Here's
the crucial element: The band's set was part of a three-day celebration of all things
Jukes that attracted fans from as far away as Australia and Switzerland.
Three hundred devotees, paying $140 each, were treated not only to the intimate,
high-energy, nearly three-hour show in the hotel's ballroom, but autograph and
picture-posing sessions with the band Saturday morning, and separate sets throughout the
weekend by bands led by Jukes members Mark Pender, Bobby Bandiera, Richie "La
Bamba" Rosenberg and Jeff Kazee.
Memorabilia on display included the band's first promotional T-shirt, from 1975;
hand-written lyrics to one of their signature songs, "I Don't Want To Go Home,"
and the key to the city of Asbury Park, which they received in 1978.
"I'm having a ball," said Ocean Grove native and current Nashville resident John
"Southside Johnny" Lyon in an interview that took place after the autograph
session but before the show. "I was a little worried coming in, but it hasn't been
anything but good, which is surprising to me. Signing autographs has always been a weird
thing for me. It's like, 'Why would you want it?' I still think of myself as this guy from
this little town in New Jersey."
Still, he didn't seem uncomfortable during the three-hour, 15-minute autograph session,
joking around with fans and signing as many items as they wanted (even though they were
told in advance he would only sign one).
"I like the people: I mean, they come up and jive me as much as I jive them," he
said with a laugh. "And it's very flattering to have people come from Amsterdam and
Germany and everything like that. After all these years, it's still a bit like, 'What's
the big deal?' But they enjoy it, and that makes me happy. It's been a long time that
people have supported me, and how can you pay that back? You just can't."
Many of the fans in attendance have been following the group since the mid-'70s, when, in
the wake of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's breakthrough success, the Jukes
were touted as the next big thing to come out of the Shore rock scene. They never became
superstars, but did have minor hits like "I Don't Want To Go Home," "Havin'
a Party" and "Talk To Me," and developed a reputation as one of the rock
scene's hardest-driving live acts.
"This is a good-time party band," said Rick Gamache, 36, who lives in upstate
New York. "I got into this band 20 years ago. It was probably at a keg party in high
school that I first started listening to this stuff. It's just feel-good music."
Lyon has kept the band going in many different forms over the years. There have been at
least 46 distinct Jukes lineups featuring 66 different musicians, according to an
obsessively detailed "Family Tree" poster compiled by "JUKESTOCK"
attendee Mike Saunders. The poster "kind of grew out of my crazy fandom," said
Saunders, a 42-year-old office administrator from London who came to New Jersey just for
JUKESTOCK. "I've seen him 33 times live. It grew out of that, and kept on
rolling."
Lyon and the Jukes treated their fans to a special show Saturday night, combining their
usual material with seldom played songs such as "Paris," "Little Girl So
Fine" and "On the Beach"; bluesy numbers from their new album,
"Messin' With the Blues," and covers of songs such as Springsteen's "Fade
Away," Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and Smokey Robinson's "Bad
Girl." Some of the more obscure songs were requested via the Southside Johnny Digest,
the Internet-based fan organization that organized JUKESTOCK.
Even before JUKESTOCK, many of the band's fans felt the Jukes were one of the most
approachable, down-to-earth rock groups. "From the beginning, they were always very
responsive to their fans," said Cheryl Cline, a 43-year-old library director from San
Diego, Calif. "You'd get autographs and talk to them before and after shows; they
were real people that you could actually communicate with and touch. It wasn't like
somebody up on a stage at a huge arena."
"We've hung out until after the show, and Southside has come out, and the horn
players come out," said Christine Gamache, 34, Rick Gamache's wife. "They meet
the fans and have a few beers and let us take pictures. They don't hide upstairs after the
show and wait until everybody leaves."
"JUKESTOCK", said Cline, was for the fans. We stuck with him through good and
bad times, all these years, and it paid off in the end. This has been a fabulous
weekend."
By JAY LUSTIG
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
COPYRIGHT © The
Star-Ledger 2001
Date: 2001/03/06 Tuesday Page: 033 Section: TODAY Edition: FINAL |
