Pop Break Live: Sweet Relief Benefit Show featuring Rachel Ana Dobken, Danny Clinch, The Extensions, Neal Francis, Karina Rykman, Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Anthony Almonte of the E Street Band – Sunday April 19 at the Asbury Lanes
Photos by Connie Freestone
On April 19, Asbury Park did what it does best: come together in the name of music. Inside Asbury Lanes, a benefit concert in support of Sweet Relief and JBJ Soul Kitchen brought a packed room of fans and artists under one roof, each drawn by the strong music community that surrounds them.
The night opened with a lively set from Asbury Park locals The Extensions. With each member stepping up to the microphone, the band made it clear they were far from a one-man show, trading off vocals with an easy chemistry that carried through their set. Songs like “Over Now” and “With A K” quickly pulled the crowd to their feet, setting the tone for the night ahead and priming the room for the headliners to follow.
Following the opening act, Rachel Ana Dobken and her band took the stage with a compelling presence. Opening with “Cruel, Cruel, Cruel,” Dobken immediately established control of the room, her voice cutting cleanly through the venue and defining the performance.
After Dobken’s set, the night shifted into the jam session that brought the evening’s spirit of collaboration fully into focus. Returning to the stage, now on drums, alongside Asbury Park’s very own Danny Clinch, Dobken helped guide a rotating group of musicians through a set built on spontaneity and shared momentum. The two led with an easy chemistry, grounding the performance while consistently pausing to acknowledge and thank the artists around them.
The lineup expanded to include Neal Francis, Karina Rykman, Roger Stevens, and members of the Preservation Hall Horns, moving between instrumental, original, and cover songs. A cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” fronted by Rykman, had the whole audience singing, while Dobken’s take on Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home,” featuring an organ solo from Francis and a harmonica line from Clinch, slowed down the evening and had the audience focusing on certain instruments instead of everything as a whole.
The most striking moment of the night, however, came from Clint Maedgen of the Preservation Hall Horns. Taking on Ella Fitzgerald’s “I’d Rather Go Blind,” his vocal performance commanded the audience to pay attention to the stage. His passion, paired with the song’s emotional pull, drew the loudest response of the night and created a feeling of unity and love of music throughout the entire room.
The night also featured a guest appearance from Anthony Almonte of the E Street Band’s horn and percussion section. Stepping in on bongos and tambourine, Almonte folded easily into the set, adding to the uplifting, celebratory energy on stage. At one point, Danny Clinch joked that Almonte “had a concert tomorrow night,” a casual understatement that drew laughs from the
crowd, many well aware he’d be joining Bruce Springsteen at his show at the Prudential Center in Newark.
After about three hours, the event concluded with another round of performer recognition and thanks. Dobken took a moment to speak more about Sweet Relief and JBJ Soul Kitchen, grounding the night’s celebration in its purpose and reminding the crowd what their presence had helped support. As the stage began to clear, it was hard not to notice that no instrument had been left untouched—bongos, saxophones, cowbells, harmonicas, tubas, organs—all of them passed between hands over the course of the night.
It was a fitting image for an event built on collaboration. Not only among the artists on stage, but with the audience, whose energy carried the night into something larger than the music itself.
