The Asbury Music Festival on May 25 celebrates the rebirth of Asbury Park and kicks off the summer in style.
By: Matt Smith
Even in its darkest days, Asbury Park always had the music.
The rough-and-tumble shore town is, of course, most famous for giving birth to Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band. Nowadays, it is also becoming known for the ongoing downtown revitalization.
Tony Pallagrosi, president and founder of the Red Bank-based Concerts East Inc., has found a way to bring people together to celebrate Asbury Park’s musical past and civic future the first-ever Asbury Music Festival, May 25 at the Conventional Hall Entertainment Complex.
!["Southside]("/local/Z/ZWIRE1091/zwire/images/052402musicfest.jpg") |
| Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
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"I’ve wanted to do this for many years," Mr. Pallagrosi says. "I figured now is the right time to do it, as the town is really starting to move forward. I wanted to celebrate its musical heritage and capture the energy of the momentum of Asbury Park."
New Jersey singer-songwriter Pete Yorn and local heroes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are the headliners. The festival also features troubadours Dave Edmunds, Martin Sexton, Graham Parker and Dan Bern. Gritty Philly quartet Marah, Nova Scotia power poppers Sloan and female rockers Antigone Rising will also perform. A portion of the proceeds will benefit The City of Asbury Park Children’s Welfare Trust Fund.
Although Mr. Pallagrosi has been a full-time concert promoter at the Jersey Shore for 12 years, he also has a more direct connection to the Asbury Park music scene.
"I was a member of the Asbury Jukes in the mid-’70s, for about a year and a half," he says. "I still see some of the guys in the band a lot, but I don’t have time for (music) now. I run a business."
While he’s excited about the line-up, Mr. Pallagrosi sees the Asbury Music Festival growing into a three-day festival each Memorial Day weekend.
"I picked artists that I knew and really liked," he says, "and for this particular audience were a good way to kick it off. But I want to expand the musical boundaries in the future and see this grow over the next three or four years."
In addition to vendor tables, the festival will also feature photograph and film exhibits celebrating the history of Asbury Park, which Mr. Pallagrosi hopes will help initiate visitors to the city he loves.
"Hopefully people who aren’t acquainted with Asbury Park will come down and shop in the business district," he says, "and consider buying property in town and being a part of the overall spirit of Asbury Park. And it’s a great way to kick off the summer Memorial Day weekend on the boardwalk in Asbury Park."
The Asbury Music Festival, featuring Pete Yorn, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Dave Edmunds,
Martin Sexton, Graham Parker, Dan Bern, Marah, Sloan and Antigone Rising, takes place at the Convention
Hall Complex, Ocean Avenue, Asbury Park, May 25, 3 p.m. Tickets cost $33; $35 dos. For information, call (732)
986-9660. On the Web: www.concertseast.com