The Mad Hatter, Sea Bright, NJ, 12/31/10

A fantastic year for The E Street Shuffle wrapped up at the Mad Hatter in Sea Bright on New Year's Eve with a 4-set show that went until the wee hours of the night. The unquestionable highlight of the evening came towards the end of the first set when two of the band's biggest supporters, Kaitlyn and Tommy got engaged right on stage with us in front of everybody with Tommy getting down on one knee, presenting a beautiful diamond ring and popping the question. With a look of total shock on her face, Kaitlyn said yes and the band launched into a debut performance of "I Wanna Marry You." It was truly an honor for us to be a part of such a special moment and it is one that we will never forget. We wish them a lifetime of happiness in the promised land.

Edgar's Pub Christmas Party 12/18/10

Edgar's Pub was filled to the brim with good cheer on Saturday for the bar's annual Christmas party. The crowd was amped up from the get-go as the band tore into "Sherry Darling" to kick off a 35-song set. The highlight of the evening came at the end of the second set when we finally unveiled "Thundercrack" and dedicated it to Kaitlyn, Allie, Tommy and James who have been some of the band's biggest supporters and had been dying to hear us play that song. To say that it went over well would be an understatement. Towards the end of the night things became even more festive as saxophonist Bill "St. Nick" Shanker delivered treats to all the good boys and girls in the audience during an extended instrumental break in "Merry Christmas Baby." Then he sprung to his sax, to the band gave a whistle, and away we all flew, like the down of a thistle...

Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA, 12/10/10

After sitting in a horrific traffic jam on Interstate 95 for several hours and scoffing down several hot dogs at Rawley's Drive In in Fairfield, CT, we finally made it up to Worcester, MA for our show at Holy Cross College. As was the case with previous shows we've done at this college, the crowd of enthusiastic students did not disappoint. "E Street Shuffle" chants started while we still setting up our gear as the pumped up crowd got ready for a long winter's night of rock n' roll. The show included the premier of "Talk to Me" as well as the year's first performance of "Merry Christmas Baby." We gave everybody a choice of hearing either "The E Street Shuffle," "Pink Cadillac" or "Quarter to Three" to close the show and "The E Street Shuffle" emerged as the winner. We want to send out a big thank you to the kids at Holy Cross for once again treating us so well. We're already looking forward to a return trip. Oh, and a special thank you also goes out to Rawley's for making such delicious hot dogs. We love ya!

Edgar's Pub and the Boathouse, Thanksgiving weekend

It had been nearly a month since we last played a Jersey Shore bar, having done shows in various locations outside of our home base, so it was a nice homecoming for the band on Thanksgiving weekend with a show Friday night at Edgar's Pub in Manasquan and Saturday at the Boathouse in Belmar.

Friday night's show ranks amongst the best we've played at Edgar's, with an attentive, enthusiastic audience on hand that kept the energy level rising throughout the evening. The show opened with the obscure "I Wanna Be With You" and included other rare treats like "Living in the Future" and "My Love Will Not Let You Down." The Christmas season was officially ushered in late in the night with a performance of "Santa Claus is Comin' To Town" complete with each band member donning their own unique yuletide hat and jolly old St. Nick Shanker ho ho ho-ing the night to a triumphant close.

Saturday night's show at the Boathouse opened with "Cadillac Ranch" and also featured performances of "The Ties That Bind," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," "Racing in the Street," "So Young and in Love" and "Paradise by the C." Once again Santa Claus came to town and the result was an exuberant crowd sing-along. With the houselights on for last call, the evening came to a close with funky version of "The E Street Shuffle."

Joey's Casa Italiana, Hewitt, NJ, November 19, 2010

On a cold November evening, the band ventured up to the wilderness of Sussex County, NJ for what was to be a memorable performance at Josey's Casa Italiana. Playing this venue for the first time, The Shuffle whipped out five debuts in "Because the Night," "Paradise by the C," "For You," "The Fever" and "So Young and in Love." Other notable songs played by request were "Candy's Room," "The Price You Pay" and "Drive All Night." With the crowd continuing to dance and have a great time we decided to just keep playing, throwing an additional 6 songs on at the end of our set.

The Manasquan Beach House, Manasquan, NJ 10/29/10

This show was our first performance at The Manasquan Beach House and we had a great group of our biggest supporters on hand for the festivities dancing and singing up a storm. The highlight of the evening was the performance of "Seaside Bar Song" for one fan who "dared" us to attempt to the obscure track. Although we hadn't played the song in months, we gave it our all and it was greeted with a tremendous response. It's one thing to have people going crazy on "Rosalita," but it's another thing entirely when a crowd is singing all the words to a song like "seaside Bar Song." It's what makes being in this band so much fun. Another highlight of the evening was s Halloween-themed story in the middle of "Growin' Up" which featured Bill Shanker as a sax-playing Frankenstein.

2nd Annual Hawthorne Day, Hawthorne, NJ 10/2/10

On a crisp, fall evening in Hawthorne, NJ we played to an enormous crowd of enthusiastic people at the town's annual Hawthorne Day Festival. Although it was an abbreviated set, the band hit on all cylinders, punching out classics like "Badlands" and "The Promised Land" with authority. A barricade was set up about 20 feet in front of the stage which several concert-goers attempted to take down in order to get closer to the band, but alas that sucker was well-secured, so there would be no stage rush on this night. Ryan unfortunately broke a string before "Thunder Road," yet managed to run to his car, grab another guitar, get back on stage, plug in, tune up and jump into the song at the precise moment that the lyric "I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk" was being sung. The show ended with a triumphant "Rosalita," which was immediately followed by a fireworks display.