NEWS

By FORREST OLD

ASBURY PARK, June 11, 2009 -- Upon entering the Stone Pony for my first show as an intern, my eyes immediately took to the surroundings. The room, with exception to the stage, was lit just enough for people to maneuver their way through the large room. Multiple bars speckled the landscape. The smell of cigarettes trickled in from the outdoors area. Most prominent, though, were the walls, running out of real estate for the signed guitars and photos of past performers. The history emanating from each item my eyes touched upon began to wind up my nerves.

I survived to the end of the night with my integrity intact. Some things went as expected. There was initial trouble getting in without paying and stumbling in getting interviews intermingled with the standard jotting of pen to notepad. Ironically, the unexpected came from the acts, whose music was close to a paradox of the event's "Smooth Thursday" title. The opener, Gravity Free, started neither with reggae nor cool rock, but instead the King of the Hill cartoon's theme song before settling into their own funk-infused alternative originals. The Mighty Space Monkeys would be next, playing their renditions of pop punk. The following two bands, Level Vibes and Barry & the Penetrators, would finally introduce reggae two hours after the doors opened. Flight's Kool would end the night with their own style of reggae blended rap-rock - picture rap group Atmosphere having a music baby with Jack Johnson's reggae rhythms.

The two headliners played strongly into the hands of the small crowd, made up mostly of friends and family of those performing. The MCs of Flight's Kool spewed forth lyrics with a gut-wrenching fervor, Barry & the Penetrators proved that looks can be deceiving, showing that people with a lot of tattoos, biker-gang looks, and even sporting Mohawks means nothing when it comes to playing the music they love. White people may be the ones predominantly carrying Bob Marley's legacy these days, but you wouldn't know it listening to Barry sing.

In contrast, a lack of experience being on stage was apparent for the first three bands.

"Sorry, we're still coming down a little from the buzz of being up there," said Mike Turner, lead singer and guitarist of Gravity Free, after the band had finished their set.

Any musician will tell you about the rush of playing in public. The trick is to control it, something that comes with multiple performances. Forming nine months ago, Gravity Free is still relatively green, with this being their first show. Bassist Jake Weinstein barely stopped grinning. Drummer Jamie Hawley even admitted to screwing up his part at one point. There were also minor timing issues and an occasional disparity in continuity that caused a couple of the first songs to clash at times. However, they smoothed things out by the end of their set and displayed burgeoning talent as a group with their original tunes.

Level Vibes' four years of jamming together has left them with more cohesive music than Gravity Free, but because they haven't played much at venues either, it still took them a little bit to relax a little a lose their stiff wide-eyed look. The Mighty Space Monkeys were quite the opposite of their fellow openers. They sounded tight, had good back up vocals, their lead singer had charisma, and ended just as well as they started. But they played so many Green Day covers that the announcer referred to them as such. The bigger problem with this is the fact that Green Day should never have its own tribute band. That privilege should be left to past-on legends and bands of great talent. Bands such as the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd. Otherwise, as Barry's closing words to the Penetrators' final song were, "Cover bands suck."

Anyway, it's been a long night. There's no fuel left in the tank and all the cigarettes are gone from my pack. I've survived night one, only to do it tomorrow.