I kinda conned my way onto the Stone Pony stage. For those not familiar with it, the Stone Pony is a music venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey made legendary by its longtime association with "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen and other Jersey Shore legends like Southside Johnny, Little Steven, and more. It's always been one of my dreams to play there (even though I'd only been there no more than 2 or 3 times). When I found out they were looking for acts to play a showcase, I put my hat in the ring. Actually, hats. The bando I was in at the time was called The Aluminum Foils. A Jackie Puppet off-shoot, it featured me and New York singer-songwriter Grace Bergere on lead vocals and guitar, Saxy on sax and flute, and Slim on drums. Me and Grace wrote the songs. To this day, it's one of my favorite musical things I've been involved in. In our short existence, we played two shows at New York's Bowery Electric (one opening for "Howard Stern Show" legend Fred Norris's band) and a couple of shows at Crossroads in Garwood, New Jersey (including the "RagTag Stardust" show). Our sound was a combination of our influences, but was a bit on the darker side, a little moodier than the other bands. I saw the Foils as Jackie Puppet's dark alter-ego. In the middle of this Foils thing, I submitted our name to be considered for the Stone Pony showcase. The band got the gig, and I was mailed somewhere around 50 tickets with "The Aluminum Foils" written on them. It was our job to sell them. I got my Brother and Sister-In-Law to come, and Slim had his crew. But it definitely wasn't 50 people. Guess we weren't gonna be asked back. But, whatever, we played the Pony! Not as The Aluminum Foils, though. Slim said to me, "Why aren't we doing this as Jackie Puppet!? It's the Stone Pony! Jersey Shore! Boardwalk! Beer! That's our thing, man! Duh!" He was right. Duh! So I contacted the booker before the show about our "name change". It was no problem, but the tickets already said "The Aluminum Fouls". That's why I have no "Jackie Puppet at Stone Pony" tickets. But I made up a great flyer! Now, Grace wasn't in Jackie Puppet, but she could play anything. So we had our new Jackie Puppet line-up featuring Grace Bergere on bass. Hill was back on drums, and the rest of us in our usual places. When we got to the Stone Pony, we had the talented Dan Krug take some band photos outside the venue. He really captured some great shots. We were all dressed really cool, and I think we looked like a real band, not just a bunch of people standing together. We rocked our set. It was a short set, since it was a showcase. There were tons of other bands like The Hannas, Water Street, Dave Mooney & The Aztec Gypsy, Xander Mark & Lea B, Calvin's Love Life, and more. The Hannas, in particular, were into us, and we like them too. Our set time was in the afternoon, so it wasn't a big crowd. But we rocked and had a great time! My Brother and Sister-In-Law were proud of me playing there. We all were. Slim is one of the biggest Springsteen fans I know, so it was very special for him to play the Stone Pony. I personally consider it one of the highlights of my life. Jackie Puppet in The Boss's house!
(photos by Dan Krug & more)