Review: Wave Gathering 2008

Picture if you will a euphoric orgy of music throbbing and pulsating throughout the city of Asbury Park. Riffs penetrating into our ears making us glow with multiple orgasms, over and over again for 3 days. Drenching us in sweat and love...love for music, Asbury Park, and for one another.

This is my Wave Gathering experience

We begin Friday evening when I arrive on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park. over the last few years Cookman Avenue has become the first phase of the rebirth of the city. Many upscale restaurants, art galleries, antique shops and more, have gone and gone from this street over the past few years. A few have remained, but many seem to change with each new calendar year. It is kind of a parable for several of the bands I saw this weekend, band who still have the same lead singer (or store front), but the rest of the band (the store itself) changed, bringing with it a new lease for the band.

But more on those bands later.

Having picked up my credentials with over an hour until the first band started playing, I decided to take a stroll down Cookman Avenue and head to the boardwalk. Just a few years ago the thought of taking that short walk would have worried me, but Asbury Park has come a long way in a short time. That said, walking past where the Palace used to be still depressed me.

I have a long history with Asbury Park, one that started with going to the Palace and the boardwalk every summer between the late 70's and the late 80's. Many days I spent inside the Palace...the dank, kind of musty, run down, Palace...despite it all that indoor amusement park was a palace to me. I remember always trying to catch the brass ring while riding the merry-go-round, but at the time my arms were just too short and I always felt like I was going to fall and crack my skull open. The skeeball, pinball, and videogames...if I listen closely I can still hear the beeps, plinks, and assorted sounds that they made. And I remember the funhouse and eventually conquering my fear of the pitch black section with the lion growling...I knew there was no lion there, but my overactive imagination wanted to make me think otherwise.

And then the Casino...I remember that too, and it's lights, sounds, games and attractions...and the entrance that was a giant rotating cylinder...all that's left now is the skeleton, literally a shell of it's former self.

But turning around from the Casino I saw something I haven't seen in years...the boardwalk was alive. There were people walking the boardwalk, people on the beach, not Wave Gathering people, but families, couples...people who just were there for the beach. Just last summer I was there with my wife on a Friday night and the boardwalk was dead like a desert, now it was a like flower garden in full bloom with people. Even the buildings on the boardwalk are being rebuilt and restored...though sadly it looks like it will be at least another month before most of the boardwalk's stores are open.

Walking the boardwalk I saw one of the themes of the Wave Gathering in full force, rebirth. My only worry is that everything that is going in seems to be meant for upscale, yuppie types, from the condos, to the art galleries and more, I hope this does not push out the art scene that is Asbury Park. Rebirth and growth is great, but not if it causes the death of art and creativity.

I pondered this conundrum as I walked back past the new condos on Heck Street, where I suspect only people like me who couldn't afford to live there would be proud of living on a street called Heck. I'll know that Asbury Park has gotten overly gentrified (yuppiefied) when they change Heck Street to something like Born To Run Way. I hope that day never comes...but fear it is inevitable.

Time for dinner, and if you're a vegetarian like me, the best place to eat is at Twisted Tree Cafe. Even if you're not, it's still a great meal. While many stores change with the season on Cookman Ave, Twisted Tree has been around a while, and since they have the most incredible sandwich I have ever had in there Focaccia Melt as well as real fruit smoothies (made with real fruit, not sugared fruit-like product like some places), I am thankful they're still here.

While at Twisted Tree I managed to catch the first two songs of Jon Caspi's set. Jon Caspi is one hell of a pop-rock singer-songwriter, and on any other night of the week I would have stuck around for his full set, but tonight I had a set agenda of where I wanted to be...and there in lies the big draw back to a festival of this nature, one that I am ok with living with, but it's painful nonetheless for a music fan like me (who is friends with a lot of these musicians). At any given time there are at least 3 or 4 acts playing that I'd like to catch. Often I had to pick an area that had the most bands I wanted to see (i.e. Cookman Ave., Boardwalk, etc.), and stick to that area for several hours. On Friday, that area was the boardwalk. Sorry Jon. I meant what I said though about your first album being one that I go back to after hearing a crappy album to remind me what a good album sounds like (his second album is damn good too).

