When Danny Clinch frequented the Stone Pony during the '90s his camera was akin to an extra appendage. "I always brought it along just in case Bruce Springsteen showed up," Clinch said.
The Toms River kid, who became one of the most respected photographers in the world of rock and pop culture, snapped shots while standing with a surprised Stone Pony crowd in which the Boss would perform in front of during an unforgettable evening.
However, Clinch has taken it to another level morphing from amateur photographer to the upper echelon of rock shutterbugs. Clinch has shot a number of professional sessions with Springsteen but his most memorable interaction with the rock icon, who is now a friend, happened at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September of 2024.
Clinch and co-producer Tim Donnelly, have curated six Sea.Hear.Now. fests, which features music, art and surfing. However, last summer's headliner was the biggest and most significant to grace the stage on the sands of Asbury Park.
Springsteen and the E Street Band delivered an epic performance with multiple highlights. "Blinded by the Light" was delivered for the first time in nearly a decade. "Thundercrack" was absolutely electric and Tom Wait's "Jersey Girl," which always felt like it was written for the Boss, closed a 30-song set that was an absolute performance clinic.
"When Bruce walked off the stage he said, 'That was a top five show," Clinch said.
That's an incredible self-assessment from a recording artist, who has delivered some mindblowing sets throughout an unparalleled career. There was Springsteen's emotional performance the night after John Lennon passed away at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in 1980. There was Freehold's favorite son's legendary No Nukes performance in 1979 and his beyond joyful Christmas benefit shows at Convention Hall during the early aughts.
It's not bad for a kid from Toms River, who has shot icons ranging from Bob Dylan to the late Tupac Shakur to Pearl Jam, to produce a concert that Springsteen himself said was one of the very best of his storied career.
The seed of such an endeavor was planted a generation ago. While attending the second Lollapalooza in 1992, which was the finest of Lolla CEO' Perry Farrell's traveling festivals, in Stanhope, Donnelly and Clinch talked about curating their own show together one day. The conversation occurred after Donnelly interviewed Pearl Jam singer-songwriter Eddie Vedder, who was an emerging star.
"My good friend Tim Donnelly and I came of age in New Jersey," Clinch said. "He became a music journalist and was going to interview Eddie Vedder at Lollapalooza. He said, 'Bring your camera. We'll hang out with Ed and we did. (Pearl Jam's) '10" just came out and there was this buzz about them. I remember watching Eddie raging from the stage. Tim and I had a lot of fun at that festival. It reminds me of how we always kicked around the idea of doing a music festival of our own."
Lots of industry types talk about putting together such an event and it's beyond difficult. Clinch and Donnelly initially ran into obstacles but everything changed when the tandem teamed up with C3 Present's promoter/producer Chris Sweetwood.
"Chris came up from Atlanta and immediately got it," Clinch said. "He said that when he started his festival in Atlanta he had to build the vibe."
However, Sweetwood noticed that the hipster infrastructure was already in place in Asbury Park. "Chris saw the late night shows here at the Stone Pony and the Wonder Bar," Clinch said. "He saw what we have here and went back to his partners and we got things going."
Sea.Hear.Now. debuted in 2018 with such recording artists as Springsteen sans the E Street Band, Blondie, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper.
Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, The Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks, Green Day and The Killers are some of the impressive array of talent that has played the Sea. Hear. Now. Festival.
It's not easy to keep a festival merging music, arts and culture going. Jay Z's "Made in America" festival started strong in Philadelphia in 2012. However, Made in America, which featured such headliners as Pearl Jam, Kanye West and Beyonce, has been another kind of MIA, as in Missing In Action, after the 2022 fest.
However, Sea.Hear.Now. is a huge, consistent success. The event, which is slated for September 13 and 14 on the Asbury Park Beach with headliners Hozier and Blink 182, is as much Clinch as it is Asbury Park.
The gritty city between exclusive Deal and the quaint and tranquil land of Victorians and Methodists, Ocean Grove, inspired Clinch during the '80s when he frequently traveled a half-hour north on the Garden State Parkway for his musical fix. "There was always something about Asbury Park," Clinch said. "One of the first shows I saw was the Stray Cats at the Stone Pony during their heyday. I saw so many great shows at the Pony."
Gregg Allman, the Del Fuegos, Cyndi Lauper, The Hooters and Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers are some of the acts Clinch caught at the Pony during the Reagan era.
"There was so much great music and not all of it was at the Stone Pony," Clinch said. "I loved seeing Patti Smith at the Fast Lane. I remember seeing her run of shows around Christmas and around her birthday. I saw a lot of punk rock at the Asbury Lanes."
It might have seemed like a misspent youth with Clinch but he has no regrets except that he wishes he invested in Asbury Park before it boomed over recent years. "I'm not the only guy who wishes he bought a house or building in Asbury Park back in the day," Clinch said.
But Clinch has his piece of Asbury Park. The Transparent Clinch Gallery features fine art prints and photography books. Clinch wasn't looking to open a gallery to showcase his work but he fell into it. "This woman approached me and my wife (Maria Clinch) on the (Asbury Park) boardwalk and said, "I work with the Asbury Hotel. They have a space on Kingsley. They want to know if you want to put up a pop up gallery.' I said, 'If you can help us finance the production of putting up this gallery show we would love that.' It became a reality. With the gallery, I wanted it to be community centered. We asked Tina Kerekes if she would run the gallery. It's worked out so well."
The gallery traffic has been diverse ranging from locals to rock stars to tourists from around the world. "When bands play the Stone Pony, they often come in to check out the gallery," Clinch said. "When Shakey Graves played in town, he popped over. Jim Rotolo has done his (Sirius XM) Springsteen show at the Gallery a few times. There's a guy here who does Springsteen tours and he'll bring in 15 tourists, who are visiting Asbury Park. It's been great having the gallery here."
Clinch still lives in Toms River but is an Asbury Park staple tending to his gallery and focusing on Sea.Hear.Now. "There is no place like Asbury Park."
When bands play the Stone Pony, they often come in to check out the gallery. There's such a great vibe in Asbury Park.
The 2025 edition of Sea.Hear.Now will be akin to an outdoor House of Style. Lenny Kravitz, who has an assistant, whose only responsibility is to take care of his array of hats, is on the bill. Hozier is always sartorially splendid and then there is Public Enemy's Flavor Flav and the massive time piece that graces his chest. Danny Clinch and Tim Donnelly nailed it in terms of sonics but also with style for their annual festival on the sand in Asbury Park.