TOMS RIVER – The Clubhouse of Toms River, the nonprofit organization that held New Jersey’s first drive-in concert, has announced a summer line-up of safe, socially-distanced free concerts to take place at 6 p.m. on Sundays in Downtown Toms River.
The lineup of original music for the summer shows is as follows:
July 12 – Wyndup Kid / Ogbert the Nerd
July 26 – Have a Good Season / Beauty
August 2 – TBA
August 9 – B. Wood & The Bones / James Martorana
August 16 – Cook Thugless / TBA
August 23 – Magic Ghrelin / Oops!
August 30 – TBA
September 6 – Shoobies / Skyeline
“A lot of folks were just excited to be out having a good time as a community again,” said Jimmy Mura, The Clubhouse of Toms River’s director, discussing the pop-up, drive-in show the nonprofit held over Memorial Day weekend. “We had a few cars pull up who just heard the music from a distance and decided to stay for the show, too.”
Earlier in the season, on June 28, there were performances by Pollyanna and Little Hag. The first show featured America Part Two and Ben Piper of Mikita. This show was a test, Mura said. Held in the parking lot behind The Clubhouse, it was designed to see if the drive-in concert concept could work.
“That show was an overwhelming success, drawing music-lovers from all over the state who remained in their cars and respected state- and CDC-recommended safety guidelines without complaint,” he said.
After that, the Toms River Parking Authority donated space at the corner of Water and Irons streets so that up to 100 vehicles can be accommodated during the shows. Unfortunately, vehicles will be turned away after the lot is full. Reservations can be made by emailing your license plate along with the show you’d like to attend to theclubhousetr@gmail.com.
Cars can begin entering the lot at 5:30 p.m. and should make sure their FM radio is working prior to arrival. Visitors must remain in their vehicles throughout the show. There are no public restrooms. Alcohol is not permitted.
While the concert series is free, donations are strongly recommended and greatly appreciated. Even though The Clubhouse of Toms River is unable to host events at its 16 Washington Street home right now, the nonprofit has ongoing rent and other expenses it must meet. As a fundraiser, T-shirts touting “Keep Art Alive” are available at bonfire.com/store/the-clubhouse-of-toms-river/. Additionally, fully tax-deductible donations are always gratefully accepted via PayPal at theclubhousetr@gmail.com or Venmo at @jimmyclubhouse.
The Clubhouse is also collecting donations for Color of Change, a nonprofit dedicated to empower black voices. An anonymous donor has agreed to make a matching donation of up to $2,000 to this organization for donations made during these concerts.
