Not as well known outside of the state as the other world famous club around the block, the Stone Pony, but still a very important club in the history of popular music in our state.
The Fast Lane is known for being the club where Jon Bon Jovi got his start fronting such bands as The Atlantic City Expressway(which also featured David Bryan of Bon Jovi), The Rest and John Bongiovi & the Wild Ones.
But the club had many of the best artists perform there over the years. U2 played their first ever show in New Jersey at the Fast Lane in 1981. Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Bruce Springsteen, Ronnie Spector, The Police, Robert Gordon, The Ramones, David Johansen, The Psychedelic Furs, Mountain, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band are just a few of the musicians that performd at the Fast Lane.
I only saw 3 shows at the Fast Lane. The first was around Christmas time 1991. Glen Burtnik's side project, The Slaves of New Brunswick, performed there. The Slaves had their origin at another New Jersey club, the Melody Bar in New Brunswick. My good friend, who like me was a huge Glen Burtnik fan, and I went to the show. They opened with the first tracks from their self titled CD, Exit #9 & The Girls that I Grew Up With. Bassist Tony Shanahan sang Slave of New Brunswick and Jigs Giglio sang Rock and Roll Queen and These Boots Are Made For Walking, along with many others.
The next show I saw was Bon Jovi's "surprise" concert to mark the release of their CD Keep the Faith, see earlier post.
The last show I saw was the weekend when the Fast Lane re-opened in mid 90's. The members of Skid Row performed with a new lead vocalist. The band may have been called Ozone Monday, but I am not sure. The highlight of their set was a cover of the David Bowie classic Jean Jeannie.
John Easdale of Dramarama was also on the bill, but we did not stay for his set.
Sorry to see another little piece of shore music history go away. Not many of the old clubs left, and certainly not many with a very rich history.
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