Audience arrives for a June, 2011 Doo Wop concert in the Great Auditorium. Paul Goldfinger photograph. © Click to make the crowd larger.
Audience begins to arrive for a Saturday night concert in the GA, 2015. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net (a re-post from Feb 2017)
Say goodbye to the Doowops, Abba, The Platters, Paul Anka, and all the other secular shows that would attract crowds to the Great Auditorium on summer Saturday nights. The schedule below is for the summer of 2017, and it largely consists of Christian programming except for a few band concerts and The Beach Boys.* We have no information as to the thinking behind this plan, but it will certainly change the town’s image. The list below is “provisional” and will be finalized by April.
In recent years, the shows have gotten stale, and there have been many complaints. But instead of injecting more life into the menu, the CMA has decided to take a totally new direction.
The impact of this is uncertain, and certainly the hotels, B and B’s and eateries must be concerned. Yet the beaches will attract weekend throngs and thongs as before, and so the crowds will still come to the Grove. But on Saturday nights, there probably won’t be more parking because there will be more room for the Asburians who need a place to drop off their vehicles for free.
And there always will be Saturday night in A. Park for those seeking adult entertainment.
- Memorial Day – Atlantic Wind Ensemble
- July 4 – OG Summer Band
- July 8 – Christian ventriloquist/ comedian show for families
- July 22 – Philadelphia Boys Choir
- August – Various Christian music groups and Beach Boys
- Labor Day – Father Alphonse and St Peter’s by the Sea
*Late addition: Neil Sedaka will return Aug. 12
THE BEACH BOYS have been popular attractions bringing good vibrations to town on summer Saturday nights:
FRANK SINATRA:
By Mark Neumann, Ocean Grover.
Editor’s note: We are re-posting this piece (2/12/17 BF) as interest in “Summer in the Grove” looms large. We received an interesting comment (below) from someone who lives in a nearby town:
“This is sad. We live in Highlands and enjoyed driving down to Ocean Grove for the concerts.
We’d come early to eat, probably Nagles, set up on the lawn and get an ice cream from Day’s during the concert.
I know that residents didn’t appreciate the parking worries on those evenings. Still, this is so sad.”
This Highlander’s remark is of interest because a summer Saturday night in Ocean Grove is not merely a chance to hear Kenny Vance or Neil Sedaka; it is an experience that reflects the lifestyles in our small historic town. It is a nostalgic throwback that makes you feel as if you are in 1950’s America, notwithstanding the Victorian style homes.
You walk around perhaps on the way to the Great Auditorium. You see children chasing a ball, teenagers holding hands, adults on porches with a Martini and few laughs. You hear music, perhaps someone practicing a bagpipe—or stroking a few chords on a guitar; or maybe it’s a chorus of wind-chimes from porches as you pass.
And you feel a sense of calm, of family, of safety and even of happiness. The “ancient” music emanating from the GA is only part of the mosaic.
And this sort of feeling is not confined to residents of the Grove, as we see from the comment above.
Hopefully the Great Auditorium management understood the concept of an Ocean Grove vibe when it made its decision.
–Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
Check this link for a Sue Gioulis/ Blogfinger cartoon on this theme: