KNUCKLE PUCK AT THE STONE PONY IN ASBURY PARK
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A sold out show at Asbury Park’s famous venue, The Stone Pony, is always a great way to spend a Friday night. Getting to let off a week’s worth of steam all in one go is magical. If you were lucky enough to snag a ticket to this past Friday’s show, you would certainly be doing just that in the pits for Knuckle Puck and Real Friends’ co-headlining tour. With support from Bearings, this was a lineup that had pop punk fans drooling for sure.
Bearings hit the stage first and the venue was already packed and ready to go. It’s clear that this is the type of tour you want to be there early for. Fans of the band wasted no time immediately pitting and crowd surfing as they played through their set on stage. It was heartwarming to see such massive support for Bearings and I’m sure that they’ll only continue to garner that support from here.
For this night’s co-headlining spots, Knuckle Puck went first. Prior to the band hitting the stage, I was chatting with a fan on the barricade. She was attending her 53rd Knuckle Puck show that night, which really goes to show how dedicated their fanbase has been over the past 10+ years that they’ve been a band. I remember seeing Knuckle Puck open for Man Overboard back in 2014 before they released their debut album Copacetic. Even back then they were making sure people knew they were here to stay in the scene and solidify their spots as one of the prominent pop punk bands. For the show this night, vocalist Joe Taylor walked on stage wearing a cheeky shirt that read, “Knuckle Puck Isn’t Cool Anymore…” on the front with a “so what” on the back. They got the set started with “Disdain” and fans bursted into a crowd of energy. It took no time at all for fans to crowd surf over the barricade in waves while the circle pits formed in the middle of the room. As they played through their setlist, they went through favorites such as “Groundhog Day”, “No Good”, and “Evergreen”. At one point they had called for lights to go up and the crowd glittered with the vision of hundreds of phone lights shining at the stage. At one point someone in the band yelled, “Shout out to James Gandolfini. I’d like to think he’d be here tonight.” As they moved into the last part of their set, the band played the viral hit, “Untitled”, which had the entire venue screaming back at them. They finished off their set with “Gone” and “Pretense”, which had fans needing a breather before Real Friends went on. It’s been several years since I’ve seen Knuckle Puck live, but they’ve shown they’ve only gotten better with time as they grew.
Hitting the stage last for the night was Real Friends. They came out swinging right from the get go with “I’ve Given Up On You” and not a single person in that room was quiet. Everyone was screaming along. Shortly after, nobody was still as they went into “Tell Me You’re Sorry”. Real Friends have always been a joy to see live and the energy in the room was certainly electric. As they progressed through the show, they played tracks such as “Six Feet” , “Nervous Wreck”, and “Summer”. This tour was certainly not for the weak, as the jams came non stop and so did the crowd surfers. Real Friends do a great job of utilizing the space that they’re given on the stage, never staying in one spot for too long and interacting with fans on the barricade as much as possible. They ended their set with “Me First” and left pop punk fans buzzing for more.
This co-headliner boasts several more sold out dates, and openers will be swapped in the second half with Between You & Me hopping on the tour. If you get the chance to make it out to one of the dates, tighten those shoelaces and get some good stretches in before the show starts, because you won’t stop moving once you start!
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Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!