Orel Family

December 14, 2025. The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ I wasn't even supposed to be here. I was just laying low in Michigan. Oh I was planning to come visit until Saturday anyway, to see my ailing mother at the hospital, and then things got bad and things got worse and I was on a 6am Monday flight out here with no immediate plans to go home. When I got to Overlook, words were gone. Food intake gone. Responses to prompts were gone. This is how it was, all week. A gerontologist called it "delirium" and I learned what "decompensation" means. I wasn't sure she'd last the week. I started making the calls - funeral home, cemetery, spiritual leaders. But... she didn't die. Eddie Manion's facebook post, 11/13/25 On Saturday, I happened to see a facebook post from Eddie Manion ,  "Rehearsing for the show at t he Stone Pony tomorrow!" My immediate reaction was, "this... is possible... if mom stays with us." I asked some friends about the s...

Imagine the scene: Barefoot on the beach, a perfect cool breeze coming in off the water, and there in front of tens of thousands of celebrants, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. That was last night, for a unique performance to conclude the 2024 Sea Hear Now Music Festival . The festival was spearheaded by rock photographer Danny Clinch  in 2018; this was the first performance of the E Street Band. In order to be able to see Bruce and the band without the aid of giant video monitors, there were two basic options: either procure very limited and pricey "VIP" and "Platinum" tickets, or arrive many hours early to the 7th Avenue Beach where the Surf Stage was located. I arrived at the Surf Stage around 1:15pm; many had lined up before sunrise and no doubt would have done so earlier had it been permitted by event staff. Getting to the stage early also meant catching three preliminary acts: Joy Oladokun , Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Kool & the Gang , an...

The afternoon before my father's funeral last September, our family met with the rabbi. He explained Jewish customs of mourning. I knew most of them, but there was one that was new to me: during the 11-month mourning period, it was prohibited to attend any performance of live music (unless required by profession). I immediately thought, I don't think I can observe that one. Springsteen is going to tour with the E Street Band. Danny's been ill. I can't wait a year. I need to be there. Ten days have passed since Danny Federici died. I’ve read eulogies. at the funeral. From fans. From former colleagues. Many eloquent eulogies, and a groundswell of emotion. I didn’t expect any of this, or my own reaction. I know of Danny Federici, of course, because of his 4-decade long association with Springsteen. I became a fan in 1977, so it’s more than 30 years for me. But, in all the time I’ve followed Bruce, my attention has always been on Bruce. Of course I ...