4 stars out of 5
The story goes that, a couple of years ago, Mr. Bruce Springsteen saw a rough cut of this documentary and said, “I should be in this.” His ample included commentary in the finished version certainly lends the film some legitimacy and authority, but the story presented here is worth telling regardless.
We learn of Asbury Park’s creation in the late 19th century, carved out between wild Long Branch and reserved Ocean Grove. (To compete with Long Branch as a resort destination, Asbury got a little wilder itself, and the reputation became set: You went to Ocean Grove to pray, and Asbury Park to play.)
Segregation enters this tale early, whites on the east side of town and blacks on the west side (and love on the wrong side, and darkness on the edge?). Both areas thrived, music providing the heartbeat, and Asbury became a required tour stop for the major white and black artists of the mid 20th century. (Some of the most impressive footage here is of the Rolling Stones and the Doors performing at Convention Hall in the mid-1960s.) The concept that music has the unique power to bring people of different backgrounds together is stressed repeatedly.
The film spends a lot of time on the founding of the Upstage club, a veritable petri dish for E Street (another successful interracial example). This is where Bruce-o-philes such as myself get their ticket price’s worth. In addition to the Boss, interviews include Little Steven (often carrying his little doggy), Garry Tallent, Max Weinberg, David Sancious, Ernest “Boom” Carter, and Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, as well as Southside Johnny.
Indeed, just when it seems like the movie is becoming another Springsteen biography, the riot mentioned in the title comes into play. It was 1970, and the racial inequality that had exploded elsewhere in the country — Detroit, Newark, etc. — hit Asbury and hit it hard. I’ve been in New Jersey a long time and never knew this history.
I appreciated that the filmmakers give credit and significant screen time to the LGBTQI community and its major role in the slow but certain revitalization of Asbury. However, I was annoyed that the film didn’t also shine a spotlight on the local indie music scene, centered around the original Asbury Lanes, that has played such a key part in drawing a younger, artsier demographic to town. To represent the next generation, I would’ve loved to see Dentist or Algebra II on the big screen, instead of just the little-kid musicians that the movie spends way too much on. Eh, but it’s hard to get too upset about a movie where one of the producers is Jersey Mike’s.
Click here to find a screening near you.
Jack Silbert, curator