Whiskey Myers & Blackberry Smoke
The Stone Pony Summer Stage – Asbury Park, NJ – August 21, 2024
Review & Photos – Rebecca Wolf
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccawolfconcertphotos/
On August 21st, fans filled the general admission area of The Stony Pony Summer Stage, an expensive space with a 4,500 capacity. The summer stage is the “backyard” of one of the world’s best known music venues, The Stone Pony, which opened its doors in Asbury Park, NJ in February 1974. The Stone Pony, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary this year, has changed ownership several times and has gone through a number of renovations in the past half century. Throughout the years the goal has remained to keep legacy of the venue alive, including the memories of the iconic performances that have been welcomed onto the The Stone Pony stage.
Early performers in the 1970s included Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes (including Stevie Van Zandt), guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, members of the E Street Band, legendary singers Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey, and a number of southern rock, blues rock and shore party bands. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s The Pony expanded with nationally known artists, including Elvis Costello, The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Blondie, Meatloaf, Todd Rundgren, Joan Jett, Gregg Allman and Levon Helm, to name a few. Members of the E Street Band continued stop in to play gigs while not on tour and The Pony continuously brought in fans hoping to see Bruce dropping by to perform before going on tour.
While times were changing in the 90s, The Stone Pony continued to attract bands such as Green Day, No Doubt, The Kinks, Goo Goo Dolls, Warren Zevon, Black Eyed Peas, The Wallflowers, and Hootie and the Blowfish. In the early 2000s, the revitalization of Asbury Park, brought new life to The Stone Pony and performers at the club included Maroon 5, Collective Soul, The Lumineers, Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler, The Black Crowes, Third Eye Blind, Indigo Girls and Boys Night Out, amongst many others. In 2008, The Stone Pony partnered with Live Nation, leading to the expansion of the summer stage to it’s current size, the width of a city block. With The Stone Pony and the summer stage at their peak, national artists and local musicians, as well as their adoring fans, continue to flock to The Pony for both indoor and outdoor performances.
On this warm August evening, fans filled the general admission summer stage open space, flanked with a grand stage and towering canopy emblazoned with “The Stone Pony Summer Stage.” The evening’s musical bill included two incredible country, Southern Rock bands, with distinctly different sounds. The evening’s opening act was Blackberry Smoke, a country rock, Americana, folk band with blues rock and jam band energy weaved throughout their music. During the past 24 years Blackberry Smoke has had albums on the US Billboard Country and Americana/Folk charts and has reached No. 1 in album sales in both country and rock. They’ve also amassed a phenomenally devoted fan-following. Blackberry Smoke fans (Brothers & Sisters) don’t just love the band’s music, it’s apparent they also feel passionate about the band members. This admiration and appreciation is two-sided, as regardless of the success they’ve achieved, these musicians continue to connect to their fans with down-to-earth, humble, Southern charm.
Having seen Blackberry Smoke perform on many occasion it’s challenging to find something new to write about their performance. That’s because, whether Blackberry Smoke is performing as the evening’s opening act or the headliner, in a small indoor theater or a large, outdoor general admission space, they consistently demonstrate incredible musicianship and passionate energy while performing songs from their catalog of dynamic music. Show after show, there’s never anyone more electric than the band’s lead singer and guitarist, Charlie Starr. Starr brightens the stage from the moment he arrives until the band’s departure. This energy emanating from the stage is consistently reflected back at the band with magnified enthusiasm from their adoring audience.
As Starr danced about the stage, guitarists Paul Jackson and Benji Shanks jammed together on their guitars, a regular dynamic duo, as Brandon Sills moved from sitting to standing and back to sitting as he performed on the keys. Kent Aberle, perched behind his bass drum, decorated with a fierce multicolored rooster, passionately played with eyes often closed, as his sticks swiftly struck the array of drums and cymbals before him. Joining the band onstage this evening were back-up singers, The Black Bettys, who added an additional layer of depth and flair to the Blackberry Smoke sound. The last band member, holding down the fort from his usual position on the end of stage right, keeping the music’s rhythmic bass line, was the typically stoic, bespectacled, bearded, bassist Richard Turner. However, on this evening there was noticeably more animation on Turner’s face as he joined in on background vocals and allowed a brief smile to momentary alter his solemn expression.
