but if they’re on the bill, don’t miss them!

I have no idea what songs they played and I don’t care what they might play next time.  I’m a convert!

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Kate Clover (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, August 3, 2025) [SPIKE AND THE GIMME GIMMES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Kate Clover, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Spike and the Gimme Gimmes, The Schizophonics on August 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] Spike and the Gimme Gimmes

I had wanted to see Me First and the Gimme Gimmes for a little while.  And then they changed their name to Spike and the Gimme Gimmes (I don’t know enough about the band to know anything about this–all I know is there are all kinds of people playing in the band from time to time).

I didn’t really think very much about the opening acts and wasn’t even sure if I’d make it in time to see either opener.  But I got there a few minutes before Kate Clover came on.

I don’t know anything about her.  In fact it’s only when writing this that I found a bio about her (it’s overblown and not very informative) but  I learned that she’s from L.A.

Her set up was simple–guitar, bass and drums–with everyone dressed in black and white.  The guys were in suits and she had a cool black outfit with white piping on it.  They came out and rocked!

Her bio says she learned three chords and that’s what we got.  Simple, chugging, riffing garage rock.  Songs around 3 minutes long with maybe a guitar solo.  Kate also played guitar although for a couple of songs she put down the guitar and just sang.  At one point she said they were going to play a new song, but since you don’t know us, it’s all new, right?  As far as I can tell, this was her first show in New Jersey. (more…)

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L.S. Dunes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, April 21, 2025)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, From Indian Lakes, L.S. Dunes, Night Sins on April 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 21, 2025] L.S. Dunes

My son and I saw L.S. Dunes open for Pierce the Veil back in 2023.  We knew a little about them and then the merch guy told us that we would really like them.  But, as seems  to happen at the Santander Arena, the opening bands are just lost in the acoustics of the place.

So when this show was announced I grabbed tickets assuming that we’d like them a lot more if we could actually hear them.

Perhaps the coolest thing of all was that I won a contest on Instagram which gave me two signed posters from the band (strangely enough, one of this posters is not signed by one of the members, but that’s okay).  It was definitely a cool souvenir.

We missed the opening band Night Sins entirely.  And the place was PACKED.  I felt lucky that I could squeeze into the ADA seating area because if I couldn’t we’d have been crowded even further back.  It was not the ideal location–I really assumed we’d be really close to the stage.  And I was a little bummed to be relatively far from the stage–although I think it would have been way too crowded up front.

However, the crowd was 100% into it and it was kind of fun to be behind the crowd and see all of the fun.

We knew Frank Iero the best in the band (being MCR fans).  I feel like I should have known Anthony Green and Circa Survive, but I didn’t know them at all.  We had seen drummer Tucker Rule and bassist Tim Payne from Thursday, but I didn’t really know at all. We were closest to guitarist Travis Stever who plays in Coheed and Cambria–someone I’ve wanted to see but haven’t.  His soloing was great.

I had listened to the new album once or twice but didn’t really know their music all that well.  But I knew it would be great.  I loved the way Like Magick started slowly with Anthony Green singing over strummed chords and then boom, the song took off.  Fatal Deluxe showed the dichotomy of Green’s vocals–screamed intensity and then quieter very high-pitched vocals. (more…)

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From Indian Lakes (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, April 21, 2025) [L.S. DUNES]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, From Indian Lakes, L.S. Dunes, Night Sins on April 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 3, 2025] From Indian Lakes

My son and I saw L.S. Dunes open for Pierce the Veil back in 2023.  We knew a little about them and then the merch guy told us that we would really like them.  But, as seems  to happen at the Santander Arena, the opening bands are just lost in the acoustics of the place.

But I was intrigued enough to want to check them out in Asbury Lanes.  My son and I went for dinner before the show and by the time we found parking, we had missed opening band Night Sins entirely.  And the place was PACKED.  I felt lucky that I could squeeze into the ADA seating area because if I couldn’t we’d have been crowded even further back.  Although I will say that it was not the ideal location–I really assumed we’d be really close to the stage.  And while we weren’t far away, it wasn’t ideal.

By the time we had fully settled in, From Indian Lakes were almost done.  I didn’t know anything about either band, but I was interested in them both and a little bummed to have missed them.

A brief bio: they released their first record since 2019 mid last year, which falls under a shoegaze, indie rock type of genre. The latest album of Head Void was a lot heavier than Dimly Lit in 2019, but compared to L.S. Dunes it’s quite tame.  They are apparently the brainchild of lead singer Joe Vann (Joey Vannucchi) and I don’t know who else was on stage with them.

Joe was totally understated as a front man, but he was also pretty funny, replying to fans shouting things and generally keeping the mood light.  He also had a very funny attitude about talking–just don’t offend anyone and it’s a win.  We saw about three songs in full and I really liked their vibe–very chill and shoegazey.  Although, live there was a harsher element than the soft shimmer of the album.

Overall I enjoyed what little I heard, and I’ve found that I enjoy their albums quite a bit too. (more…)

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