Well, he doesn't look like this anymore, but you can still see him for free.

The word on the boardwalk is that MTV’s hooligans have flown the coop to the West Coast to film the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday and a stroll on the boards last night proved their house was dark and empty. If you’re looking to get in some Sleazeside time without the frenzy or the risk of J-Woww punching your lights out, this is the time to do it.

Elsewhere at the shore, dogs will have their day and Mr. Frampton will play a free concert in Asbury Park, you can tap the Rockies at Jenks in Pt. Pleasant Beach or win a trip to Texas at Bar A in Lake Como. Read on:

• Jenks relives old Coors Light ad campaigns with Silver Bullet Fridays each week. This week Lifespeed plays. If you ever have an hour to spare, ask me to tell you the story about them totally blowing me off as a young wide-eyed summer intern looking to interview them on LBI. Sigh. $3 16 oz. Coors Light aluminum bottles.

• Also on Friday, Bitter X plays at Bar A, where one lucky winner will snag a trip for two to beautiful South Padre Island, Texas, where it was really cool to go on spring break in the 90s. $2.75 Bud/Bud Lights, $2.50 well drinks 9-11:30.
• The Surf Club hosts Table of Ten – direct from Penn State to play for what can only be a pretty meager crowd, given the Friday night track record there this summer. This is what happens when you book the same reggae band for every summer Friday in May, get very poor attendance and then change your mind and scramble to find bands at the last minute. Wanted to the Benjamins, Lifespeed or the Amish Outlaws at Joey Harrison’s this summer? Not happening. Buy, hey, at least it’s cheap: $1 Coors Light drafts, $3 Yuenglings, $5 Seven Tiki spiced rum drinks.
• Bring your party animal to Asbury Park’s famous Wonder Bar at 4 p.m. on Saturday for a very special edition of their Yappy Hour – happy hour for dogs and their owners. Saturday’s Yappy Hour will raise money and awareness for the Satos, homeless Puerto Rican street dogs. Quite a few have found homes at the Shore and event organizer hope the party will find homes for more as several Satos will be available for adoption. $5 donation at the door.
• Beloved classic rock band The Kootz bring their special blend of quirk and good music to Lavallette’s bayside gazebo for a free concert at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
• Continue hearing good music on Sunday by moving the party from the gazebo on Bay Boulevard to the Crab’s Claw at Grand Central and President to catch Big Baby Ernie’s weekly Sunday set.
• And, finally, yes Peter Frampton is playing a free show at the Stone Pony’s Summer Stage in Asbury Park on Monday as a peace offering to fans disappointed by last summer’s show. He invites you to “Come see me play the longest show of my tour. This is the least I can do for you guys who were there last year and I can only hope you will come back. I can promise you this, it will be a fun, long night of music old and new!!!!” (not sure if those excessive exclamation points are his or his publicist’s). If you can’t make it, the show will be broadcast on Sirius XM’s Deep Tracks channel live. Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 8.

Dogs welcome! (image gratefully borrowed from jerseybites.com)

With the Fourth now just a faded memory like the smoke that hangs in the sky long after a firework has twinkled away, things can seem a little anti-climactic. However, there’s just two precious months left to savor the sweet summer season and all the outdoor socializing it has to offer – this oppressive heat wave be damned! Put on some shorts, pick up an extra bottle of hair defrizzer, and grab your flip-flops (unless you’re heading to the Osprey – flop ban still in effect. Found out the hard way two weekends ago!), and get out!

• Metromix Jersey Shore is hosting a happy hour at the Beach Bar in Asbury Park from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday (which is soon – power down your computer, leave work and go!). Never been to Beach Bar but heard only good things! Print this coupon before you go for drink specials.
• Kick of the weekend properly with happy hour at Leggett’s with music by Turnpike Mike and Randy on the patio and $2 drink specials from 4-8 p.m.
• Hemingway’s features DJ Milky Mike (does he like dairy products? is he really pale? who knows?!) and $2 Coors Lights and $4 unspecified bombs on Friday.
• The Surf Club continues Free For All Fridays with no cover, $1 Coors Light drafts, $5 call drinks, $3 shots and, apparently, hookahs, courtesy of Raaz Hookah, new to Seaside this year. It Ain’t Pretty (who doesn’t seem to have a website) will perform.
• On Saturday, Speakeasy will play in Osprey’s band room. Not sure if it’s the self-described “groove rock” Speakeasy from Missouri (not likely, but the bar’s site links to them) or the Carlstadt-based Speakeasy, who have not updated their Facebook group events since 2008. Guess we’ll just have to be surprised. Seriously though, don’t wear flipflops. Your friends will mock you when you’re the fool who forces the whole group to change plans and go elsewhere.
• 507 Main (bet you can’t guess their address) in Belmar will host the Springsteen tribute band the E Street Shuffle on Saturday night.
• On Sunday, Red Bank will offer Wine Walk from 4-7 p.m. Twenty bucks gets you a wristband, which entitles you to two wine samples and two food samples at 14 participating locations. Stroll around, sip some wine, have a snack – sounds tremendous. Buy a band at any participating restaurant, which can be found here.