Blackberry Smoke’s hour long set opened with “Lit Bit Crazy” and included “Good One Comin’ On,” “Hammer and the Nail,” “Pretty Little Lie,” “Hey Delilah,” “Waiting for the Thunder” and “Sleeping Dogs.” Starr dedicated the set’s final number to “all the divorced people who are here,” as the band proceeded to play an incredible, high-spirited 11-minute performance of “Ain’t Much Left of Me” (interluded with “Willin’” by Little Feat and “Mississippi Kid” by Lynyrd Skynyrd) that had the crowd cheering and enthusiastically singing along. For fans of Blackberry Smoke, it was an unfamiliar, even disappointing feeling, for Blackberry Smoke to be an opening act, as one hour of Blackberry Smoke’s music just never is enough.
The headliner of the night, Whiskey Myers, has its roots in the country/Southern rock sound, but has a very different delivery than Blackberry Smoke. “I like Blackberry Smoke,” a gentleman with a white beard and “biker energy” expressed to me. “But, I love Whiskey Myers… they’re real rock.” And rock is what Whiskey Myers did from the moment they burst onto the brightly colored, fog-filled stage. Whiskey Myers is a country/Southern HARD rock band. While there is an underlying feeling of “Southerness” to the band (born out of their Texas roots), there’s an overriding hard-edge rock sound. With three guitar players, a bass player, and two drummers, this band is all about strong musical power. Over the past 17 years Whiskey Myers, including Cody Cannon, lead vocals, guitar and harmonica, John Jeffers, lead guitar, slide guitar, lap steel and vocals, Cody Tate, lead and rhythm guitar and vocals, Jamey Gleaves, bass, Jeff Hogg, drums, and Tony Kent, percussion and keys, has released six albums, the most recent, Tornillo in July 2022.
The evening’s set opened with “The Wolf,” from Tornillo, a perfect number to display Cannon’s dynamic, gritty, vocals, bolstered by a passionate guitar performance by Jeffers, along with Hogg’s commanding drumming. This energy instantly electrified an already primed audience and had all in attendance cheering, jumping, and singing along. While it was challenging to see Gleaves, Hogg and Kent perform throughout the show, as they were shrouded in fog, the powerful, dynamic rhythm they consistently generated could be heard and felt during each number, including the searing “Gasoline,” the dramatic “Bury My Bones,” the vengeful “Bitch” and the charismatic “Hammer,” all from the band’s 2019 self-titled album. “Broken Window Serenade” an impassioned acoustic guitar number demonstrated a quieter side to the band and to Cannon’s vocals. Raising his hand in the air, Cannon signaled to the crowd to take lead in singing the number’s heartfelt lyrics, which the crowd eagerly obliged, as Cannon serenaded the audience with a beautiful harmonica solo.
The band played a range of additional numbers from their catalog during the two-hour set, including “Frogman,” “Mud” and “Trailer We Call Home,” from 2016’s Mud and “Feet’s,” “Bad Medicine,” “John Wayne” and “Heart of Stone” from Tornillo. A cover of Jackson’s Browne’s “Running on Empty,” with vocals performed by Tony Kent, added a light, spirited energy to the performance. However, it was the evening’s final number, a cover of Chuck Berry’s legendary “Johnny B. Goode,” that brought the good ole rock and roll spirit to the next level. As Cannon sang he danced about the stage, while the audience clapped, cheered and joined in singing “Go, Go!” The cheers escalated as Charlie Starr entered the stage, joining the band to sing a verse of this iconic rock and roll number. Upon Starr’s exit Cannon returned to singing and bouncing about, while Jeffers and Tate jammed on their guitars, each showcasing their phenomenal rock guitar skills.
After a night of great country/Southern rock music, with the Americana, blues rock spirit of Blackberry Smoke, and the hard rock energy of Whiskey Myers, Chuck Berry’s upbeat, spirited, iconic rock and roll number was a perfect way to close a performance at The Stone Pony. How lucky we are in NJ to have such close access to “one of the world’s best known music venues.” Here’s to the next half century of music!