Back to the boardwalk...

Walking past the old Howard Johnson's that is now an upscale restaurant, I saw the Tiki Bar. Now 3 years ago when the first Wave Gathering happened, AsburyMusic.com sponsored a stage at the Tiki Bar. At the time, it was a covered outdoor bar that was decaying. There were holes in the cement roof that birds were flying in and out of, and the metal railings had been eroded from years of the salty air hitting it. Now in it's place was a newly remodeled Tiki bar, and what a surprise, this Tiki Bar was catering to an upscale crowd. Nice and new looking, with fancy colored lights and blaring club music, I wonder if this will be the future of music in Asbury Park...a chill went down my spine in fear of that.

Trying to get that horrifying thought out of my mind I headed into the Paramount Theatre where the Wave Gathering was lucky enough this year to be able to utilize their lounge. Entering into the theatre I could hear Anthony Fiumano playing and headed up the stairs to the lounge. About 50 chairs were set up facing the stage, and behind the little stage was a window looking out onto Asbury Park's boardwalk. It was such a great environment for an acoustic set by one of my favorite singer/songwriter's of the last few years. He closed out his set with arguably his most powerful song, "Darlene". I've had the pleasure of seeing Anthony perform this song on several occasions, but on this night the stars aligned with the environment, and a quiet audience for the most moving rendition of the song.

With time between Anthony Fiumano's set and the next performance at the Paramount lounge stage, I went to a new place on the boardwalk, Style Rocket. Soon Style Rocket will be an upscale store with surf & skateboard clothes, but currently it was a makeshift stage in a nice sized white room with high ceilings and nothing else but a few mannequins promoting the upcoming clothing store. This unfortunately did not make for a good sounding room. When I arrived, Postmark Twain was well into their set. Their mainstream pop-rock worked the best of the 3 bands that played there Friday night in terms of sound quality, and that was largely because they were acoustic based, and sounded like a band echoing through an arena, rather than a band playing an empty room. During Postmark Twain's set a child walked in and was standing there totally enraptured by the band playing. When his family tried to pull him out he didn't want to leave and though they did leave, he eventually found his way back in for more of themusic he craved. Music is in this child's blood, and that set may be the one he remembers forever as the one which opened his mind to the world of rock. That child could be the next musical genius, and Postmark Twain's performance may be the impetus. How cool is that to think about?

Back to the Paramount I went for what I thought would be a set by Alex Brumel, but when I opened the door of the Paramount and walked in, stopping to look again at the empty main stage with the piano, I heard two voices harmonizing on the Oscar winning song from "Once", "falling slowly", and realized it must be Mill Stone, Alex's project with Janel Elizabeth. I decided to sit down for a moment in the main hall, staring at the stage and the empty room, while hearing that beautiful song waft down from the floor above. It was a magic moment, and if you ever have the opportunity to sit in the Paramount when it's empty and just listen to a beautiful song, alone, taking in the history and beauty of the room, I highly recommend it.

Back at Style Rocket, The Brixton Riot rocked the echo chamber with their brand of garage pop. I love their EP, "sudden fiction", but this room was not their friend, and they knew. Thankfully they joked about the bad sound and still looked like they were having fun...I know I was despite it all. I look forward to seeing in a good sounding environment when they play BlowUpRadio.com's Free Concert Series at Buddie's Tavern on August 23rd.

At this point I was starting to get hungry again, so I walked over to the Wonder Bar to get an order of french fries. I caught part of Pawnshop Roses set, and really dug their classic country rock sound. What I did not enjoy was paying $4.25 for a small thing of fries...Greetings From Expensive Asbury Park...

I would have loved to stay and watched more of Pawnshop Roses , but Readymade Breakup was about to start at Style Rocket. Even though the sound in there was atrocious, I went back to see my old friends who I have not seen play in a while. They played a slew of new songs (new to me at least), but like before, it was a struggle to hear things clearly in the "airport hanger". I actually found it sounded much better outside of Style Rocket on the boardwalk.

