The New York Times (that liberal rag, go figure) ran an article about the life of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. If you're from NJ, you're familiar with the Pony: home to Bruce Springsteen...which, if you read this article, you'll realize that he was a johnny-come-lately, just looking to catch a local act, play some music and drink a beer. Regardless, the resilience of Pony after riots in the 70's and depravity in the 80's is definitely due to something magical, something inexplicable, which reminded me of a story...(cue flashback waves a la Wayne's World).
About 8 years ago, in 2010, I had a day off in June (read: forced State furloughs), and my brother-in-law, Jesse was in from Los Angeles, visiting family. He had grown up in and around Freehold, NJ, and like many in that neck of the woods, idolized Bruce Springsteen. Bruce, after all, was the home town hero. Bruce stopped into local businesses like Jersey Freeze right off Route 9. And, Bruce lived nearby too. Jesse had one movie out already (see it on NetFlix), which made him a professional screen writer (and actor), and he had thoughts about writing something about Bruce and Freehold, however, he'd never spent any appreciable time in Asbury Park. Road-trip.
When we got to Asbury, a lot had changed from what it had been in the 80's and 90's. Asbury was a hole. It was seedy and drug-filled, and poor...desperately poor. The late Anthony Bourdain visited with his show in 2005, where the only place Tony was willing to grab a bite was the Howard Johnson's, and he ordered something he thought wouldn't kill him, something safe: a Heineken and a grilled cheese sandwich. "The beauty of the grilled cheese sandwich in its classic form is that neither the shaped carbohydrate slabs nor the processed orange food product have any relationship with a living, organic nutrient system. Being therefore incapable of sustaining life in any form they, presumably, can't make you sick." By 2010 things had gotten way better. My wife and I had been there and visited the Langosta Lounge and loved it. In that, the Lounge's original configuration and eclectic upscale menu, there was plenty to eat that Bourdain would have loved, including sushi, and succulent pieces of beef, and plenty to drink. There was music in the corner, and a bar with many TVs. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Jesse and I got there mid afternoon, and the place was open, but not close to being "lively." We visited the old casino building. We walked up and down the newly renovated boardwalk. And we pointed out the Paramount and walked past the pinball museum. It was fairly uneventful. At about 6pm, we decided it was time to bail and do something else. On the way back to the car, there was a woman playing guitar on the boardwalk and crooning (whining?) a Natalie Merchant tune. This was a long way off from the city's storied history of music. About to cross the street, we see another girl with a guitar slung on her back, and joked, loudly, that we hope that she plays better music than the one we just left. And, with a very thick European accent, she said "You know Bruce?" She took off her gig bag, unpacked the acoustic she was traveling with, and started into "No Surrender." Jesse, someone not unfamiliar with Bruce's entire catalog, immediately joined in singing, and she then lent him her axe to continue/finish the song. It was great! Here we were, with a complete stranger, sharing something bigger than the three of us, on the streets of the city he made famous.
She explained that her name was Calien, she was from Amsterdam, she was 17. She was so obsessed with Bruce Springsteen that she came to New York, and specifically to Asbury Park to see the Stone Pony with her own eyes. She had already gotten kicked off his property in Rumson by the police. She just wanted to be part of the scene. She had taken a hotel right there near the boardwalk, and as the sun went down, it was getting a little cooler. Would we want to go back to her hotel room so she could get a jacket? It would just take a minute.
Get your minds out of the gutter.
That said, Jesse and I looked at each other and, we had no place to go, so, yes, we'll come along for the ride. When in her room, she not only took out her jacket, but also an orange crown, with the Netherlands coat of arms on it, and a soccer ball. She made us each pose wearing the crown as, the world was in the middle of the 2010 World Cup. National pride and all that. Then, she pulled out a XX Large Stone Pony bouncer's jacket, handed it to me, and asked if I wanted it. It was the same make and material of the light jackets students wear in High Schools when they're part of the tennis team or band. What? How'd she get it? Well, her obsession with Bruce brought her to the Paramount Theater in AP at 2am after a day of being in New York. She snuck into an open door at the back of the theater and immediately got wrangled by the guard there. She explained she just wanted to see the stage where Bruce performed. The guard took pity, let her walk on the stage, and then, handed her his jacket he wore as a bouncer at the Pony as a souvenir, one that was at least 5 sizes too big. Would I want it? Sure! I put it on.
We decided that, because we were all there due to Bruce, maybe we should check out the Pony for ourselves. It was literally across the street. Off we went, and, because I was wearing the right apparel, we walked right in, told the other bouncers that Jesse and Calien were with me, and marched into the club. The band taking the stage wasn't our cup of tea, some metal band, but that's OK, we just wanted to see the inside for Jesse's research and Calien's holiday. While I was standing there, I got a tap on my shoulder. Worried that it was time to get thrown out, I turned around, and there's a dude, standing there, arms above his head, waiting for me to frisk him on his way into the venue. I quickly pointed him to someone who actually worked there, found Jesse and Cal, and got out.
Lots of laughing happened later as we headed to the Langosta Lounge for a drink with a 17 year old from Amsterdam, and watch the Mets and the Yankees duke it out for supremacy in the Big Apple.
There's really nothing more. I'm not sure where the movie is on Jesse's list, whether he's shelved it for other things. I do know that Calien has made it BIG in Amsterdam. We knew she was talented, and after she finished school, she formed her own band: Cal and the Leavin' Train, yes, a direct reference to a track officially released on Bruce's 1998 Box Set. You can catch some of her stuff here on the band's FaceBook page. There are a couple videos to check out.
Also, Asbury Park has since exploded with restaurants and the artist community that was there is thriving. The beaches are fun in the summer. And the Mogo Taco, next to Langosta Lounge, is worth the trip alone. Bourdain made a second trip (probably more) for his more recent show "Parts Unknown" that was on CNN in 2015. "Asbury Park has taken the long, hard but smart road back,"It's very unusual to have a place with this kind of tradition of live music," Bourdain said in an interview with the Asbury Park Press. "It's such a powerful tradition and that it's managed to survive at all, that's very unusual." That's because the music of Asbury Park, and the epicenter, The Stone Pony, has the magic to bring people together. Certainly, it worked for the city, Bruce, Cal, Jesse and me.
really nice piece
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