Rock the boat...

Jun 5

3 min read

Ya know, I can't listen to 70s rock, disco, Less Than Jake and Goldfinger ALL the time...Cha Cha dedicated the better part of last weekend to yacht rock. I caught not one but TWO fun yacht rock cover bands for the first time. Unfortunately, Jtweets was out of commission - her new nickname is Edward Scissorhands - but that's another story for another day.

New Yacht City at The Chubby Pickle

Back to rocking the boat! First up New Yacht City at The Chubby Pickle in one of my favorite NJ towns - Highlands. The Chubby Pickle is more of a local spot, one I've been frequenting for many years. It's small and has surprisingly great food for a little bar tucked down the street from the famous Bahr's. They have live music A LOT and for a little venue they bring on some big ass talent. And this past weekend was no exception. New Yacht City rocked the boat (funnily enough there is a boat yard across the street) to a full house of yacht rock lovers, yes donning the white captain hats. Not me. Remember - your girl doesn't mess up her hair with that. I love me a band with a horn section and you can usually guarantee that with a yacht rock band. New Yach City covered such songs and artists as:

"Brandy"
Steely Dan
Elton John
Toto
Fleetwood Mac
Lionel Richie
Doobie Brothers
Christopher Cross
"Valerie"
Paul Simon
Huey Lewis
Hall and Oates

And just for fun (and to appease the crowd) did the Jersey Shore anthem for Gen Z and Millennials - Mr. Brightside. They bring a lot of energy and talent to the room and sounded great. My cranky old (tired) ass even got up and did my Stevie Nicks goddess hands dance when they covered Fleetwood Mac. The crowd was thoroughly enjoying themselves too.

Suit and Mai Tai at Bar A

I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be that crowded on a Sunday afternoon "down the shore." Bar A in Belmar was jam-packed with yacht rock loving folks eager to throw down a cold beer and jam out in their captain hats. Suit and Mai Tai took the stage to a packed house led by their Cruise Director and her bubble machine. I nestled into "my spot" at Bar A and was able to grab some pics and videos of this fun band. Once again, two days in a row, I got to jam out to some sweet yacht rock. And once again, another fun and super-talented band! Not surprisingly, the crowd loved Suit and Mai Tai too. They covered a lot of the same tunes as New Yacht City and more including:

Michael McDonald
Linda Ronstadt
Styx
Billy Joel
Christopher Cross
Fleetwood Mac
Toto
Bee Gees
Doobie Brothers
Hopelessly Devoted to You

With yacht rock growing more and more in popularity over the last few years, it's great to have so many bands devoted to it in the Jersey music scene. There is a MASSIVE audience for it and all of these yacht rock bands we keep discovering have been awesome. So get your captain hat (or not), your boat shoes and sail on down to catch one (or both) of these great bands!

Upcoming voyages...

Check out each band's website linked above for full dates but here are a few to highlight...

Suit and Mai Tai returns to Bar A on June 22 and July 13; Jenks on June 28 and July 10.
New Yacht City will be at Mutiny Beach in Asbury on June 20; Crossroads July 18; Headliner July 19. Even cooler, they are doing a yacht rock cruise on July 12 out of Belmar (see their website for tix).

Visit our Instagram page and check out our highlight reels to see videos from both events.