Friday May 2nd, 2003: I Left work at 7 a.m.and went
home to shower and change -already all packed the
night before- got Kids to school and by 8:45 a.m.
I was on the road to NJ.
Trying to calculate the time, as Soozie is to be
at John Cavanaugh's Rocktography exhibit, at
SulliStudios in Asbury Park. Time is from 1:30 p.m.
until 3:30. This is where the picture (above)
was taken of Soozie and myself by John Cavanaugh,
who is the official photographer for The Stone Pony.
I do finally arrive in Asbury Park at 2:00 pm. I
find my way to where Soozie is appearing. I enter
Antic Hay Books to find out that Soozie is not
there and that it has been pushed back to 4:30 p.m.
until 6:00 p.m.
At the book store, I purchased "Rock & Roll Tour
of the Jersey Shore". It is a guide by Stan
Goldstein and Jean Mikle. My copy has been signed
by Soozie. (see below)
I leave and head to find The Stone Pony and to
explore the area. I do find the Stone Pony and the
boardwalk. I took my pictures of the area. Then I
got ready to leave to go check in at my motel. As
I am getting ready to leave two ladies pull up in
a convertible. (I do need to explain that I was
wearing my t-shirt from "Backstreets" magazine
(seen in pic above). The two ladies pull up asking
me if I know how to get where Soozie is appearing
right now (SulliStudio's). I explain to the ladies
that it has been pushed back until 4:30 p.m. and
give them a map I had showing how to get there -
(here I am new to the area as well!)
Then the driver shows me a bag with 2 packs of
Marlboro cigarettes that they brought for Soozie.
She tells me that she got the info from my web
site. Now, of course I am totally puzzled, my web
site?? She then tells me the rider for Springsteen
shows from smokinggun.com. She got that info from
Backstreets web site. They thought I was from
"Backstreets" magazine. I was then referred to
as the guy from "Backstreets" by these two ladies.
I never corrected them. *smile*
So on to the motel and then back to meet Soozie at
4:30 p.m. At SulliStudio's I finally get to meet
Soozie, again. I see Jerry and he remembers me from
the week before. I ask Jerry if he knows the correct
spelling of Paul's last name. He was not sure but
said there were a few O's and S's in it.
There is a line to see Soozie. I do get in the line,
and What I did not realize, until after I left NJ,
was that Stan Goldstein was there (saw him at the
Stone Pony too - author of R&R tour). I do finally
get to go up and meet Soozie. She does remember my
face but not my name. Of course, I have her
sign another CD for me. I also have her sign my R&R
tour of the Jersey Shore book (below). I hand her a
birthday card and tell her that it was her to open
in 2 days. She thanks me and smiles. She then stands
and poses for the picture you all see above.
I hang around for about 1/2 hour after and just
observe. I head back to my motel room to prepare
for her show at The Stone Pony. I arrive at the Pony
at 7:30 pm. There is already a line forming outside.
Once inside the Stone Pony I see one of Soozie's
band members walking by. I stop him and ask him if
he is Paul - it isn't Paul but Jon (do I feel dumb)!
Well anyhow I ask Jon if he knows how to spell Paul's
last name. And Jon does spell it for me. I thank him.
Patty Blee starts her set about 9:00 p.m. I was
surprised to see Jerry on percussion. I am not sure
who played guitar with them (will contact Jerry and
ask him). Patty also has a wonderful voice. I am not
sure of all the names of the songs she played but
she did end up playing and singing "Fire" (Springsteen's
song). She did excellent. Again for this show I was
front and center. I had a row of females in front of me.
Soozie starts her show and it was great. I do see
she is starting the show off differently than last
week. But watching her play and listening to her sing
is so enjoyable. I do notice that the drummer is
different and learn that it is the drummer who
performed on her album. After she performs "Women
Are Smarter", Soozie says she wants to invite a few
close friends up for her next song. Bruce and Patti
come on stage. Soozie goes to the keyboards and Bruce,
Patti, and Patty Blee sing back up vocals on "Ste.
Genevieve". I was so surprised.
Soozie finished up her set with "Out on Bleeker St."
I was surprised that Patti did not come back up on
stage then as she sang background vocals on that song
on the CD. At the end. The crowd gets Soozie back on
stage but she is not sure what to perform. IT ends up
with Soozie having Bruce and Patti come back on stage
to assist her with the final song. Bruce comes on
stage and grabs a guitar. Soozie, Bruce and Jon are
trying to figure out what to perform. They end up doing
"It's All Over Now". All I can say is WOW! Bruce and
Jon trading off leads on guitar and at the end it was
Bruce and Soozie trading off vocals. Seemed like they
weren't sure who was going to end the vocals. Of course.
It was Soozie who ended the vocal. Just wish I knew how
to describe the feeling of watching and listening to this
song being performed. Soozie thanked the crowd and
the audience ended up chanting "Soozie! Soozie!"
I left the Stone Pony at 1:30 a.m. after watching the
last band. Back to the motel and asleep I went
(with a smile). Then did the long drive back home
the next day, smiling and taking nice memories with me.
-Brucefan
Note: The name of the guitarist (mentioned above) with
Patti Blee is Ernie Trionfa.
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