Pop Break Live: The Bouncing Souls “Stoked for the Summer 2023” with Bayside, 7 Seconds, Screaming Females and Mercy Union at The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, New Jersey on July 22, 2023
Words + Photos by Willy Mellott
New Jersey punk legends The Bouncing Souls returned to the Stone Pony Summer Stage for their annual Stoked for the Summer show on July 22nd. Multiple generations of fans filled the venue in anticipation of hearing hits from the band’s thirty plus year discography.
As the sun was setting on a perfect weather day down the shore, The Souls took the stage for their homecoming surrounded with family and friends. They got the crowd going from the first note as Greg Attonito sang a snippet of “Ole” with fans chanting along before transitioning into “Hopeless Romantic.” The energy from the band transitioned into the crowd as the pit opened up and crowd surfers began flowing overhead.
With little banter between songs, the band kept the hits coming and even played a cover of The Menzinger’s “Burn After Writing.” Bassist Bryan Kienlen was particularly fun to watch throughout the set as he bounced around the stage interacting with bandmates and coming to the edge of the stage to sing along with fans.
Towards the middle of the set, the punk rockers took a break from their familiar fast paced driven songs to play a few acoustic ones. The crowd of all ages sang along as The Souls played “Ghosts on the Boardwalk.” It was a fitting choice to play as the Asbury boardwalk was bustling just across from the street from the venue. Included in the acoustic set was the addition of a French Horn for “Favorite Everything.”
The band briefly left the stage to swap out their acoustic instruments for their electric instruments and jumped right back in with “Shark Attack”. A few songs later was their anthem “Lean on Sheena” which re-energized the crowd to round out their set. They played an encore which included some requests and ended the night with “Night on Earth.” Thirty plus years after their inception The Bouncing Souls still have the energy and punk sound that made them famous. The venue cleared out with everyone leaving entertained and stoked to catch The Souls again next Summer.
Setlist (via setlist.fm)
¡Olé!
Hopeless Romantic
The Gold Song
Sing Along Forever
Back To Better
Quick Chek Girl
Here We Go
Say Anything
Private Radio
Kate Is Great
Burn After Writing (The Menzingers cover)
Kids and Heroes
Ten Stories High
The Ballad of Johnny X
The Something Special
Late Bloomer
Ghosts on the Boardwalk (Acoustic)
Favorite Everything (Acoustic w/ french horn)
Gone (Acoustic)
Shark Attack
East Coast! Fuck You!
Higher Ground
That Song
Anchors Aweigh
Lean on Sheena (Avoid One Thing cover)
Manthem
True Believers
Encore:
Ship in a Bottle
Bullying the Jukebox
Kid
Born to Lose (Ted Daffan’s Texans cover)
Night on Earth
