Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes at Rolling River Music Fest, Red Wing, MN (27 June 2015)

Southside Johnny

Jersey Shore legends Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes got the good times going with an upbeat 95 min. set that showed us Midwesterners how they properly do it back east.  Their Stax-influenced rock/R&B sound is as perfect for outdoor festivals, as it is in dark clubs, and even the elderly townsfolk ensconced in their lawn chairs in this city park, had feet tapping along.



The horn section was blazing right from the set opener, ‘Shake ‘Em on Down’, the Jukes’ triple-time update of the old 1937 Delta blues classic. Baby boomers in the crowd responded to 1966’s ‘Walk Away Renee’ which was matched up with Tom Waits’ ‘Gin Soaked Boy’, with Johnny growling vocally like Waits and peppered by some Jersey Shore sax.  “We’re in Minnesota tonight, I should have known that from the thirty-two Lutheran churches that I passed by”, Johnny cheekily remarked after.



Johnny and the Jukes also pulled out a few covers from their Jersey friend, Bruce Springsteen, notably ‘The Fever’ and ‘Talk to Me’, the latter of which had several in the audience be invited up to help sing the chorus.  In the spirit of the Dr. John show I caught earlier in the day, Johnny commented on the humidity and called an audible to the band, delving into Jersey compatriot Gary US Bonds’ ‘New Orleans’ which brought the horns to the forefront, along with next song, ‘Without Love’.



“I need some rock n roll at this juncture!”, said Johnny pleading to the band to raise the tempo up, “let’s do that” he said, as one of the members went into the first notes of ‘Happy’, with Johnny doing his best Keith Richards as well as unleashing with a mid-song harmonica solo.

Setlist

Relaxed and clearly having a good time, a spontaneous ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ emerged full bloom from a stray keyboard riff and the band closed with the romping ‘I Don’t Want to Go Home’ before being called back to the stage to reward the audience with their version of Sam Cooke’s ‘Having a Party’ which showed off some of Red Wing’s finest dance moves.



Loose and fun, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes brought the party with them, and as evidenced between the setlist and what was actually played (wildly different), the band was having a good time as well, showing off the forty years of experience as  being one of the great bar bands to see live.



Southside Johnny’s tour dates:

07/03/15 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony 07/04/15 Albany, NY Empire State Plaza 07/08/15 Copiague, NY Tanner Park 07/10/15 Enfield, CT Town Green 07/12/15 Alexandria, VA Birchmere 07/31/15 Matunuck, RI Ocean Mist 08/01/15 Truro, MA Payomet Perf Arts Center 08/02/15 Salisbury, MA Blue Ocean Music Hall 08/14/15 South Park, PA South Park Amph 08/15/15 Cleveland Heights, OH Evans Amph 09/19/15 West Springfield, MA “The Big E”

09/20/15 West Springfield, MA “The Big E” 09/21/15 West Springfield, MA “The Big E” 10/02/15 Fairfield, CT The Warehouse 10/16/15 Niagara Falls, NY Seneca Niagara 11/06/15 Newton, NJ The Newton Theatre 11/07/15 Bethel, NY Bethel Woods Center 11/20/15 Hartford, CT Infinity Hall Hartford 11/21/15 Manchester, NH Palace Theatre 12/26/15 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere 12/31/15 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre 02/05/16 Newport News, VA Ferguson Center 02/06/16 Wilmington, DE Grand Opera House