Brighton Bar

The Brighton Bar is a famous punk club located at 121 Brighton Avenue in the resort community of Long Branch, New Jersey. The bar is owned by Greg Macolino, former lead singer of hardcore band Chronic Sick. It is often compared to CBGBs, ^[1] and during the 1980s, it was the center of the New Jersey punk movement that primarily focused on Mutha Records and, later in the 1990s, featured Punk Rock Records whose artists share very similar production efforts of a common recording studio and group of producers, including U.S. Chaos, Chronic Sick, Stisisim, Mental Decay, Social Decay, Mental Abuse, Broken Heroes, Kraut, The Stun Gunz and The Flair Up's, some who have all shared the Brighton Bar's stage consistently for almost 30 years.^[2]

The Secret Syde performs in 2009

It is the last of New Jersey's legendary punk venues, outliving the Dirt Club, the Pipeline in Newark, and Asbury Park's Fast Lane. The club helped launch the careers of The Damned, Vice Squad, and The Misfits and has been called the "CBGBs of the South.^[3] The bar often has music nights featuring Monmouth University's radio station, WMCX.

The interior of the club features a mural, painted by Dave DeSantes, that pays tribute to all the legendary bands that have performed at the venue.

In 2010, David Johansen of the New York Dolls and Andy Shernoff of The Dictators, and Darrell McBride shared the stage.

References