KIRSTINE WALTON
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes will bring a show titled “Soultime! Dance Party” to the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Feb. 26-27.
It’s no secret that soul music has always played a big part in the music of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. But the band really emphasized this element of their sound on their Soultime! album, released last year, and they will also emphasize it at their concerts Feb. 26 and 27 at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, which are being billed with the title, “Soultime! Dance Party.” (For tickets and information, visit stoneponyonline.com.)
In an interview this Sunday on Tom Cunningham’s “Bruce Brunch” program on 105.7 The Hawk, Southside said he would be doing “a lot of the album, but also a lot of old soul stuff — David Ruffin and The Temptations and The Four Tops — because it’s the music I grew up playing. I mean, that’s where we made our money, early on, you know.” (To listen to the complete interview, click here.)
He told Mike Greenblatt of The Aquarian Weekly that one of the old songs he will be covering for the first time at these shows will be Ruby Johnson’s “Weak Spot” (see video below).
Southside also said, on “Bruce Brunch,” that he doesn’t feel particularly nostalgic about returning to the Pony for two more shows.
“I never look at the past,” he said. “People ask me about The Upstage Club, and The Student Prince, and The Pony — the early days. I really don’t have anything to say. I mean, I know it’s important for people, but I’ve got so much in front of me that I really don’t have a lot of time to look back. I would much rather do that: Have projects in front of me, and shows, and, you know, songs that I want to do. I don’t need to reminisce.”
Old soul records from Southside’s own collection will be played on the club’s sound system before he takes the stage, both nights, and the Feb. 27 show will be broadcast live at 8:30 p.m. that night on the Live Nation Channel on Yahoo.com. Visit yahoo.com/music/livenation.
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