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The music aficionados who bought tickets to see SOUTHSIDE JOHNNY perform at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., on Sunday night had not a clue to the surprise that awaited shortly after midnight: an appearance by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN.
The audience screamed, whistled and cheered when the two joined forces at 12:20 A.M. to sing Mr. Springsteen's "Fever." Forty minutes later, another surprise guest strode onto the stage: JON BON JOVI, who launched into Southside Johnny's "I Don't Want to Go Home."
Neither did the audience, some 700 fans who seemed to be mainly in their 30's. Ten minutes into Mr. Bon Jovi's set, Mr. Springsteen reappeared and the three musicians joined forces to do "Long, Long Time." They closed the show together with "We're Having a Party."
The Stone Pony, a rock-music Mecca in the 1970's, closed when its owners declared bankruptcy last year. STEVEN NASAR, a businessman in Ocean Township, N.J., bought it in August, renovated it and reopened it in October. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes was the house band before gaining national prominence.
"This was an unexpected reunion," TONY PALLAGROSI, the club's talent and publicity coordinator and a former member of the Jukes, said yesterday. "Springsteen used to jam with the Jukes regularly in the mid-70's, and Bon Jovi was a fan when he was young. The fact that he became a star in his own right hasn't changed his feelings toward Southside Johnny as a mentor. In addition, they both contributed songs and performed on Southside Johnny's last record album last year. So it was natural that they would want to come down and lend a hand yesterday."
