The Stone Pony opened its doors on February 8, 1974, on Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. More than five decades later, the club is one of America’s best-known live music venues and an enduring landmark in the history of the Jersey Shore music scene.
The Pony’s story is closely connected to Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Steven Van Zandt, members of the E Street Band and the musicians who created what became known as the Sound of Asbury Park. But its history is also the story of a venue that survived changing musical eras, closures, ownership changes and difficult years for Asbury Park itself.
Today, The Stone Pony remains an active rock club rather than simply a monument to what happened here decades ago. Fans can still walk through the same doors to see local musicians, emerging artists and internationally known touring acts throughout the year.
See what is happening now on the Stone Pony concert calendar.
Early Years
1974: The Stone Pony Opens in Asbury Park
The Stone Pony was founded by Jack Roig and Robert “Butch” Pielka and officially opened on February 8, 1974.
It was not a glamorous beginning.
Asbury Park was struggling economically, and the beachfront was far removed from the thriving destination visitors know today. A snowstorm accompanied the Pony’s opening night, the building’s heat failed and the club reportedly took in only one dollar.
The timing, however, placed the new venue at the center of something important.
Asbury Park and the surrounding Jersey Shore already had a thriving community of musicians. The Upstage Club, which had closed in 1971, had previously provided a home for late-night jam sessions involving many of the musicians who would become central to the area’s sound. Bruce Springsteen released his first two albums in 1973, putting Asbury Park’s name before an international audience.
Then came The Stone Pony.
The small club at Ocean and Second Avenues gave the local scene another place to gather, perform and develop. Before long, its name would become inseparable from Asbury Park music.
Southside Johnny, Steven Van Zandt and the Sound of Asbury Park
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes became one of the earliest bands closely associated with The Stone Pony.
Southside Johnny Lyon and Steven Van Zandt had already spent years playing in different configurations with musicians from the Jersey Shore scene. At the Pony, the Asbury Jukes became a house band and helped establish the club as a destination for the distinctive mixture of rock, R&B and soul emerging from the area.
A major moment arrived in 1976.
That year, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes released their debut album, I Don’t Want to Go Home, produced by Steven Van Zandt. A May 30, 1976 performance at The Stone Pony brought together the Jukes with guests including Bruce Springsteen, members of the E Street Band, Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey.
The concert was broadcast on radio stations around the Northeast, exposing listeners well beyond the Jersey Shore to the music coming out of Asbury Park.
The relationship between Southside Johnny, Van Zandt, Springsteen and the Pony helped turn a neighborhood rock club into something much larger.
Bruce Springsteen and The Stone Pony
Few artists are more closely associated with The Stone Pony than Bruce Springsteen.
There is an important distinction in that history: Springsteen did not begin his career at The Stone Pony. By the time the club opened in 1974, he was already a Columbia Records artist and had released Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.
What happened afterward helped make the Pony legendary.
Springsteen began making appearances at the club during its early years and became a familiar presence on and around the Pony stage. Over the decades, he has returned repeatedly, sometimes for announced appearances and other times as a surprise guest joining friends and fellow musicians.
Those appearances became part of the culture surrounding the club. Fans learned that on the right night in Asbury Park, almost anything could happen.
Members of the E Street Band also became part of the Pony’s extended musical family, strengthening the connection between the club and the music that brought international attention to the Jersey Shore.
For Springsteen fans exploring important music landmarks in New Jersey, The Stone Pony remains one of the places most closely associated with his long relationship with Asbury Park.
Hitting Our Stride
The 1970s and 1980s: The Pony Gains a National Reputation
As Bruce Springsteen’s career exploded and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes reached audiences outside New Jersey, interest in The Stone Pony grew with them.
The club began attracting fans who wanted to experience the Asbury Park music scene for themselves. At the same time, the stage welcomed an increasingly broad range of touring artists.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, performers associated with the Pony included artists such as The Ramones, Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, Blondie and other major names alongside local musicians.
The combination became part of the venue’s identity.
The Stone Pony could host a nationally recognized touring act one night and a Jersey Shore band the next. Established musicians, rising performers and unexpected guests shared the same relatively intimate room.
That tradition continues today.
1984: The E Street Band Prepares for a New Era
One of the most notable chapters in the Springsteen and Stone Pony relationship came in 1984.
Before the Born in the U.S.A. Tour began, Springsteen and the E Street Band used the Pony stage to perform material from the new album live in preparation for the enormous tour that followed.
It represented an extraordinary contrast.
A band preparing to enter stadiums around the world was working through new music inside the relatively small Asbury Park rock club that had become part of its extended home.
The Born in the U.S.A. era would turn Springsteen into one of the biggest musical artists in the world. The Stone Pony remained part of the story.
Mid-Life Crisis
1991: The Stone Pony Closes
The Pony’s growing fame could not entirely insulate it from the challenges facing both the club and Asbury Park.
The venue closed in September 1991.
For a club that had become such an important gathering place, the shutdown marked a major break in its original era. But it was not the end of The Stone Pony.
The venue reopened in 1992 under new ownership.
During the 1990s, the Pony continued adapting to changing music tastes. A younger generation of punk and alternative bands found an audience there, including New Jersey’s own Bouncing Souls, who opened for Green Day at the club in 1994.
