Fitz & The Tantrums @ The Stony Pony - Asbury Park, NJ

This past Friday, June 11, the surrounding blocks of The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ were filled with an immersive journey of Rock, Soul, and Alternative when this group of musicians took the outdoor Summer Stage. Fitz and The Tantrums co-headlining with St. Paul and the Broken Bones and their opener, The Seratones, were a trio whose individual styles melded together perfectly.

Although the crowd came for the dual headliner, they didn’t hold back for the Louisiana-born band, The Seratones. I had covered the Seratones back in January of 2020 during a relatively small show in Connecticut on their own tour, so to see them playing and commanding such a large outdoor crowd filled me with sympathetic joy. They played an arrangement of songs – new and old – that were a mix of soul and rock. Throughout this mix, their uplifting message of loving one another translated through more than just their music. And it got the crowd dancing and warmed up for the next two acts.

Starting off strong, a voice-over mimicking a hypnotist started the show, words repeating over and over as the band of St. Paul and The Broken Bones entered the stage. They went right into their fully instrumental song, “Atlas” – a blend of techno sounding beats and jazz instruments. It was after this that lead singer, Paul Janeway, ran out onto the stage to hype up the crowd for the band. This eight piece band from Alabama is one of those many groups that is a must-see live. The vocal range that Paul is able to achieve in a live setting is incredibly captivating, so much so that a passing rain shower didn’t dampen the energy of the crowd. To feed into the energy of the crowd, they gave a special performance of a song they only play in New Jersey. They performed a cover of “Woke Up This Morning” by Alabama 3, otherwise known as the Sopranos theme song. The lyrics were played from a track while they instrumentally accompanied it until their second vocalist and guitarist, Browan Lollar, stepped in to sing over it. This was a big hit with the crowd, phones up and recording from everywhere. They closed the set with their song “Call Me” from their 2014 album, “Half The City”, which was the perfect song to segue into Fitz and The Tantrums playing next.

With nearly 14 years of being together under their belt, Fitz and The Tantrums brought a coming-of-age and strong summer vibe to this outdoor performance space; their music the kind to just make people want to get up and dance. Of course the band has their more well-known hits such as “Out of My League” and “123456”, but they also played their lesser known songs such as “Spark” and “Fools Gold”, as well as their recent release “Sway”. Their set was a good mix of their radio hits and non-radio hits in order to engage the crowd, coupled with periodic speeches from one of their lead singers, Michael Fitzpatrick. He spoke directly with the audience just before “I Need Help!”, speaking about how you’re never truly alone when going through something and how you should never be afraid to reach out for help. Shortly after, he had the audience put their phone flashlights on and shine them all around while they played “I Just Want to Shine”. Closing out the night with their hit “The Walker” solidified the overall youthful nature of the band and gratefulness to be back on stage with one another again.

Along with their recent single release of “Sway”, Fitz and The Tantrums have an album release scheduled for September, so be on the lookout for that!