Donovan's Reef in chillier times - no sweats required this weekend! (Photo courtesy of jerseyshore.metromix.com)

Now it’s really here – the kids are out of school; seasonal rentals are beginning; and the 4th of July looms ever nearer. If this gorgeous sunny weather we’ve been having hasn’t put you in the mood for cocktails al fresco, get your pulse checked. Fortunately, the Shore abounds with all sorts of spots for you to get your drink on, enjoy the sweet summer night air and take in a splendid view.

Here’s what’s good for this weekend:

• A True Story makes their debut Surf Club performance Friday night during the bar’s new Free For All Fridays. In the interest of full disclosure, LFJS loves, loves, LOVES this band (and has known its lead singer since middle school) so if it seems like we’re playing favorites, we are. Nick, Vic, Rick, John and Matt play their own awesomely catchy originals and can turn any bar into a rollicking dance party. Keep your ears out for their killer versions of “Bye Bye Bye,” “Shout,” anything by Kings of Leon and “Break Your Heart” by Taio Cruz (hint hint, Nick). It’ll be easy on your wallet too – no cover, $1 Coors Light drafts, $3 shot specials, $5 Grey Goose drinks, $5 keep-the-cup Seven Tiki spiced rum drinks, which, whatever they are, sound dangerous.
• Bar A throws a Devotion Vodka party on Saturday for those of you devoted to vodka. If you go early, happy hour is on the new grotto beach – let us know what it’s like! No cover until 9 p.m., $2.75 Heineken and Amstel Lights until 11:30, Miller Lite draft, Stoli Apple and Pomegranate specials.
• The Patio Bar at the Wharfside in Point Pleasant Beach, a great waterfront spot to drink and dine outside, has the Jamie Brown Trio from 1-5 p.m. and Undisputed from 6-10 p.m. on Saturday.
• Donovan’s Reef has Bitter X at 6 p.m. on Sunday if you’re looking to extend your weekend with some Sunday Funday beachfront festivities.

Don't let its seeming-emptiness fool you. This boardwalk's about to be overrun.

Gentle readers, it is upon us. On Friday, our fair island will be inundated with seasonal owners, their guests and, yes, the dreaded Benny. For lifelong beach kids like yours truly, Memorial Day Weekend (MDW for the uninitiated) is better than Christmas. Beach, barbecue, beers, old friends – what’s not to like?

For those of you seeking entertainment outside your own backyard, here are our picks:

• Shorty Long and the Jersey Horns at the Beachcomber Thursday night at 10 p.m. Party with Shorty, definitely among my favorite Shore bands, in the boardwalk bar where Snooki got punched. Bud Light drafts are usually $1.50; there’s never a cover and when you get hungry, Steaks Unlimited is right across the street.
• If you’re an early riser, Jenks and WPLJ 95.5 will salute the unofficial start to summer with the sunrise for the 2010 Summer Blast Off with the Scott and Todd Morning Show at 6 a.m., Barenaked Ladies, Kris Allen (see, who says winning American Idol doesn’t get you anywhere?) and then Lifespeed at night.
• Hemingway’s is touting the “biggest party in Seaside Heights” from May 28-30 on its website, whatever that means.
• The Osprey in Manasquan has a cover band-eriffic weekend with Big Bang Baby, Screaming Broccoli and Bitter X Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Bad news though, you still can’t wear flip flops.

Were I you, I’d probably stay away from MTV’s magnificent 7’s favorite hotspots this weekend. Save Bamboo and Karma for another time, friends.

Another thing to remember, prices are going to jump higher than Snickers’ poof this weekend on just about everything. Last summer, a 2.5 mile cab ride from Used to Be’s to my house cost $60, which we should have negotiated before getting in the taxi. The Ortley Beach McDonald’s banishes their dollar menu beginning MDW, although hours have been extended to round-the-clock, so find late-night snacks elsewhere. Also, the invasion of horrendous drivers has already begun so be extra careful.

We’ll be tweeting with #MDW10 all weekend and you should too! Happy summer!!

shorty!