Outdoor concerts in an adjacent tent also provided an early glimpse of the larger outdoor performances that would eventually become a defining part of the modern Stone Pony experience.
1998: Another Closing and an Uncertain Future
The Stone Pony closed again in 1998.
For a period, the building operated as a dance club called Vinyl, and the future of the historic venue became increasingly uncertain.
The concern extended well beyond Asbury Park.
By this point, The Stone Pony was recognized by musicians and fans around the country as an important piece of American rock history. Efforts to preserve the club reflected the significance it had acquired during its first quarter-century.
The building remained closed until another pivotal year arrived.
Finding Purpose
2000: The Stone Pony Reopens
In 2000, a new chapter began.
Entrepreneur Domenic Santana purchased the property and revived The Stone Pony. The reopening came at a time when Asbury Park itself was beginning another period of transformation.
On Memorial Day weekend in 2000, the club officially reopened, restoring live music to one of the Jersey Shore’s most famous stages.
The moment was significant enough to draw statewide attention. Then-New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman participated in the reopening and recognized the venue’s importance beyond Asbury Park.
The Pony had survived.
Its return also coincided with the gradual revival of Asbury Park’s waterfront and downtown. As restaurants, hotels, businesses and visitors returned to the city, live music once again became one of the forces defining Asbury Park’s identity.
The Summer Stage Expands the Stone Pony Experience
As the modern era of The Stone Pony developed, outdoor concerts became an increasingly important part of the venue.
The Stone Pony Summer Stage expanded the scale of concerts the Pony could host while keeping those performances at its historic Ocean Avenue home.
With room for approximately 4,500 fans outdoors, compared with roughly 850 inside the club, Summer Stage created a new way to experience live music at the Pony.
Major touring artists could now perform outside within steps of the Asbury Park Boardwalk and Atlantic Ocean, while the original club continued hosting indoor concerts throughout the year.
The combination helped introduce new generations of concertgoers to The Stone Pony.
A New Era
2024: The Stone Pony Celebrates 50 Years
February 8, 2024 marked exactly 50 years since The Stone Pony opened.
Asbury Park officially proclaimed the date “Stone Pony Day,” and the venue launched a year-long celebration recognizing the musicians, employees and fans who had been part of its first half-century.
The anniversary provided an opportunity to look back at a remarkable timeline.
A club that opened during a snowstorm in a struggling beachfront city had survived closures, changing owners, redevelopment pressures, transformations in the music business and dramatic changes throughout Asbury Park.
Fifty years later, people were still lining up outside to see bands play.
More Than a Bruce Springsteen Landmark
The connection between Bruce Springsteen and The Stone Pony is an essential part of the club’s identity, but the Pony’s history extends far beyond any single artist.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes helped build the venue’s earliest musical identity. Steven Van Zandt connected different corners of the Jersey Shore scene as a musician, songwriter and producer. Generations of New Jersey bands followed.
National touring acts brought new audiences through the doors. Local musicians continued using the stage as a proving ground. Fans passed their attachment to the club from one generation to another.
That continuity is why The Stone Pony remains both a Bruce Springsteen landmark and one of the most significant historic music venues in New Jersey.
It is also why the Pony remains a working venue rather than a museum.
The story is still being made on stage.
Continuing The Legacy
The Stone Pony Today
More than 50 years after opening, The Stone Pony continues to host live music at 913 Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park.
Indoor concerts keep the venue active throughout the year, while outdoor Summer Stage shows bring thousands of fans to the waterfront during the warmer months.
Visitors come from New Jersey, across the United States and around the world to see the club connected to so many chapters of American music history. Others come simply because a band they love is playing that night.
Both are part of the same story.
The best way to understand why The Stone Pony has endured since 1974 is still to experience a show here.
Be Part of the Next Chapter
The Stone Pony’s history stretches back more than five decades, but this is still a live music venue with another show around the corner.
Explore The Stone Pony concert calendar to see upcoming indoor and Summer Stage performances and experience one of New Jersey’s most historic music venues for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did The Stone Pony open?
The Stone Pony opened on February 8, 1974, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Jack Roig and Robert “Butch” Pielka founded the club, which grew from a local bar and music venue into one of the best-known rock clubs in the United States.
Did Bruce Springsteen get his start at The Stone Pony?
No. Bruce Springsteen was already a recording artist and had released two albums before The Stone Pony opened in 1974. However, Springsteen began making appearances at the club during its early years and has returned many times since, creating one of the most famous artist-venue relationships in American rock music.
Why is The Stone Pony famous?
The Stone Pony is famous for its role in the Asbury Park and Jersey Shore music scenes and its connections to Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Steven Van Zandt and members of the E Street Band. It has also hosted generations of major national touring acts and emerging artists.
Did The Stone Pony ever close?
Yes. The Stone Pony closed in 1991 and reopened in 1992. It closed again in 1998 before being purchased and revived by new ownership in 2000. Its survival through those periods has become an important part of the venue’s history.
Is The Stone Pony still open?
Yes. The Stone Pony remains an active live music venue at 913 Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The approximately 850-capacity indoor club hosts concerts throughout the year, while the Stone Pony Summer Stage hosts larger outdoor concerts during the warmer months.
