The Allman Betts Band LIVE! at the Ocean City Music Pier
By: Spotlight Central
Tags: Concerts, New Jersey, Music, Southern Rock, Rock

By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery

Music lovers are ready and waiting outside the Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, NJ this Monday, July 8, 2019, for a rare Jersey Shore performance by the Southern rock group, The Allman Betts Band.

As we wait in the Music Pier’s outdoor pavilion overlooking the blue Atlantic, we catch up with three long-time friends who came together tonight to enjoy The Allman Betts Band’s potent mix of original songs and timeless covers.

First, we chat with Martin from Asbury Park, an Allman Betts devotee who is sporting an Allman Brothers’ Eat a Peach for Peace 1993 Summer Tour T-shirt.

When asked if Martin is a long-standing Allman Brothers fan, Martin smiles and exclaims, “I saw The Allman Brothers play 238 times at the Beacon Theater in New York City — which is four and a half more times than even Greg Allman did!”

Explaining, “I was one of the house managers at the Beacon Theater where The Allman Brothers performed for 238 shows,” Martin notes, “Greg did 233 of the shows, but then he had to leave after the break of his 234th show.”

Adding, “Not only was I was there for all of the shows at the Beacon, but I also saw the group perform at other venues,” Martin recalls, “I can remember sneaking out from my parents’ house in New Jersey and taking the bus to New York City to see The Allman Brothers Band — that was the first concert I ever went to.”

When asked why he and his friends are here tonight to see The Allman Betts Band, Martin declares, “This band is great! I’m proud to see what they’re doing with their music,” before acknowledging, “I guess you could call it a ‘proud papa’ kind of thing.”

Says Martin’s friend, Charlie from Red Bank, “I started listening to The Allman Brothers Band way back in 1970. They were musically superior to most other bands. Their ability to jam was different — it was sophisticated. Even back then, you recognized that what they were doing was something special — it was sort of like what Miles Davis was doing in jazz, yet it was in the genre of Southern Rock.”

Recalling, “I saw The Allman Brothers many times,” Charlie acknowledges, “Once, in the summer of 1971 in Central Park, I even got to see Duane Allman perform.”

Explaining, “I was really far back, but it was cool getting to watch him play,” Martin reveals, “And it wasn’t the way people think — where they picture Duane Allman just standing there playing his instrument; he was very animated playing his guitar, and I even remember him holding it up and down vertically as he performed,” before noting, “And since then, I’ve become a collector of Allman Brothers’ memorabilia. In fact, today, I own the actual cotton shirt that Duane wore the night of that show.”

When asked to express his thoughts on the stars of tonight’s show, The Allman Betts Band, Charlie asserts, “The Allman Betts Band is a generational continuation of the music we all want to hear. In addition to performing their own material, they also do a genuine tribute to The Allman Brothers. It’s not in any way an exploitation — it’s in the spirit of authenticity, and it comes across as carrying the torch. There’s a sincerity to what they do, where it’s all about the musicianship and the music,” before concluding, “It’s a nice extension of the music we love that we never thought we’d ever have.”

Lastly, we chat with Robert from Ridgewood, who agrees with Charlie adding, “It’s really great that we can all come together to see The Allman Betts Band,” acknowledging, “I’ve been following the group since Greg Allman’s son, Devon Allman, started doing his Devon Allman Project concerts with Duane Betts, the son of Dickey Betts.”

“As individual artists, Devon Allman and Duane Betts are really good musicians,” continues Robert,” and now along with Berry Oakley’s son, Berry Oakley, Jr., The Allman Betts Band does a great job playing their own material, but they also do some great Allman Brothers’ covers, too,” before concluding, “It’s really neat how they’ve been able to blaze a trail for themselves doing their own music while, at the same time, paying tribute to the music of their fathers.”

Inside the historic Ocean City Pier auditorium, the lights dim and tonight’s opening act, British blues musician Jack Broadbent, takes his place on the stage.

Opening with “On the Road Again,” Broadbent holds his electric guitar on his lap and slides up and down on the instruments’ neck with a metal flask. Keeping a bluesy rock beat with his powerful strumming, Broadbent wails, “Well, I’m so tired of crying but I’m out on the road again.”

The packed house claps along with Broadbent’s soulful bluesy groove on “Making My Way,” and heads bop in the audience to the driving and then bluesy feel of “She Said,” a song which features Broadbent’s soulful voice and conventional guitar playing talents.