Heading back to the Paramount lounge I caught the highlight of the night for me in Ari Hest's set. I have heard his music before, but never live, and this is one folk rock singer who must be seen live. His set was audial bliss, and a perfect capper to the first night of the Wave Gathering...I just wish the people in the audience that felt the need to talk would have done it elsewhere. I never understand why people have long, loud conversations while someone is performing. I know sometimes limited soft talking is necessary, but what I overhead was loud, obnoxious, meaningless blather that I won't bother recycling here. But even that could not ruin Ari's set, try as it might have.

I wanted to stick around and catch Mieka Pauley's set, who I saw and enjoyed last year at the Wave Gathering, but I had been up since before 6am, and my bed was calling me. So home I went, enthusiastic for what the rest of the weekend would bring.

~~~

Fully refreshed after a good night's sleep, I headed back to Asbury Par. Arriving shortly after 1pm, I was shocked to find no parking near The Wonder Bar. It seems the beach dwellers beat me to those spots. Beach dwellers? Asbury Park has changed.

Parking by Asbury Lanes, I walked back to the Wonder Bar in time to still catch most of Long Day Over's set. A few months back I received a copy of Long Day Over's most recent album, "after hours". While the songs weren't bad, I felt the album had some problems. I kept running into Dominick (the drummer), and eventually had to tell him what I felt about the album. Instead of the usual, "fuck you, you just don't understand our music", that I generally seem to get, Dominick (and the rest of the band), took my criticisms in the constructive way in which it was meant.

Since they didn't dismiss my criticisms, I could not dismiss them as a band, and knew I had to see them live at least once to see whether their live set would be better. I am happy to say that their live set was quite good. There was still a song or two that didn't work for me, but most of their set was really catchy rock & roll, and the fun that the band looked like they were having on stage transferred to those of us who showed up early enough to catch their set.

One of those early birds was my friend, and WRSU DJ, Jared Migden. It was quite a surprise seeing Jared there, as he had missed out on the past two Wave Gatherings. As he put it, "the third time's the charm".

Jared & headed over to Cookman Ave. to see Tommy Strazza at Munch. We arrived to find out that his 2pm set was now pushed back until 2:45pm. This gave me the opportunity to stop and talk to Jon Leidersdorff, who I ran into numerous times throughout the weekend. I know Jon from back in the day when he played drums for Outcry, and later Blowup., a band he fronted, but these days he is producing albums for artists like De Sol, Alex Brumel, Quincy Mumford, and One Stormy Minute.

One of the great things about the Wave Gathering is running into people like Jon, who I don't see very much. The downside is, I mostly ran into people when listening to a band, and unlike other people, I try not to be rude and talk loudly while a band is on.

Back at Munch, Tommy Strazza was ready to play, and what a great set it was. Stripped down to him and one of his bandmates from his band, The New Model Citizens, his pop-rock sparkled brilliant throughout the room.

During Tommy's set my pal Jim Testa arrived. Jim, as most of you already know, is the man behind Jersey Beat. After Tommy's set ended, Jim, Jared and I headed over to Twisted Tree Cafe to get some fruit smoothies. Their fruit smoothies are the most wonderful non-alcoholic drinks. I don't remember the name of the one I got on this particular day, but I remember granola was one of the ingredients. Good and good for you...yum!

While at Twisted Tree, we caught Shane Cooley's set. Shane is a 20 year old folk-rock singer from Virginia. It's natable that the highlight of his set was his show closing song, "this is my Asbury Park", written about his own hometown (in an homage to Bruce writing about Asbury). This was Shane's first time in Asbury Park and he commented how surreal it was singing the song in the city for which it's named.

Following Shane's set, and the refreshing beverage, Jim headed off to a panel he was going to speak at on media & radio. There were numerous panels throughout the Wave Gathering, none of which I attended. This is the one area that I feel still needs some work. At CMJ Music Marathon I have enjoyed panels about the history of CBGBs, music & politics & it's effect on each other, and other panels that are not just geared towards musicians.

