The featured image at the start of this article is from 2018 and features art by Mike Shine, Porkchop, and Haculla.

I lived on the Jersey Shore from 2008 to 2020, and during that time I was a frequent visitor to Asbury Park. My town (not Asbury) already had a beach and bars. I went to Asbury for the culture: live music, record stores (Groovy Graveyard & Holdfast (RIP)), and art. In the 2000s murals began to appear around town, accompanying its rebirth and the rise of music venues like Asbury Lanes. Many of the murals were attributed to a local artist named Porktomic aka Porkchop, whose art is frequently shown at the Asbury Park art gallery Parlor Gallery. The murals amplified the total vibe of the town. There was all this great music happening, great galleries, music & antique shops, great bars, and interesting people — and the murals provided a cinematic backdrop for it all.

A mural by Porkchop on the Baronet Theatre

Photo taken in 2009. Both the mural and theater are gone.

Octopus Flapper mural by Porkchop inside the Casino building

Photo taken in 2011. This mural still exists, but it is hidden behind plywood.

The town and its murals attracted the attention of national artists. Around 2011, world-famous Shephard Fairey (best known for Obey Giant stickers, and the Obama Hope poster) put up murals in the boardwalk area and the Baronet Theatre wall, celebrating punk rock heroes.

Portraits of Joey Ramone, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Glenn Danzig, Ian McKay, and Henry Rollins by Shephard Fairey (2011) on the Fastlane.

Both the mural and the Fastlane are gone.

Wooden Walls

The Wooden Walls project was established in 2015 to bring more artists and murals to Asbury Park. Wooden Walls is responsible for murals and art projects along the boardwalk on iconic buildings like the Casino, the Stream Plant Building, the Carousel House, and some low-key wooden buildings like the Sunset Pavilion.

Now that I no longer live near Asbury Park, the murals give me a reason to return, particularly in the fall and winter when the beach crowds have diminished, and there is more time to focus and enjoy the art uninterrupted.

A mural by Pau Quintanajornet

Photo taken 2016. You can see that the artist is in the process of completing the mural. It is on the Sunset Pavillion along the north side of the boardwalk.

Boombox Saint by Dylan Egon

Photo taken 2017. It is on the Sunset Pavillion along the north side of the boardwalk.

Ruthie & Andre by Porkchop

Photo taken 2017. It is on the Sunset Pavillion along the north side of the boardwalk.

“Sea Pegasus” (my name for it) by Mike Shine

Photo taken 2017. This one is about 50 feet wide. It is on the Sunset Pavillion along the north side of the boardwalk.

A detail of a painting by Porkchop inside the Carousel Building

Photo taken 2018.

ONEQ mural on the side of the Carousel Building

Photo taken in 2019.

Whimsical frog mural by Matt Crabe

Photo taken in 2023. It is on the Sunset Pavillion along the north side of the boardwalk.

An OBEY sign by Shephard Fairey from 2011.

Photo taken in 2023. This mural has faded and becomes a “ghost sign”. You can see it from Ocean Avenue North.

A new Octopus Flapper by Porkchop

Photo taken 2023. It is on the boardwalk’s south side and blocks the Casino entrance. Her sister is boarded up inside the Casino building.

This article is part of a three-article series on Asbury Park, including Asbury Lanes (Asbury Park, NJ) The Best Years and Photos from Asbury Park, New Jersey from the 2000s.

 

This story and accompanying photos represent the best of years of the Asbury Lanes bowling & music club from my personal experience from the years 2006 to 2015. No doubt you have your own experience, lore, and opinions about the Asbury Lanes — those are yours, these are mine. This story is a continuation of my story about Asbury Park.

Around 2006 my Monmouth County friends began raving about a club in Asbury Park called Asbury Lanes. It was a bowling alley where bands played on a stage erected in the center of four lanes, it also had a bar, a kick-ass DJ, and a restaurant that served sushi, grilled cheese, and tater tots. And it was a short walk to the beach — what more could you ask for? Coming off the afterglow of the culturally resonant Big Lebowski movie, the nostalgia of a post-mid-century bowling alley, combined with great music, comfort food, and comfort drinks, the Asbury Lanes was like a big hug from 50% of everything I loved.

Photo: Asbury Lanes (9/29/2012). Like most Jersey Shore businesses, the Lanes look the brunt of hurricanes, nor’easters, and rowdy humans. It was not rare to see a missing letter on the wall, a missing part of a sign, or an abandoned U.F.O. on the lawn.

Repairing the sign (5/12/2012):

I saw and heard at least 100 bands at the Lanes. Shows performed by The King Khan & BBQ Show, Peelander-Z, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, and Fancy Space People were the most memorable. The King Khan’s shows were so phenomenal and mesmerizing that people would put their phones in their pockets, and dance. This was the era when a crowd would stand still as statues and film concerts with their cell phones. When a band was so good that the phones disappeared, that was a great band.

Aside from these hyper-unique national bands, indie rock bands like Electric Six, Supersuckers, and the Horton Heat, and local favorites like The Obvious and the Ribeye Brothers played memorable shows there. (Visit Setlist.fm for more Asbury Lanes shows).

Aside from music, The Asbury Lanes was home to the first two Asbury Park Comicons, a Big Lebowski festival, a Troma movie festival, D.J. dance contests, Sex Toy Bingo, garage sales, and many art shows curated by Lanes manager Juicy Jenn, who also co-owns the art gallery Parlor Gallery and runs the Wooden Walls mural art project.

The Door, starring the father of Milk & Cheese, Evan Dorkin (9/29/2012). This photo was taken during Asbury Park Comicon 2.

The Bowling Lanes (9/29/2012). A “Dutch angle” or “drunk about to fall” shot.

Pick your shoes (3/3/2012):

Bowling balls (9/29/2012). The Lanes had dozens of balls to choose from, in classic black and a myriad of spacey, swirly candy colors.

Disco balls (10/25/2011) are also spacey and colorful, but for floating above the lanes, not rolling down them.

The Bowling Pin Art Show (9/28/2008):

Jucifer (7/27/2015) was one of the loudest bands I saw at the Lanes (I think Mr. Payday was the loudest band I’ve seen).

The Obvious (10/20/2009) were local favorites back in the late 2000s.

One of the members of Peelander-Z hiding in the crowd (8/15/2010). Peelander-Z is equal parts Power Rangers, a Japanese game show, and a power-pop-punk rock band.

Fancy Space People (10/25/2010). Fancy Space People are part psych-rock, glam rock, space rock, and shiny glitter body suits. Not a cult.

The floor plan as I remember it from the 2006-2015 era.

Sadly, Asbury Lanes has been under new ownership and management since 2018. I have not been there since 2015.