Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes

with special guest The Adam Ezra Group

Friday, November 8, 2019 at 8:00 PM at Tarrytown Music Hall

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes emerged from the New Jersey shore scene in 1974, and though they carried over a significant influence (and some key personnel) from Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the Jukes evolved as more of a white R&B horn band in the Memphis Stax Records tradition. Organized by singer John Lyon, guitarist/songwriter Steve Van Zandt (who decamped for the E Street Band in 1975, but continued to produce, manage, and write songs for the Jukes) and Richie Rosenberg, the band is well known for high-energy shows and no-holds-barred songs, including “I Don’t Wanna Go Home,” “Havin’ a Party,” “The Fever,” “Talk to Me,” “Trapped Again,” and “This Time It’s For Real.”   In a business where success is defined as getting a second single and longevity measured in nanoseconds, simply surviving for thirty-plus years is a rare accomplishment. But Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes have not only survived, they have flourished: more than thirty albums, several Eps and a box set; thousands of live performances around the globe; a legion of dedicated and enthusiastic fans; dozens of classic songs; a release named by Rolling Stone one of the “top 100 albums of the 70s and 80s.”

It’s difficult to impart the roots-steeped, road-trippin' essence of the Adam Ezra Group into a single word, but front man Adam Ezra nonetheless keeps one in mind as something of a mantra: COMMUNITY. To the musicians at the heart of AEG, community is epitomized by a belief they all share, one that has long doubled as a mission statement for the group: namely, that making music together is itself a form of grassroots organizing, capable of nothing less than changing the world.