For Local Band, Seaside's Beachcomber Was More Than Just a Bar

After Superstorm Sandy dealt the Seaside Heights boardwalk a crushing blow in October 2012, the oceanfront community added up their losses. Among them was the loss of music.

But at a time when there were still roadblocks and curfews, the Beachcomber Bar and Grill found a way to bring music back to the boardwalk. They reopened for a December afternoon – members of the public had to leave town by sunset – and Shorty Long and the Jersey Horns played the first songs of Seaside's comeback.

On any other Thursday night, Shorty Long would have been playing. Thursday night has been their night for years at The Beachcomber, despite the band's regional success in Atlantic City and Philadelphia. The Beachcomber, and Ocean County, was home.

But it could be a while before the next Shorty show at The Beachcomber. Photos released by the bar show the building, at Porter Avenue and the boardwalk, in ruins.

"I want to go over there with a hammer, saw and a paint brush and work for free," John Kern, Shorty Long's lead singer, said Friday afternoon. "My whole band will do that."

The Beachcomber was where Shorty Long got its start in the late 1990s.

"When we first were looking for places to play, there weren't many places around. We literally went knocking on doors. We heard, 'no, no, no, give us a tape or give us a press kit,'" said Kern. "But [owner] Mike [Carbone] said he had an opening on Saturday and asked us if we wanted to come in. We did, but I don't know if we even drew 10 people."

These days, the weekly performances draw hundreds of people, and the house is packed all summer long.

"I learned so much about how to do shows, how to call sets, from The Beachcomber," said Kern. "You can't imagine how much of a rush it is to play there. You do a crowd interaction thing, and the whole crowd just chants, 'Shorty!, Shorty!'"

"If we chanted loud, people out on the boardwalk would hear it and come in," he said. "They would come in streaming off the boardwalk."

Photos show the bar, spruced up after Sandy and complete with a new rooftop tiki bar overlooking the ocean, in ruins. The seats, bars and walls are charred. Just a burnt-out shell remains of one of Seaside Heights' most resilient businesses in the wake of Sandy.

The Beachcomber "is more than just a building," a social media post from the bar's Facebook page said. "It is the spirit of our family, our friends, our employees, our bands and mostly our loyal customers throughout the years."

Kern said his thoughts were with Carbone, who takes a personal interest in the bands that play at his bar and the patrons who come for some fun by the beach.

"Everything that went down, that's him," said Kern. "He cares about that bar so much, and about all the people in it."

The bar's staff has promised to be back.

"Know that we will be back, the sun will rise tomorrow and the future is bright," a post said.