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OT: Sea Hear Now

Yep it was great and great to have during a bye

My only complaint was that the crowd for Bruce was so massive, it was the furthest back on the beach I have been. Would have loved a little more time between Gaslight and Bruce
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
Geez, that sounds awful. Last festival I attended was Ozzfest 1999. Just don't have the stamina and patience to sit outside in the hot sun to wait for the 1 or 2 acts I want to see, and that includes Springsteen. Also, being parked on a beach (or on a boat) all day would make it less enjoyable.

We took a boat ride on the Manasquan River yesterday afternoon. Even on the river, the wind was brutal, and while no whitecaps, it was choppy. Could not imagine what the inlet and ocean were like, but it sounded bad.

Here's a song to make you feel better:

 
They added more speakers. I could hear clearly from my post -- I was a wristband scanner by the Wonder Bar. They also added screens on the beach. They went down after the 3rd or 4th song, but came back on again a few songs later.
I heard about the people throwing up on the boats. The wind was fairly strong out of the east all day, but did die down slightly later in the evening.
 
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Great event. 4th year going. They worked out all of the kinks and bottle necks from last year.

Only issue was getting back into the festival on Sunday afternoon around 2:30. People don’t know how to attend events or navigate crowds. Should have only taken 5 minutes to re-enter but took 30+ minutes because people are stupid and don’t pay attention.
 
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I am part of the Asbury Ushers. We are volunteers who used to usher events at the Paramount when it was open. We do other events around AP and at Monmouth University. It is fun, but it is a long day/weekend on your feet. Some times we can break away for a few minutes to see the performers, but most of the time we are busy working.
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
The boats looked like torture - it was very rough.

Lots of boats came and then left
 
We got shut out on tickets but decided to go and stay in the area anyway. We spent a few days on the beach in perfect weather, listened to some music outside the fences, hit the Wonder Bar on Friday for a ticketed after hours event and did the same at The Pony for Saturday. Stood on the rail, five to ten feet from The Boss.
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
I played golf at Due Process on Friday and my host had the same idea. but as soon as he got the weather report, he scrapped it due to the sound/wind issue.
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!

The boats looked like torture - it was very rough.

Lots of boats came and then left
I was swimming in Spring Lake around that time before I went back to work that night.

Very rough but warm and fun. With the rips and strength of the current I probably shouldn't have gone in. 🤷‍♂️
 
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I went to pick up my daughter in Asbury who was at the concert, and I heard Rosalitta - he sounded great.
Don’t know where he gets the energy. Was there with a buddy that has seen him over 100 times and he said it was one of his best and most memorable performances.

Obviously the venue couldn’t have been topped.

Live from Asbury park!!!
 
That's funny. I have a tape I recorded many years ago when Bruce was just making it big. I think it was an interview he did with somebody from WNEW-FM, which was airing his entire concert that evening. During the interview he was asked why he didn't (up to that point, of course) do any outdoor venues. His response was that his band relied on a certain amount of "wall sound", and at outdoor venues the sound just goes out and down the street instead of bouncing off of the walls.
I've got it somewhere. I gotta find that tape.
 
The weather was pristine. I briefly considered going on the Miss Belmar as they did a deal for $160. Thank god I didn't - those boats were all rocking and rolling, even the large ones.

My recommendation to improve the traffic on the beach would be to keep couple of 5' wide areas from beach to boardwalk clear as means of egress, and don't allow large blankets at all. When everyone was sitting on the blankets it took me 15 minutes to walk back because they take up so much space. Once everyone stood when the show started it was fine.

Show was incredible. Bruce seemed to be really, really enjoying himself and sorta bemused by the whole thing.
 
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Mrs. Insanity got invited thru a friend on one of the boats for free. Said that lots got sea sick but she made it thru and loved the show from the water.
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
We were sitting on the beach not far from the inlet thinking about the wind making it hard to hear and the rough seas for anyone in a boat.
 
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I gave up on festivals two decades ago. Springsteen is the only performer for which I'd make an exception, so I went last night. I knew I wouldn't regret it... and I didn't.

With the show being in Asbury Park, I knew we were in for a special show... and what a setlist it was! I've seen The Boss about 150x since the first time I saw him live at the Meadowlands in 1984.

My friends and I arrived just in time to see Trey Anastasio. We got on the beach and just kept walking to get as close to the stage as possible. We found a good place behind the soundstage. There was some obstruction, but we were able to see through the soundstage. Also, there was a video screen directly above it.

We didn't plan on getting there as early as we did, but thrilled we did. Bruce joined Trey for an awesome version of Kitty's Back.
 
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Now...THAT'S a different story. I would love to have seen that.
Kitty's Back is one of my favorite tunes. And Trey can play.
Jealous.
Indoors is better though.
It was brilliant!



Interesting tidbit: the 1978 show at Jadwin that Trey mentioned was supposed to be at Rutgers, but Tom Young refused to give up a practice at the RAC so the concert was switched to Princeton.
 
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I know my kids are big Gaslight fans. Only time I've ever heard them perform was years ago on Letterman. Didn't they break up for a while?
 
1. Tried very hard but couldn't get through to get tickets when they went on sale.
2. Shortly thereafter, a friend reaches out and says lets charter a boat. I recalled how there were dozens of boats out there last year and all seemed to be having fun.
3. I plunk down $260 (includes food) for my wife and I to go on the boat.
4. Sunday comes and the wind is blowing from the northeast (bad for sound) and their is a rip current alert. We get on the boat.
5. As soon as the boat leave the Manasquan inlet, people start getting sick. By the time we're anchored in Asbury Park, 20 out of 30 people aren't feeling well.
6. Kool and the Gang is on the stage. At times, the sound is good, at others you can't hear them.
7. We can't hear a sound from the other sand stage.
8. By now about 10 people are throwing up and two are lying down in the cabin unable to stand up.
9. In the middle of Kitty's Back, we decide "OK we saw Bruce" and get out of there.
10. I was in bed at 9:30.
11. This morning I saw the set list and wanted to cry that I missed it.
12. As I type this, I'm still having random but mild dizzy spells.

Other than that, it was great!
Damn that kind of sucks.

I really wanted to go, but we planned our OCNJ trip almost a year ago and it started Saturday and we have my sister and brother and me (and SOs) together for the first time in many years (and our son and his fiancee, so no go on that. Great line-up.
 
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I know my kids are big Gaslight fans. Only time I've ever heard them perform was years ago on Letterman. Didn't they break up for a while?
Yeah, they broke up for several years. One of my favorite bands and great live - saw them 5X in the late 2000s at various venues, including our son's first real "bar" show at the Stone Pony when he and his friend were about 15 (was all ages) - they had a blast.
 
Geez, that sounds awful. Last festival I attended was Ozzfest 1999. Just don't have the stamina and patience to sit outside in the hot sun to wait for the 1 or 2 acts I want to see, and that includes Springsteen. Also, being parked on a beach (or on a boat) all day would make it less enjoyable.

We took a boat ride on the Manasquan River yesterday afternoon. Even on the river, the wind was brutal, and while no whitecaps, it was choppy. Could not imagine what the inlet and ocean were like, but it sounded bad.

Here's a song to make you feel better:

How did you leave early if you were on a boat?
 
Mrs. Insanity got invited thru a friend on one of the boats for free. Said that lots got sea sick but she made it thru and loved the show from the water.
What time did her boat get there? We got there at 4:30 and the idea of sitting there for 6 more hours was untenable. Maybe if we had not tried to see the other bands and arrived closer to 7:30, the music would have taken our mind elsewhere and it would have been more bearable.
 
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