Pop Break Live: Flogging Molly & Social Distortion Summer Tour 2019 at The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, NJ
Words and Photos by Willy Mellott
There was a buzz in the air walking around Asbury Park this weekend. Not just because of Labor Day weekend, but also the punk rock line up playing The Stone Pony Summer Stage. Flogging Molly and Social Distortion stopped by as they brought their co-headlining summer tour to New Jersey.
The Summer Stage was filled with fans eagerly awaiting the bands to take the stage. The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” played over the venues speakers and the lights on the back of the stage lit up green, white, and orange like a massive electronic Irish flag. Flogging Molly took the stage and hit the ground running with “Drunken Lullabies.” As soon as the banjo into started, fans opened up a circle pit in the crowd and continued for much of the night.
Flogging Molly lead singer Dave King took time to point out and compliment two concert goers with massive mohawks. King also said, “This is going to be our last time in New Jersey for this tour and after that we are going home to write new music.” This raised a huge applause from the crowd. The Irish punk rock band played a 13 song set including “What’s Left of The Flag”, “Devil’s Dance Floor”, and “Tobacco Island.” King’s wife Bridget Regan sang lead vocals for “A Prayer For Me In Silence.” They finished off their set with a fan favorite, “If I Ever Leave This World Alive.”
After a quick turnover on stage, Social Distortion came out to finish off the night. The band, who are celebrating 40 years of punk rock, started off their set with “So Far Away.” Lead singer, Mike Ness, took time to give some back story and commentary about many songs before playing them. Before “Don’t Drag Me Down,” Ness talked about it being an anti-racist song saying, “We’re an anti-racist band, this is an anti-racist song and we hope our fans our anti-racist. If anyone is a racist that’s the way out.”
Like Flogging Molly, Social D also mentioned they are working on putting out a new album in the near future. The band gave us a taste of their new music with the song “Over You.” Through out their 13 song set they played tracks which spanned their 40 year career. There was a constant flow of crowd surfers going over the crowd for both bands. The night ended with the band playing their 1990 hit “Story of My Life” which had the audience singing along. Fans did not want to leave and were chanting for more songs, but Social Distortion did not come out for an encore. Even without an encore, it was a great night spent with two legendary punk rock bands.