Lots of stuff going on around the shore this weekend – Cinco de Mayo continues into Seis de Mayo, bands we like are around, and there’s good deals to be had. Let’s review…

• Hemingway’s combines its belated Cinco de Mayo celebration with its new Thursday night promotion, Plan B Thursdays. No, not so called because they anticipate patrons to need emergency contraception the next day (but it kinda sounds like it, right?), but because they’ve gotten giddily alliterative with specials on beers and bomb shots and live music from bands. $2 Coors Lights and Yuenglings, $3 bomb shots from 12-1, no word yet on this Thursday’s band.
• Speaking of featured bands, super-fun cover band A True Story will make their monthly appearance at Bar A on Friday. Full disclosure, ATS’s singer Nick is a dear friend of mine. Rick, Vic, John and Matt round out the band and in addition to some awesome originals, they cover almost everything and do it well. Seriously, their Kings of Leon covers sound just like, well, Kings of Leon. Also, they don’t shy away from the occasional Britney jam.  Bar A VIP card holders can swap their old cards for new ones; have-nots can purchase cards. Bud Lights cost $2, well-drinks $2.25, no cover before 9 p.m.

A True Story continues to rock out despite a stage-crasher at Bar A last summer.

• Supposedly the next best thing to seeing Sublime live is seeing Badfish and you can do so Friday night at the Surf Club. Tickets cost $16 in advance and $18 at the door, $2 Coors Light drafts.
• If Saturday’s 40 percent chance of thunderstorms doesn’t scare you off, Dr. Cheeko mans the afternoon shift at Martell’s Tiki Bar and there’s nothing like a fresh-squeezed OJ drink to deal with the heat we’ve been having lately.

Martell's Tiki Bar on the Point Pleasant boardwalk is just as fun by day or night.

• If you’re devoid of cooking skills and would rather just take Mom out for brunch on Mother’s Day, Metromix Jersey Shore rounded up a list of brunches in the area.

The Surf Club is open!

A few things to make note of on the Interwebs: Surf Club is rocking a somewhat new Twitter handle – @jhsurfclub and their website, in case you can never remember like me, is thesurfclubnj.com.

Happy Cinco de Mayo eve!

What do you reckon you'll be doing when you're 64?

In keeping with tradition of previous stops at the Surf Club in recent years, Toots And The Maytals packed in a crowd for a typically late starting set, starting after 11:00, and kept the booties moving and grooving for a solid 2+ hours until closing. The late start builds up the anticipation and when they hit the stage, you can help but think the guy should have his own work out tape because he’s 64 and just… doesn’t … stop.

Toots is known primarily as the artist responsible for naming reggae (with his 1968 song “Do The Reggay”), according to The Decider, who wisely picked Toots NYC appearance as a to-do for tonight. His songs have been covered by the Clash and Amy Winehouse, and, as Wikipedia tells us, he was immortalized in the Bob Marley song “Punky Reggae Party”.

Interesting that Wikipedia also mentions an Otis Redding comparison, because during one of the many soul rave-ups that were tacked on to the end of the jams the band played, I was feeling Toots channel his inner 1967 Otis or Ike and Tina Turner.

I did much prefer the groovy skankin’ ska and chilled out reggae tunes with Toots on the acoustic, but you have to hand it to his band just for being able to keep up. The moment they’d finally lull the crowd into a groove and the room would seemingly be swaying in unison, Toots would give the sign and BAM!!! shift gears into a double time hyperdrive and suddenly the room would be jumping and bouncing in total mayhem.

Hope we get the Toots back again next summer. Can I write Toots one more time before I finish this post? TOOTS!

Everyone will be hoping for a LiLo sighting, but  Perez Hilton reports that she’s is trying her hand at surfing in Hawaii, so it looks like there won’t be any bitter ex-lovers quarrels in the DJ booth, but we’ll keep a look out just in case.

The opening party doubles as the Surf Club’s Cinco de Mayo fiesta and there’s festive deals to be had if you get there early. From 8-11 p.m., Coronas and Corona Lights are $3 and there’s free pizza and tacos to munch.

No word yet on whether or not the Surf Club’s Friday night mug promotion is back. Last year, Surf Club bartenders would fill any vessel (the liveforjerseyshore recommended Wawa large soda cup) up to 32 ounces with Coors Light for $2. This year’s Friday promotion looks like 24 ounce Coors Light drafts for $2 – still not a bad deal, but, c’mon Joey, we could use that extra 10 oz. of beer. There’s a recession on after all.

VIP cards for locals will reappear for 2009 with a giveaway on May 1. For Summer ‘08, Monmouth and Ocean residents skipped a $5 or $10 cover just by showing ID. Text PlanetSurf to 46786 for $5 cover before 11 on Friday.