If there’s an extra bounce in our step over at our satellite arts ‘n entertainment site Red Bank oRBit, it might be due to the fact that we’re poised to take a few days off to catch our breath, catch up with some backlogged tasks and otherwise catch grief for having ignored our holiday commitments til the last minute. Or, it could be that we’re pleased to offer you an exclusive feature (accompanied by some fine original images by ace rock photog Mike Black) on The Bouncing Souls, the Brunswick-bred but Shore-based band that’s almost surreptitiously become an exponentially expanding cultural phenom like few others.
With 20 years of punkrock fury under their belts and a hotly anticipated new release about to drop, the band returns to Asbury Park this weekend for its annual Home for the Holidays stand of concerts — an event that’s grown to an unprecedented FOUR sold-out nights at the Stone Pony, plus TWO separate tour documentaries screening at Asbury’s Showroom, AND a pair of after-party blasts at the inimitable Asbury Lanes. It’s the biggest thing (arguably the ONLY thing) happening around these parts in the days and nights between Christmas and New Year’s.
In today’s edition, Dustin Racioppi talks to Bouncing guitarist and all-around Old Soul Pete (The Pete) Steinkopf (above) about the happy and totally unforeseen circumstances that brought the band to its present perch — a Jersey cult following status that, Racioppi says without hyperbole, rivals only that of The Boss and The Misfits. With a run that extends through next Tuesday, December 29, the Souls are a fitting way to bounce ourselves clear into next week, when we’ll return, right back where you found us, in Red Bank oRBit!
