Well, it happened.
Bruce and Me
This past weekend was the Light Of Day weekend in Asbury Park, NJ. I was thrilled to be involved in LOD Hamilton back in November when we raised around 5000$ for the fight against Parkinson’s disease those two nights. After that I was asked to be a part of LOD Asbury. Now if you know me at all, you know that I am a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as well as the romantic legacy and history of the Asbury Park music scene (back in ’94, as soon as I bought it, my friends Tim and Tom and I drove my ’85 Dodge Aries down to Asbury to make a pilgrimage to the Boss. We actually rang his doorbell but were told by a voice through a squawk-box that he wasn’t home and went back to Montreal. The following February, Bruce came to Mtl for his Ghost of Tom Joad tour and I met him after the show for an autograph. I said, “I went to your house this past summer and rang your doorbell”. He said, “That was you?”).
Me and the Boss' Main Axe. As if.
So 18 years later, being invited to actually perform in Asbury at a (loosely) Springsteen-themed event was a thrill. My actual performance was a Songwriter’s By The Sea event on Sunday, but before that on Saturday night at the Paramount Theater there was the main event that featured many great acts including Joe D’Urso and Stone Caravan (with whom I sat-in. This allowed me to part of the main event and thus, backstage), Garland Jeffreys, John Eddie, Willie Nile, Southside Johnny, and Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers. Bruce Springsteen has been performing lately with Grushecky and it was a foregone conclusion that he would be “sitting”-in. Word was passed that he would definitely be there and the sight of all his axes in the wings at sound-check and two tweed fender amps on the stage confirmed it. I was lucky enough to talk to Bruce’s tech Kevin who knew it would thrill me to strum the main Telecaster (Bruce doesn’t play his Esquire so much anymore. It’s probably like, “Dude! Enough already!”) and so he put it on me and I was going bananas inside. I don’t know how I managed to stay as collected as I am in this photo.
The event started and the Joe D’Urso set was really fun and I didn’t screw it up, so they let me hang around. Willie Nile, James Maddock, and Linda Chorney came out and sang with us, too.
Joe D'Urso and Stone Caravan with me, Willie Nile, James Maddock, Linda Chorney
Later on Bruce finally took the stage with Joe Grushecky but not before an incredible acoustic version of Incident On 57th Street. They went through some classic Boss including Darkness on The Edge of Town, Adam Raised A Cain, Save My Love, Atlantic City (the intro of which I taped a for my brother, Joff), Johnny 99, and Because the Night with Willie Nile and Garland Jeffreys singing backups. Oh, and the mighty Max Weinberg decided to show up too.
Bruce and Max Weinberg with the House Rockers
Just prior to heading out to the stage, Willie said to me, “Come out for the finale”. I was thinking, “Ok, someone is going to punch me in the face, but ok.”
So as they started the song Light Of Day, the headliners started to head out to sing back-up and Willie was waving me on.
I have to head out to rehearsal right now, but I will be back with the conclusion of my dream weekend at LOD Asbury Park. From the photos you can guess that it went pretty well. More later tomorrow. I just wanted to get this post up!
P
