This long-running act loves playing small venues. Where they are scheduled to play locally
We were reminiscing about some of the places we’ve seen Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes over the years and concluded that the Spire Center in Plymouth will be the smallest venue of them all. Considering that the band is one of the most dynamic rock ‘n’ soul outfits ever, well known for its potent horn section and blazing guitars, along with that soulful guy on vocals, a show in the 200-capacity former church should be an unforgettable night.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes play the Spire Center on Thursday, Aug. 22. It’s part of a weekend in Massachusetts, as they’ll perform at the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury on Aug. 23. They’ll also be back in New England right after Labor Day, playing at Veterans Memorial Park in Norwalk, Connecticut, on Sept. 6. (The Spire Center is located at 25? Court St. in downtown Plymouth, and the show begins at 8 p.m., with tickets ranging from $89.10-$99, available through spirecenter.org. Call 508-746-4488 for more information.)
In our little trip down memory lane, we recall hearing Southside Johnny and the Jukes at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston, a bluesfest on a football/soccer field in Framingham, at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, at Showcase Live in Foxboro, the Narrows Center in Fall River and the Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, Rhode Island. None of those venues come close to the Spire Center’s cozy warmth.
“I like to play the more intimate shows,” said Southside Johnny, aka John Lyon, from his New Jersey home last week. “We usually do play bigger venues, but I’ve found that the smaller shows bring out the most intense, emotional shows. It becomes a much different show than in the bigger theaters, and sometimes that can be really nice, for the fans and for us. We can showcase every musician in the band, and have a great party there.”
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes had spent most of the summer to this point touring Europe, and they were enjoying a couple weeks off before returning to the road.
Southside Johnny enjoyed European tour
“Europe was great. We had a really good time,” said Johnny. “But it was hot over there too. We were in Bologna, Italy, and it was 95 degrees with no shade – there’s just no trees. But we did have a wonderful time exploring some of those old historical sites over there.”
Since he and his band burst onto the scene in the mid-1970s, the Jukes built a reputation as the ultimate bar band, but also as superb interpreters of classic soul, not to mention stellar performers of their own originals, rocked-up soul and rhythm and blues. While they were becoming legends of the Jersey Shore nightclub circuit, they were also early musical role models for Bruce Springsteen. In fact, Springsteen’s right-hand man – guitarist Steven Van Zandt – was the guitarist in the Jukes before he joined Springsteen, and both he and "The Boss" have penned numerous songs for Southside Johnny.
Johnny has role in Van Zandt documentary
In the excellent new HBO documentary, “Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple,” those early days on the club scene are examined affectionately, and Southside Johnny is shown in a speaking role as well as performing. We wondered if he’d seen the finished film yet.
“I have heard the Little Steven documentary is very good,” said Johnny, “and there’s another one just out about Jon Bon Jovi too. We’re all getting to a place where we can say, ‘Yes, we had a career worth remembering.’ People ask me about writing a book all the time, but that’s just not me. Not as this point anyway. But there is no doubt Steven Van Zandt was a very inspirational figure for some of us. He’s the one who, when he came into the band, taught us we really had to knuckle down and make it as good as it could be, if we hoped to get anywhere and make a living at it.”
Having Bon Jovi on their tour a great memory
It was pointed out that when their New Jersey friend Bon Jovi accompanied the Jukes on a tour in the early 2000s, they’d played a most memorable show at the South Shore Music Circus.
“Oh yeah, that was fun when Jon came on the road with us,” Johnny chuckled. “He had no tour of his own that summer, so he asked if he could come out on the road with the Jukes. Jon is a great guy, and we’ve known him forever. We had to register him in the hotels as ‘Velvet Velvet,' because if we used anything close to his name, he’d be swarmed with women all the time.”
It has been a while since Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes released any new music, although in 2022 they did re-release their 2008 album, “Grapefruit Moon,” a collection of Tom Waits tunes, with a new track added – a duet with Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg on the song “Straight to the Top.” However there have been some live recordings from the past, a Live in England set, and most recently a Live in Cleveland ’77 set. (Boston-area fans will also recall the live set, released in 2008, “Live in Boston ’78,” at the Paradise Rock Club). How does Johnny feel about the new releases of the older live sets?