The panels at the Wave Gathering were largely geared towards musicians. And the media & radio one in particular confounded me because of it's lack of any representation of anyone from internet radio or podcasts. This is something I had pointed out to people involved with the Wave weeks ahead of the event and the panel was not altered. For some reason though, Lauren Pressley (a DJ for 107.1 The Breeze, and WCTC), was on the panel, despite the fact that neither station plays independent or local music. Now I am not saying it had to be me on the panel, it didn't, but between BlowUpRadio.com, ThePenguinRocks.com, Altrok.com, Jersey Todd Podcast, Jersey Jamcast, and others, someone should have been on there to represent. These are some of the many internet outlets that is happy to play independent music.

Moving on, while Jim was doing his panel, Jared & I checked out the Saint where City Riots, an Australian band was playing. I don't know what's in the water in Australia, but there are some really great rock & roll bands coming from there lately, and City Riots is definitely one of them. They have this amazing presence on stage and intensity. The Saint was far from packed at 4:15 when they took to the stage, but those who were there got to see a blistering set of catchy indie rock from these Aussies. I hope they plan to come back through New Jersey before heading back to Australia, because I'd love to see these guys again.

Walking back to Cookman Ave., Jared & I were hoping to catch some of The Mill Stone's set at The Parthenon Lounge @ Synaxis. Synaxis is the latest restaurant to move in where Harry's Roadhouse and Red Fusion once resided. We arrived a little early and caught the end of Outside The Box, with special guest jpat...err...I mean James Dalton, sitting in. I only caught part of their last song but I was certainly intrigued enough that I made note to see them again some other time.

The Mill Stone took to the stage in the same duo formation as the evening before, and played some of the same songs as the evening before, and one me over once again. These two are so talented, and their voices harmonizing together is so beautiful, it's hard to think anyone would not be won over by their music.

Leaving just before The Mill Stone finished their set so we could head back to the Saint to see my old friends Fairmont. I've known Neil, the lead singer of Fairmont, almost as long as I've been doing BlowUpRadio.com, and it seems every year (and every new album), he has a slightly different arrangement backing him. This time was no exception. Andy was still playing drums, but new additions Christian (formerly of the Finals) on synths, and Clancy on violin and backing vocals), added yet another new twist to this band's sound. A twist which I must say I really like, and seemed to bring out a new freshness to the few older songs that made the set. And the new songs, which included "being & nothingness" and "nowhere, Mass.", (both from their forthcoming CD, "transcendence", and currently heard on BlowUpRadio.com's webcast), were beautiful and have me anxiously awaiting the CD release in the fall.

Meeting back up with Jim, the three of us headed back to Twisted Tree Cafe for dinner (another delectable focaccia melt for me) and to set up for our first live webcast from the Wave Gathering on BlowUpRadio.com.

This year BlowUpRadio.com was very lucky to be able to broadcast some of the Wave Gathering live on our webcast. Many people asked how we were able to webcast live. It's amazing how far technology has come. Simply using a laptop with a wifi connection, and a condenser mic, we can broadcast from just about anywhere. Big thanks to Jim Testa for supplying the laptop computer.

The first set we broadcast from Twisted Tree was Joshua Van Ness. Like many of the artists who played the Wave Gathering, I have known Joshua for years, and I have always enjoyed his soulful take on rock and roll. In fact, his former band, Souls’ Release, played at my wedding at the Stone Pony 3 years ago (just one more personal bond between Asbury Park and myself). Joshua has this amazingly powerful voice that just sucks me into his poetic world every time I hear him sing.

During a short intermission between Joshua’s set and the next performer, who we were also broadcasting on BlowUpRadio.com, Jared, Jim & I had the opportunity to interview Keith C. of the Crayons on the air. I’ve known Keith for many years too, and it was a pleasure to talk to him about the Wave Gathering and his band. Most amusing was recounting a story from the night before when I was wearing an old Crayons t-shirt and was confused for a member of the band. Trust me, no one wants me as a member of their band, I have little talent in the making music department (although I can write decent lyrics at least).

