Nikki Tranter

Asbury Park was built to entertain. In its early 1900s heyday, the New Jersey seaside town thronged with grand theatres, amusements, and concert pavilions. It would host some of the biggest musical acts of the day, and became the cradle for the big-band blend of blues, pre-Elvis rock and doo-wop that would become known as the Jersey Sound. The town thrived until industrial developments of the 1940s and ‘50s, including construction of the Garden State Parkway and nearby shopping malls, saw business directed away from the town’s centre. Tourism waned and unemployment grew. The marginalised and segregated African-American community was deeply affected by the downturn. Tensions rose, and on Independence Day in 1970, a riot would break out on the streets of Asbury Park that would leave parts of the town in ruins. Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock’n’Roll tells the town’s story, from its religious beginnings, through its emergence as a musical centre. It details the divisions that paved the way for the 1970 riot, and touches on the corporate mishandling of the town’s properties in the 1980s and ‘90s. The film’s focus, however, is on the music that crossed social and political barriers, with an eye on how entertainment remains key to the town’s revitalisation. The documentary’s director, Tom Jones, grew up near Asbury Park. The boardwalk fascinated Jones, who worked a summer job as a teen amid the glorious and dilapidated town centre, delivering Pepsi-Cola, and envisioning a renais

Asbury Park was built to entertain. In its early 1900s heyday, the New Jersey seaside town thronged with grand theatres, amusements, and concert pavilions. It would host some of the biggest musical acts of the day, and became the cradle for the big-band blend of blues, pre-Elvis rock and doo-wop that would become known as the Jersey Sound. The town thrived until industrial developments of the 1940s and ‘50s, including construction of the Garden State Parkway and nearby shopping malls, saw business directed away from the town’s centre. Tourism waned and unemployment grew. The marginalised and segregated African-American community was deeply affected by the downturn. Tensions rose, and on Independence Day in 1970, a riot would break out on the streets of Asbury Park that would leave parts of the town in ruins. Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock’n’Roll tells the town’s story, from its religious beginnings, through its emergence as a musical centre. It details the divisions that paved the way for the 1970 riot, and touches on the corporate mishandling of the town’s properties in the 1980s and ‘90s. The film’s focus, however, is on the music that crossed social and political barriers, with an eye on how entertainment remains key to the town’s revitalisation. The documentary’s director, Tom Jones, grew up near Asbury Park. The boardwalk fascinated Jones, who worked a summer job as a teen amid the glorious and dilapidated town centre, delivering Pepsi-Cola, and envisioning a renais