the newsdesk concludes a busy night with a look at a show we’ll be attending…
The Event: ShoreAlternative.com Reunion
Where: The Wonder Bar, Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ
When: Tuesday, October 23, 8pm
Cover: None (21+)
Who’s Playing:
The Drowning Men
Pop-Break caught The Drowning Men over the summer when they opened up for River City Extension at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ. The band is super-tight and produce a fantastically melodic and charismatic brand of rock ‘n’ roll.
Francis Jones & The Saviors
“They have the somber sobriety of Magnetic Fields, with the casual and calculated apathy of the great indie acts that hid in the 90’s.” (Description from the event’s press release).
Wreaths
“The dudes that will play for hours on end if given enough chemicals and volume. Shoegaze, drone, psych… or whatever you want to call it. They find the beauty in building a song to where it needs to go and finding a release when the time is right.” (Description from the event’s press release).
Why You Should Be There: ShoreAlternative was an important hub for original, independent and alternative music at the Jersey Shore and in all honesty, it left us way earlier than it should’ve. They opened our eyes to bands like Sleigh Bells, Manic Street Preachers, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Decemberists and so many more mainstream artists.
And through their series of S*ALT Presents shows we were introduced to many of the bands you’ve seen on our Shipwrecked at The Shore Music Showcases like Only Living Boy and Those Mockingbirds plus other great bands like The Dead Exs, The Obvious, Black Jesuses, Brick+Mortar and of course, River City Extension.
S*ALT’s music and the dudes who ran the station really inspired Pop-Break to embrace the scene of Asbury Park, New Jersey. They showed us how cool it was and how it was becoming the center of something special in the independent scene.
So on October 23, let’s all head out to the Wonder Bar and raise a pint to a celebration of great original music, both local and national — let’s a raise a pint for a truly great collection of dudes who let us into their musical minds and helped us discover new music.