Johnny doesn't listen to old recordings
“I don’t listen to them, because I hate to hear myself,” said Johnny. “I always zero in on my vocals and think I could’ve done better. It’s tough for me, because I always want to fix everything. But people I trust told me these recordings really sound pretty good, so I was fine with them being out there.”
As far as new material, Southside said he has about 150 songs in more or less completed form, and ready to be worked up with the band, but the need for a new album isn’t as immediate as it used to be.
“We have some songs written,” said Johnny, who has found an effective collaborator in Jukes keyboardist Jeff Kazee. “But this isn’t the time to devote our energies to that. Maybe this winter we will be able to put it all together. I love the idea now of releasing singles, or EPs with four or five tunes. At times we have songs that we are really excited about, but we don’t want to divert to organizing and putting together 12 songs for an album. The current music model of just releasing singles or EPs seems like it makes a lot of sense to me.”
Along with their stirring originals, the Jukes have also always been known for unearthing and reviving chestnuts from the past. Southside Johnny and his good friend, E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent, are inveterate record collectors, and finding new/old nuggets is a continuing joy.
Finding old favorites to play
“Garry has something like 5,000 45 (rpm) records, and we listen to them every chance we get,” said Johnny. “Garry’s in Nashville now, and I was down there to his place not long ago. We still find stuff we’ve never heard before, or even been aware of. We used a couple songs like those on our blues album, (2000’s “Messin’ With the Blues”). It’s usually a case of us listening and deciding, ‘let’s cover that,’ and then the band and I take a stab at it. It’s a very loose approach where we learn it the same day. But it is fun to find something like that. I just bought 100 45s two days ago, and some are interesting, and some are not good, but it is an intriguing thing to do. I’m still very much into those 1950s-‘60s labels, and there are still many I don’t even know – that period was a big time for the entrepreneurship of labels, so there were a lot of them.”
Along with Kazee, the current Jukes roster includes Glenn Alexander on guitar, Chris Anderson on trumpet, John Conte on bass, John Isley on saxes, Tom Seguso on drums, and Neal Pawley on trombone. The number of Jukes alumni is long and impressive, much like the vaunted former members of the bands of the late John Mayall, who just passed away last month. What makes someone a suitable Juke, aside from the obvious musical ability necessary to play the wide variety in the band’s repertoire?
“I always admired John Mayall because he was a real road dog right to the end,” said Johnny, when we posed the question. “We want somebody dedicated to being the best musician they can be, but also, I’d say, a sense of humor is the biggest attribute we want. We take our music seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously. This band’s atmosphere is more like a bunch of kids having some fun. We have had a lot of people pass through who didn’t really fit. And generally, we know right away, this person is not a Juke. We spend a lot of time together, and most of it is offstage, so we want someone with no drama, who can really fit in and enjoy the fun aspect of what we do.”
Grace Potter lights it up in Cohasset
I think I’m still sweating from Grace Potter’s 90-minute blast furnace of a show last Wednesday at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset. Potter and her drummer opened with a sizzling duo take on “Lady Vagabond,” and the energy level never got much below that intensity for the rest of the night. The midtempo to fiery rock dynamics of “Empty Heart” made it a highlight, as the singer veered from guitar to keyboards, to simply singing with a tambourine. Potter made a joking reference to the venue’s spinning stage, doing a brief cover of “Circle Game,” the Tom Rush classic popularized by Joni Mitchell, and repeated it with a brief snippet later on. Potter’s energy and charisma was truly incredible through full bore rockers like “Medicine” and “Ready Set Go.” But one of her most indelible vocals came on an inspired, psychedelic-tinged rendition of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” where her range reminded fans she’s one of the very few current performers who can tackle those iconic Grace Slick high notes. Potter encored with a steamy take on her hit “Paris (Ooh La La),” to conclude an amazing night of torrid rock ‘n’ roll. New Hampshire’s MB Padfield opened with a half hour set of appealing folk-rock, done solo with a drum machine and loops.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes set to play Spire Center
