THE ASBURY PARK PRESS – BY JEAN MIKLE – FEBRUARY, 02, 1998
RED BANK — It started with “This Time It’s For Real” and ended, a little more than three hours later, with “Thunder Road.” It featured a historic roster of Jersey Shore rock talent, from Jon Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny Lyon to Bruce Springsteen and “Little Steven” Van Zandt. And yesterday, fans who were lucky enough to attend Saturday’s “Jon Bon Jovi and Friends Come Together” concert used a string of superlatives to describe the 30-song benefit show, which raised more than $112,000 for the family of murdered Long Branch police Sgt. Patrick King.
King, the 45-year-old father of two young boys, was slain Nov. 20 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill a police officer before killing himself.
“It was a chance to forget about it a little bit,” said Long Branch police Sgt. Bruce Johantgen, one of about 50 city police officers who attended the show. “The outpouring of love from the performers to the audience was unbelievable.”
Johantgen said he found it ironic that Bon Jovi and other performers thanked the audience for coming to the sold-out show.
From the police perspective, I kept thinking, ‘We should be thanking you for giving your time, ” Johantgen said.
Even fans who have seen dozens of Bon Jovi and Springsteen shows agreed that this one, which kept most audience members on their feet for more than three hours, was something special.
“I think it will be remembered as one of the greatest nights in New Jersey music history,” said Neptune resident Billy Smith, a longtime fan of Springsteen. “I thought it was fantastic. For three hours I was in rock ‘n’ roll heaven.”
Smith and his wife, Ruth, paid $2,600 for their two tickets, which they won by placing the high bid in a ticket auction held by local radio station WRAT-FM. Smith said he didn’t mind paying that much because the money was going to a good cause.
“You really felt that you were contributing to something worthwhile,” Smith said. “When I was on the phone for the (ticket) auction, I thought, ‘There is no way I am going to let these tickets get away.’ ”
Few audience members paid as much as Smith for the privilege of watching an all-star jam in a small hall. Tickets for the show, which was organized by Bon Jovi, were priced at $125. But audience members weren’t complaining about the cost.
“I kind of felt good knowing the money we spent on these expensive tickets was going to (King’s) family,” said Rahway resident Cathy Weaver, who bought her tickets through the Bon Jovi Fan Club. About 200 tickets were sold exclusively to fan club members.
Weaver said the audience, which roared so loudly during Springsteen’s “Born to Run” that some plaster fell from the ceiling, was responding to the enthusiasm of the performers, who frequently hugged each other and clowned around on stage.
“It was a magical night,” Weaver said. “You could kind of feel the happiness that was onstage. Just watching them kid around was great.”
Belmar resident Jeremy Neuer said although the show was held to benefit the family of a slain officer, it was “a celebration of life more than anything else.”
“The energy that they had last night was just unbelievable,” Neuer said. “As much fun as it was to be in the audience, I still don’t think the crowd was having as much fun as they were up on stage.”
Indeed, it seemed that the performers didn’t want to leave the stage.
After “Born to Run,” originally scheduled to end the set, Bon Jovi asked the audience if they wanted to go home yet. When the crowd responded with a resounding “No!” the band played three more, clearly unrehearsed, songs, including a cover of John Fogerty’s “Rockin’ All Over the World,” and the final number, “Thunder Road.”
The name of the last song played was incorrect yesterday in the Asbury Park Press.
As Springsteen began singing “Thunder Road,” the audience sang along with him, so loudly they began to drown out the Boss. Springsteen smiled and held out the microphone, letting the audience complete the first verse before he started to sing again.
Copyright (c) Asbury Park Press – February 02, 1998
