Bleachers, led by festival creator Jack Antonoff, performed as though human life would end at midnight, and easily captured the beachfront crowd
ASBURY PARK -- Midway through what would unquestionably become the sweetest 90 minutes of his career, Jack Antonoff spoke candidly.
"It's never gonna get better than tonight, is it?"
The musician's entire existence -- as conjurer of the new Asbury Park music festival Shadow Of The City, frontman of the budding band Bleachers, and as an impassioned Bergen County native -- converged Saturday night and unleashed a momentous set that celebrated both the singer's home state and his arsenal of addicting, electro-pop tracks.
Bleachers headlined the all-day, pop and rock fest at The Stone Pony Summer Stage, and as 1,500 or so fans bopped and screamed, Antonoff's loved ones watched stage-side. His dad even walked on for a guitar solo.
Jack Antonoff attempts to dunk his father in a dunk tank for charity at his Shadow of the City festival in Asbury Park. (Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The band's set finished off a festival Antonoff says he plans to run the rest of his life. The 31-year-old spent most of the day sinking his family and friends in a dunk tank -- and being dunked himself -- for charity fundraising.
And all the festivities took place at the venue most associated with the Antonoff's idol, Bruce Springsteen.
So, the answer is no, Jack. It cannot get much better than this.
Though Bleachers anchored the event -- and delivered what was an ardent highlight of Stone Pony's summer season -- a few of the other seven, mostly regional acts on the bill also turned in sensational performances.
Let's break it down.
BLEACHERS HIGHLIGHTS
- Enthusiasm is contagious, but when it's made clear something special is happening -- that a performer is reaching a milestone -- the crowd happily joins in the elation. Antonoff's ecstasy, and his reckless fervor -- he was never going to allow his headlining set to be anything less than spectacular -- captured the audience immediately. Screams, chants, united claps, and pumping fists met each of the band's towering tunes, constructed by by two drum kits, two keyboard/synth stations and Antonoff on guitar. He did plenty of shouting and shimmying himself.
Some fans were rewarded for their devotion at the end of the night, when in a fit of glory Antonoff smashed his six-string to pieces and handed the shards to a few lucky onlookers.
- What perhaps endeared Antonoff to the crowd even more was his outspoken love for New Jersey -- the piece of him that sought to create the festival in the first place.
"There's no better place to grow up than in the shadow of the city," he said, referencing the Garden State's relationship to New York. He then began the night's lone showcase of new work, an unfinished yet quickly infectious song set to be called "Shadow Of The City." With the tune, the festival joins Asbury Park's Light Of Day in a class of events sporting bonafide theme songs.
- Most everything else performed was drawn from Bleachers' 2014 debut "Strange Desire," influenced heavily by the mammoth hooks of '80s pop and new wave. The outdoor venue, which sometimes struggles with its audio quality, handled the nuanced digital tones well, and the hooks of singles "I Wanna Get Better" and "Roller Coaster" truly soared. The extended solos from Antonoff on "Wild Heart" and Evan Smith's saxophone on "You're Still A Mystery" were each welcome augmentations.
- Antonoff wore a cut-off sleeve denim vest, a la Springsteen on the Born In The U.S.A. tour. He never mentioned it, but the resemblance was uncanny.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS
- If not for the epic quality of Bleachers' set, New York indie-pop newcomers MisterWives might have won the day. Pint-sized singer Mandy Lee's relentlessly energetic presence -- moreover her ability to unleash whopping vocal belts while on the move -- was in line with Paramore's Hayley Williams. Amid their bright originals, the group concocted a fun mashup of The Weeknd's "I Can't Feel My Face," and Michael Jackson's "PYT" to great effect. The crowd cheered wildly for Lee throughout the set, and didn't seem ready for its end.
- Fresh off their first major-label release, Woodcliff Lake alt-rockers The Front Bottoms returned to Asbury Park as the sun set. The band played the main stage at the city's Skate and Surf festival in May and delivered the weekend's highlight performance, but Saturday's showing was nearly as strong, and showed off a few new tunes from "Back On Top" (released Friday). The latest single "Help" was catchy and light.
"I feel like a thousand bucks," said singer Brian Sella at the set's outset, but as the crowd continued to sing feverishly to each track, he later upped it to "a million."
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- Kudos to opener Tom Krell, better known as How To Dress Well, for employing two microphones to pull off his mix of pop, R&B and ambient sounds. A powerful voice and strong melodic understanding greeted fans early in the afternoon.
- British star Charli XCX's pseudo-rebellious radio pop seemed out of place at times among the lineup, but who can deny her stage presence? Every lyric was matched with an over-exaggerated dance step, and she did well to maintain support from a crowd that seemed disengaged half-way through the "Boom Clap" singer's set.
Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier. Find NJ.com on Facebook.