Donavon Frankenreiter Rides a Wave of Popularity Into Asbury Park, NJ Uncategorized by Danny Coleman The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ was a “groovy” place to be recently as west coast groove artist Donavon Frankenreiter laid it down smooth to a packed house of enthusiastic fans. With Hawaii as a home base of operation, this “surfer dude,” as he’s been called, plays a unique brand of laid back, yet up tempo, borderline eclectic mix; unlike anything else in music today. Accompanying Donavon on multiple stops of this current tour is former fellow professional surfer and Santa Barbara, CA native Tom Curren. Curren took to the stage of the fabled Stone Pony at 8:18 p.m. EST to an already large crowd made up of various age groups and styles. Once the lights went down, Curren smiled as he walked onto the stage; a smile that was hard to detect due to the fedora type hat which adorned his head. The crowd, which at first seemed slow to react to this artist’s laid back offerings; quickly warmed as his short set of only twenty-four minutes progressed. Intertwining folk and upbeat tempos, Curren did a very nice job of setting the tone for his wave riding buddy. Frankenreiter was up next but as was the case with Curren; he was fashionably late taking the stage at 9:30 p.m. Opening up with an older selection called “Move By Yourself,” Donavon had the now capacity crowd bopping along and getting more in tune with his “cool vibe” persona before the songs completion. Frankenreiter’s apparel was, as said earlier of his music; an eclectic mix and one that I am sure his previous Billabong sponsors may have frowned upon. Gracing the Pony stage in a white shirt, dark pants, a bright red jacket and very interesting hat (or it was probably more of a “chapeau”) which drew some colorful comments from the crowd; Frankenreiter plowed through tune after tune with very little fanfare or interruption. He seemed focused and well prepared, stopping only briefly to address the crowd; preferring to let his music do the talking. The stage configuration was a bit odd with the drummer up front and stage right, Donavon stage left and the bass player seated in the middle. This must have been to plan as Donavon was able to look right down the line to his band mates while establishing very little eye contact with the audience itself as he delivered great pieces such as “Heading Home” and “Free,” the second featuring his good buddy Jack Johnson on the studio recording. The overall performance was however, one of defiance; as in, Frankenreiter seemed to defy all in attendance to stand still. He and his two accomplices had the floor of this storied venue moving together as one in an almost musical trance as they swayed and weaved their bodies to Donavon’s cross between funk, folk and “surf rock.” “Call Me Papa” and “Girl Like You” were also highlights of an evening filled with many. Frankenreiter chugged along like he had a plane to catch, but not before loading those in attendance into the cargo hold and taking us for a ride. The main set was an hour long; ending at exactly 10:30 p.m. Donavon made the revved up passengers of this flight wait an agonizing four minutes for a three song thirteen minute encore closing the show at 10:52 with “It Don’t Matter.” Seeing a show at The Stone Pony is always a treat due to the venues history and intimacy; its cement floor and dark décor lend just enough element of seedy underground rock club to the great stage which has seen some of the music world’s best talent, both national and local. The Pony is often a home to the thriving music scene of Asbury Park and the Jersey shore’s live and original music community. On this night, it belonged to Donavon and Tom Curren. Welcomed as Jersey welcomes all who come to the Garden State; with open arms. Frankenreiter continues his trek across the country with ten east coast shows in ten days beginning Thursday August 14 in Washington, D.C. and ending on August 23 in Ft. Lauderdale FLA. before taking a break until September 14 when he does the “Phases of the Moon Music & Art Festival” in Danville, IL. To see the tour schedule and find out more about Donavon Frankenreiter, please go to www.Donavonf.com. To discover more about Tom Curren, please checkout www.tomcurren.com. DONAVON FRANKENREITER | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | ITUNES TOM CURREN | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | ITUNES STONE PONY | FACEBOOK | TWITTER DANNY COLEMAN | FACEBOOK | TWITTER Donavon Frankenreiter Rides a Wave of Popularity Into Asbury Park, NJ4.8GIVE US YOUR RATINGReader Rating: (1 Vote) Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.