Went to Ocean City NJ for New Years. I told some people at church about attending “First Night” there. As Boston started doing that back in the 70s, the idea has spread all over the country, but Philadelphia has never followed suit, so very few people here have ever heard of it. It’s also held in Dover, DE and a few places in NJ.I attended First Nights back in Pensacola FL and Mobile AL.
First Night is about family-friendly activities, mostly meaning music and stage plays. Building I was in also had ice skating. The band here played a number of Billy Joel hits. I wondered why they didn’t play any Bruce Springsteen as he’s even more closely identified with NJ. A few days later, my music streaming service (Tidal) played someone doing a cover of a Springsteen song. I checked the citations on it, sure enough, it was by Patti Scialfa, Springsteen’s wife! Then I remembered “Oh, yeah! He’s referred to as “The Boss” because of how he contols everything.” So he’s probably never allowed just any ol’ rock ‘n’ roller to play his songs.
Playing some soul tunes here. I wanted to hop on to the free bus to check out other acts around the town, but it was absolutely pouring rain the whole night! There was supposed to be more music on the Boardwalk, but that was rained out. Needless to say, the planned midnight fireworks were cancelled. Got a hotel room a few miles inland so as to not drive all night. Had breakfast at a rest stop and made it to church a little before services started.
A more mellow band. Every act was a walk-in, provided you had purchased a button you could pin onto your clothes. That one button was good for getting into every act. They’re of course good as collector’s items, though I have no idea what they might sell for.
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