Jared and Keith were also discussing the shuttle this year at the fest to get around Asbury Park. With perfect comic timing, right after I said I had not yet seen the shuttle Jared pointed out the window as the shuttle drove by Cookman Ave.

The stage was ready to go at Twisted Tree Café with the next performer, Mimi Cross. Mimi has been around the local music scene for some time as a singer-songwriter, but it’s been ages since I’ve seen her play out. One of the reasons could be that she has a 2 ½ year old that was in attendance at the show. Mimi put on a really nice set, made all the more fun by her son being there, requesting that mommy play Jack Johnson (she didn’t know how to play any of his tunes), and even getting up on stage at one point. It was adorably cute, although I am sure anyone who was listening to the web cast without the visual lost out…that’s why you have to come in person to a concert.

After ending our live broadcast day, Jared departed for work, and Jim & I went to the Parthenon Lounge @ Synaxis to catch The New Rick Barrys. The first thing we encountered was a bartender that had no intention of serving us a drink, as he continually walked past us, ignoring us with our money in hand, leaning towards the bartender. Fine, we’ll take our money elsewhere.

I’ve seen Rick Barry many times, in many different formations. One of the things I really respect about him, besides his songwriting ability, is that he likes to try different things with different musicians. Some of these variations work very well, some not so well. The New Rick Barrys was not a band I walked away from feeling like I had witnessed an outstanding performance, but it didn’t let me down either. I’ve seen better from Rick, so maybe I’m a bit hard on him, but the band sounded good, and I’d certainly go see them play again.

From the Parthenon Lounge we headed over to The Saint to catch Miss T.K. & The Revenge. A few weeks ago, Miss T.K.’s EP, “no bitterz EP”, showed up in my mailbag and I really enjoyed the blend of punk, dance and rock, into something like a modern day Blondie. Unfortunately, I found their live set to be a little bit dull. The life that exuded from the CD, just didn’t seem to be there on the stage. The songs still sounded good, but there was no presence there to suck me into the set. A good band can make me forget everything around me, and bring me into their world, but after a few songs off Miss T.K. I found myself flipping through the schedule to see what band I wanted to see next.

While Readymade Breakup was scheduled to perform next at the Saint, and it would have been nice to see them in a better sounding venue than the night before, Spiraling was playing at the Parthenon Lounge and I have not seen them since they released their new CD, “time travel made easy”. The album is among my favorites so far of 2008 and I really wanted to see them play the new songs live. So back I headed to the Parthenon Lounge, leaving Jim to watch Readymade Breakup, and hoping I’d make it back for at least part of their set.

I have seen Spiraling many times over the years, and I always enjoy their shows, but the stage presence that I felt Miss T.K. was lacking, Spiraling had in abundance. Their set just flew by, washing over me aural pleasure. Hearing, “the future”, live (a track from their new CD), was just as much fun as it is on the CD. That song should be the hit of the summer. “Victory kiss” (also from the new CD), blew me away, by having even more energy than the album version.

Darting back to the Saint in hopes of catching the end of Readymade Breakup’s set…I did, about the last two minutes of their last song…d’oh! After their set though, they handed me a copy of their new album (due out in August), “alive on the vine”, and having listened to it several times since the Wave Gathering I can honestly say I love it! It shows some growth for them as a band, without losing their sound. I highly recommend you get this CD when it comes out.

Closing out the evening, Jim & I headed back to the Parthenon Lounge to see The Crayons. I like The Crayons, and their brand of indie-pop-rock, but by the time they took the stage it was after midnight, and they were utilizing multiple flashing light rigs (which I believe belonged to the Churchills who were playing after them). Sitting as close as I was to the stage, the lights were a bit intense, and made me even more tired than I already was, so a few songs in Jim & I called it a night.

