Summertime with Southside Johnny

The calendar may be creeping closer to September, but summer at the Shore wouldn't be complete without Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' annual performance at Bar Anticipation in Lake Como for an anniversary celebration of what was until recently the "Mike and the Mad Dog Show." (Chris "Mad Dog" Russo recently departed the WFAN-AM New York sports-talk show, leaving co-host Mike Francesa to carry on solo.)

Along with the Bar A show, which will begin at 1 p.m. Friday (Aug. 22), Ocean Grove's Southside Johnny Lyon also will be rocking Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant Beach on Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 25 and 26) at 8 p.m.

Lyon's newest album, "Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits," hits record store shelves Sept. 2, and he recently checked in with Metromix Jersey Shore to talk about the Olympics, playing in Europe and being a Shore institution.

You've got your annual show with WFAN coming up at Bar A. Are you much of a sports guy yourself?
I'm an old-time Yankees fan. Yeah, I like sports. I was just in Belgium -- my girlfriend lives in Belgium -- so we were sitting and watching the Olympics on five different countries' channels because it's surrounded by countries that have teams in the Olympics. And, of course, they’re covering their own teams and all the other stuff, so we were watching a lot of Olympics over there.

It was really neat. We got the French station, the German station, the Belgian station, the Dutch station ... so it was kind of neat. The only thing we didn’t have was an American station. We saw Michael Phelps, of course, but I only saw one basketball game, which I thought was almost embarrassing. These are the best players on the planet and they're going up against Croatia. It doesn't seem fair, but that’s the way it is.

What do you think about the annual gig at Bar A?
Well, it's usually a long haul, it's grueling. We get there early and we don't leave until after 6, and it's usually pretty hot. People come up and we talk to them, sign autographs and take pictures, but it's hours and hours of that and you only get to play a couple of songs at a time. It's not something where really you go, "Ooh, this is so great," but it's great exposure and they’ve always been good to us. I was not aware that Chris (Russo) had left because, as I said, I was away, so I guess Mike is doing it by himself.

That's how it’s billed, but on the Bar A Web site, it says, "You never know who may show up," so Russo may swing by.
I know that he summers down there; he takes his family from Long Island down into Belmar or some place. I forget where he stays, and that’s kind of how it all started because he was down there during the summer and he said, "I want to do the show from where I'm vacationing," so I’m imagining he would come by. I know he’s a big fan of the band, so I hope he does. Maybe they'll have a fistfight. No, I like both of them. They're both crazy, but so am I, so we get along pretty good.

The Bar A show has become another annual tradition at the Shore that you're involved in, along with the Independence Day weekend show at the Stone Pony you've done the last few years. You've really become a Shore institution with these regular gigs folks can look forward to.
Well, I've been in most of the Shore institutions, so I guess I belong. Yeah, it’s funny. You know, growing up in Ocean Grove … I couldn’t wait to get away. When we started playing in bands, we got to travel, even before we made records, I mean, all the way to Nanuet, New York. But we went to Philly and all and it was great, we loved it. So, when we really started touring, I was so happy to get away from New Jersey because it's really a sense of place in New Jersey. When you're from New Jersey, you know you’re from New Jersey, you know what I mean? There are a lot of reasons for that. And so, it’s good to get away and kind of break the bonds, and I lived all over the place, too.

But now, being back at the Shore and playing here, I started to realize how great it is to be a Jersey Shore guy.  I mean, you've got the beach, you've got all the different things that go on here and it's all very homey to me. I don't always like that, but I'm enjoying it now. And it's nice to know that the fans will come to Asbury Park, especially now that it's going to be a little bit better, and have a good time. It really does make you feel as though you’ve accomplished something. Although, I still like to go to Paris.

You have couple of shows at Martell's in Point Pleasant coming up and then you're heading back to Europe this fall. How is it playing around the world and then coming home to your base?
Well, it’s always good. I mean, there’s a lot more pressure here because they've seen all my tricks, they know all my moves, so I’ve got to come up with different things to keep them on their toes -- both the band and the audience and myself, too. But it's also nice to know that you can come back here and do whatever you want. They know me and they know if I get a little nutty onstage and start going into songs we don't know, that too shall pass and we'll eventually get to the songs they know.

But, I do the same things overseas, too. It's very easy to walk into Amsterdam and play because they haven't seen us in a year. So, they're really happy that we're there and they know the material and it's like this great event for them. But Jersey Shore people see us three, four, five times a year, so you really are under a lot of pressure to make it exciting and new and different. But, having said that, it’s nice to go home to your own bed after a show, too.

That's true. You could practically walk home from the Pony.
That's what I usually do. I usually walk home from the Pony, from those shows.

Shown: Southside Johnny Lyon at WFAN-AM's 2006 event at Bar Anticipation in Lake Como. (File photo)