I thought that with Jon Bon Jovi and the boys in South America that my schedule would somehow slow down. Ha! In reality, that just means I miss fewer Southside Johnny shows. Three in the last two weekends and another two on tap before the gang heads to Europe.
So, I took a quick trip to Bethlehem, PA on Friday to catch the Jukes at the new "venue" at the Sands Casino. As I found out ... not really a venue, just a BIG tent set up on an asphalt slab. I think they are planning on building something once they've stolen enough patrons' money. Ha! They didn't get anything from me! I came out ahead about $200. :-)Anyhoo, there are some bands where the venue should just remove all chairs -- and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes is definitely one of them. Performers thrive on the energy that comes back to them from the crowd -- so everyone sitting on their hands the whole time is just cruel. So, after the main set, a few regular Jukesfolks and I finally rushed the stage. At one point I honestly thought we might get arrested, but figured it was well worth it. I look at it as doing a public service by standing up and singing. :-)
I must say, though ... Friday night reminded me why I hate casino shows - whether its Bon Jovi or Southside Johnny or anyone - because there is always some type of time constraint. Even though the performer usually pushes it as far as they can, it often feels like they (and the audience) are somehow short-changed. Nonetheless, the guys put on a great show as usual.
Speaking of performers who push things (in a good way), my weekend closed with the final performance of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong's guest appearance in the role of St. Jimmy in the Broadway production of American Idiot. I had seen the show on opening night (review here) and was happy to be able to catch it on another special night -- especially as my friend got us house seats which were row H dead center. Woohoo! The show was definitely energized by Billie Joe and the crowd went wild. A cool moment during the bows when he had written a special intro about his stint on Broadway. Someone upstairs was able to capture it on video:
What the video didn't capture was when he gave his brand new Gibson guitar to a fan in the audience after she gave him a bouquet of flowers! That was something!
Not much to report on the JoviFront right now (plenty of Google alerts about Hall of Fame noms, interviews in South America, Heather changing her name, etc., that you can all read ... or not) ...
OH! except there IS the upcoming movie theater showings of the Giants concert(s) in May. Now, THAT should be a blast ... if you're coming in to NYC to see it at the 42nd Street AMC let me know and we can meet up. I'm excited because by that point I will be in my new place -- only about two blocks from there -- nearly smack dab in Times Square. :-)
So, until we "meet" again ...
p.s. SSJ photo credit: Kevin Mingora, The Morning Call
