Southside Johnny salutes ‘Stupid Cupid’ at Stone Pony (REVIEW WITH VIDEOS, PHOTOS AND SETLIST)

PHOTOS BY SAMMY STEINLIGHT

Southside Johnny with drummer Tom Seguso at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Feb. 16.

Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes’ Valentine’s Day Weekend show at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Feb. 16, was not all hearts and flowers. Not that you would expect that.

His repertoire, after all, has more love-gone-wrong songs than love songs. And the show’s theme was “Stupid Cupid.” (For several years now, he has been presenting special theme shows, annually, at the Pony in February.)

And so this was a Valentine’s Weekend show that included covers of The J. Geils Band’s brutally sour “Love Stinks,” David Ruffin’s heartbroken “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)” and Mink DeVille’s “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl,” not to mention unsentimental mainstays of Southside’s setlists such as “Love on the Wrong Side of Town” and “I Played the Fool.” 

Of course, there were some genuinely sweet and tender songs in the show, too. Highlights included a cover of Jerry Butler and the Impressions’ stately ballad “For Your Precious Love” and “Words Fail Me,” a plainspoken but powerful love song from Southside and the Jukes’ 2015 album Soultime! that was co-written by Southside and Jukes keyboardist Jeff Kazee and inspired, Southside told us, by a “real person,” Kazee’s wife Constance.

Keyboardist-vocalist Jeff Kazee, left, and Southside Johnny at The Stone Pony.

Still, more typical of this show was the  Rolling Stones’ hard-charging “Happy,” with Southside pleading “I need a love to keep me happy” over the Jukes’ jagged riffs.

Southside’s voice was in good shape, and he was in good spirits performing at his home base for a enthusiastic sold-out crowd. He mentioned that he still lives within walking distance of the Pony (in Ocean Grove), and that he will be back at the outdoor Stone Pony Summer Stage for his traditional Fourth of July week show, July 7 (tickets are not on sale yet).

Kazee sang lead on a cover of The Band’s “It Makes No Difference” that, interestingly, was more gruffly soulful and less delicate than the original; almost like it would have sounded if The Band’s Richard Manuel had sung it, instead of Rick Danko. Guitarist Glenn Alexander dazzled with his solos despite, Southside told us, being “sick as a dog”; and John Isley, who plays the most romantic instrument in the horn section (the saxophone), got, perhaps, a little more soloing time than usual, and made the most of it.

Southside didn’t stick strictly to the “Stupid Cupid” theme. He and the band took a seemingly impromptu stab at Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” at one point, and the show’s last five songs — “Talk to Me,” “This Time It’s for Real,” “I Don’t Want to Go Home” and encores “Trapped Again” and “Having a Party” — could have been the last five songs at any Jukes show over the last 30 or 40 years.

SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY

Still, it was a special night — a high-energy show in an intimate venue, with lots of rarely played songs. (Or never played? I’m not sure. If anyone thinks any of these songs were debuts, please let me know in the comments section below.)

Singer-songwriter Remember Jones opened the show, performing in “piano serenade” format with keyboardist Mark Masefield (who also joined the Jukes for a couple of songs later, playing piano while Kazee stuck to organ). They were fine, on both covers (including Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does It Better,” Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Darlin’ Be Home Soon”) and original material (they ended the set with their explosive ballad, “Why Don’t They Cry?,” co-written with Rick Barry). 

Still, I’m not sure it was a good decision to put a piano-and-vocals act onstage as the opening act before a packed Stone Pony crowd. People talked — unbelievably loudly, I thought — throughout the set, which made it hard to concentrate on the music. This was disrespectful to both Remember Jones and the people who wanted to hear him.

Some people talked a bit during Southside’s ballads, too, but most people were paying attention. During Remember Jones set, it really felt like there was a constant roar, competing with the music. 

Here is the Southside Johnny’s setlist and, below that, some videos:

“Better Days”
“Happy”
“I Played the Fool”
“Spinning”
“For Your Precious Love”
“Walk Away Renée”/”Cupid”
“Without Love”
“My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)”
“Love Stinks”
“Ride the Night Away”
“It Makes No Difference” (Jeff Kazee, lead vocals)
“Kitty’s Back”
“Sweet Home Alabama” (excerpt)
“Love on the Wrong Side of Town”
“Forever”
“The Fever”
“Words Fail Me”
“Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl”
“Talk to Me”
“This Time It’s for Real”
“I Don’t Want to Go Home”

Encores
“Trapped Again”
“Having a Party”