MMurphy’s Open Mic

   The open mike at Murphy Style Grill at 2658 Highway 516 in Old Bridge had only started three weeks earlier when I visited in late June.Currently it is held every Monday night from 8 to 10 p.m.(give or take) on a small stage near the bar.
   The phrase "small stage" is probably worth expanding on:it is a VERY small stage, to the point where any act with even a mildly elaborate setup might not have enough room to perform. There's more or less enough room to hold the PA, the mikes, and you. Nearly every act in attendance that night was a solo performer with a guitar.
   But, at the same time, the size of the stage (and the limitations that creates) only adds to a sense of intimacy. It, along with the general atmosphere of the open mike, can make you forget you're actually sitting in a small part of a fairly large Bar and Grill.

Host Al LaGru (left) and Jeff Norberg

   During the one I attended, the crowd was small but supportive and in genuinely high spirits. The best indication of this was at the end of the evening, when the patrons engaged in something I've never seen at an open mike before: a sing-along to "Nowhere Man." Actually, I've never seen a sing-along to anything at any open mike. That's the kind of thing that could turn one off in a different setting; but at Murphy's it was just somehow heartening.
   All in all the evening had a very comfortable, friendly feel to it; vastly different from some other open mikes I've attended where people are uninterested, simply waiting for their turn to go on stage. Those are the kinds of places lend themselves to the baffling, pointlessly offensive practice of open-mike heckling. That was not the case here: the other performers and the audience seemed genuinely enthused with every act that took the stage, applauding vigorously, shouting requests, and laughing with the performers. As opposed, I guess, to at them. There's clearly a big difference.
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MStone Pony Sold

The Stone Pony

   Yes, it actually happened. On June 30, Dominic Santana sold the Stone Pony to Asbury Partners, the same firm in charge of redeveloping Asbury Park’s waterfront. Santana will continue working at the venue as a consultantand will promote shows while the developers decide what to do with their new property. According to the Associated Press, the plan right now is to “renovate the building, add a dance floor and keep it where it is.”
   Depending on who you talk to, the sale of the Stone Pony is either a blessing or just the prelude to the ultimate destruction of a musical landmark. The TriCity News, the New York Times and the Asbury Park Press have all called for the venue to be torn down.
   On the other hand, people like Don Stine, who co-chaired the Save the Stone Pony committee, called the Stone Pony “threatened”.
   These are all things you may know, though. What you might not know is that a large number of long term employees (some dating back to the original days of the Pony) suddenly seem to be missing. More on this in our next issue.