~~~

Sunday morning I awoke recharged, and revitalized. Jim has slept on my couch, and we departed to get breakfast at a diner near me before heading back down to Asbury Park.

Arriving early in the day, we caught a 1:15pm set by Quincy Mumford at the Saint. Quincy is a 16 year old who, after listening to his set, I would place his sound as 2 parts Jack Johnson to 1 part John Mayer. That’s not entirely fair, because he certainly doesn’t sound directly like a clone of either one, just like someone who is heavily influenced by those two. His set was quite enjoyable, and I did like that he was writing songs that made sense for a 16 year old in terms of writing what you know…he introduced, “fall down”, as being a song written as an apology when his parents were angry at him. I definitely want to watch the progress of Quincy as he continues to grow as an artist.

Walking back to Cookman Ave., we caught the end of Tony Tedesco’s set at America’s Cup Coffee Company. I believe he had Tommy Fuller sharing his set with him, and while I only caught the last 2 songs, I really enjoyed the two of them taking turns playing songs.

Next it was trekking back to Twisted Tree Café where BlowUpRadio.com was going to be webcasting Alex Brumel’s set at 3pm. When we arrived, One Stormy Minute’s lead signer, “Rob Muller, was finishing up the end of his set. I remembered Rob Muller from when he was a part of Jon Leidersdorff’s band, Blowup. Even still, it was a bit surprising how much One Stormy Minute’s songs sounded like they could have been Blowup. songs. I pointed this out to Jon when he handed me One Stormy Minute’s CD at the end of Rob’s set (this was yet another local artist who’s CD Jon had produced), and Jon just smiled. It wasn’t until days later when I got around to opening and listening to the CD that I noticed Jon had co-written all the songs with Rob.

It was now just after 3pm and Alex Brumel was just about ready to take the stage. Jim & I however were having a problem getting Jim’s laptop to connect to Twisted Tree’s wifi. In the type of strange instance that would seem to happen only in the movies, Jim finally managed to get us on-line and broadcasting right as Alex started playing…Whew!

Having already seen Alex twice this weekend with The Mill Stone, it was nice to see his solo side again today. Alex is a very gifted singer/songwriter, and solo or duo, I am always impressed. For this set he played a lot of new material that he will be recording soon for his second album (which will be produced, as his first one was, by Jon Leidersdorff…he’s everywhere LOL!)

Following Alex’s set, Jim & I packed up the broadcasting equipment and darted over to Asbury Lanes so we could broadcast our final band of the weekend, Frank Bressi & The Chilling Details.

I love Asbury Lanes and always wish I was there more often. Watching bands, bowling, drinking, and don’t forget an order of tots…the Lanes is a little piece of rock & roll heaven. Let’s just hope the city doesn’t use eminent domain to knock it down to put up more condos. They’ve already destroyed the building at the end of the block, and it looks all but certain that the historic Baronet Theatre and The Fastlane will be demolished. It’s a real shame that the people entrusted to rebuild Asbury Park feel the need to destroy the heart of Asbury Park to do so. You can give anything an “extreme makeover”, but if you kill the heart, it’s still dead.

Arriving with plenty of time to set up the webcasting equipment and make sure we had a wifi connection, I went to the snack bar to get a grilled cheese & barbeque tofu sandwich with a side order of tots. Another reason to like the Lanes is it’s selection of vegetarian food (albeit probably not as healthy as Twisted Tree Café).

The Chilling Details (now going by the name of Frank Bressi & The Chilling Details), put out one of my favorite albums of last year with it’s “innerdialogue” CD. This was my first time seeing their new line-up with Frank on vocals and guitar, Danielle Kavendek on synths, and Joe Chyb on drums, and I really like the new line-up. The Chilling Details had a lot of synths on their CD, but never incorporated it into their live show. The addition adds new layers to their indie-rock soundscapes.

What a set to close out BlowUpRadio.com’s web casting of the Wave Gathering. It would also close out this year’s Wave Gathering for me. Jim needed to catch a train back to Weehawken, and I was damn tired after a weekend of running around catching all the amazing bands that played the Wave Gathering.

As I have said of the Wave Gathering the past two years, it kicked my ass! When I got home I collapsed.

The musical orgy was over for this year, but the blissful state it infused in me will hopefully last until next year.

The Wave Gathering is a reminder to Asbury Park that crashes in full force saying, “We are Asbury Park and we won’t be pushed out for upscale condos!” You can change the city as much as you like, but you cannot kill the heart and expect the city to go on living.

Viva the artistic revolution! Viva the Wave Gathering!


www.wavegathering.com