Asbury Park Music & Film Festival to Present Rare Dylan Archives

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The 2017 Asbury Park Music & Film Festival arrives April 20-23 with a varied slate of concerts, interviews and films, including a world premiere. The program, now in its third year, has announced that the local venue House of Independents will host two very special events on Saturday, April 22.

At 3 p.m., Dylan Archives II, rare Bob Dylan archives from the University of Tulsa, will be screened. At 4:45 p.m., “A Conversation With Max Weinberg,” an intimate conversation with the E Street Band drummer will be moderated by Bob Santelli, the Executive Director of the Grammy Museum.

The Dylan Archives, screened at last year’s APMFF, was considered the highlight of the entire festival. Volume two of the exclusive Dylan archival footage is already highly anticipated with many special gems expected. Dylan’s manager Jeff Rosen sits on the Board of Trustees of the Festival.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and E Street Band member Weinberg will sit down with Santelli, a historian and author, to discuss his career as a member of the one of the most successful bands in rock history.

Little Steven

Other highlights of this year’s Festival include performances Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul who have a new album, Soulfire, coming May 19, will be at the Paramount Theatre on April 22. (Tickets here.) Mike + the Mechanics, whose first new album, Let Me Fly, was their first since 2011, will perform at the House of Independents on April 21.

Other concerts include Upstage All-Star Jam (April 21 at the Paramount Theatre), Robert Randolph and the Family Band with opening performance by the Matt O’ Ree Band (April 21 at the Stone Pony) and Preservation Hall Jazz Band (April 23 at the Paramount Theatre) and more. (Tickets here.)

The film documentary, Just Before the Dawn, directed by filmmaker Tom Jones, will make its world premiere on April 21. The film focuses on the legendary Upstage rock club and will include exclusive interviews with many musicians who helped create the aura of the venue. It will also take a unique look at Asbury Park in the 1970’s and how race riots would impact the city for years to come.

The Upstage was a historic rock club located on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park from 1968-1971. The club, opened by Tom and Margaret Potter, would become the venue where young artists such as Steven Van Zandt, Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici and others would jam together for hours lasting until dawn.