Marshall Crenshaw lights up the Wonder Bar.

How lucky are we. On any night you can walk into a club like Wonder Bar in Asbury Park and find yourself at one of two very different shows. Sometimes it is four or five fresh faced kids chasing a dream with wide eyes and raw energy. Other times it is a musician who shaped a piece of your youth performing a few feet in front of you. On November 23 it was the latter. Marshall Crenshaw returned to town and the room filled quickly with people who clearly felt the same connection I did. Fans my age dominated the crowd, but there were younger listeners scattered through the bar too, eager to understand why this music still matters to those of us who came of age in the early 1980s.

For me, live music usually falls into three categories. There are artists whose work is so new that you have nothing to compare it to. Then there are artists who show up with clear echoes of others and remind you of larger trends more than specific memories. Finally, there is the rare company of musicians whose songs instantly pull you back to exact times and places in your life. Marshall Crenshaw has always been in that category for me. His sound is a straight line to my college years when punk was shifting toward New Wave, and New Wave was looping back toward rockabilly and the melodic spirit of Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly. It was the era of The Go Go’s, The Cars, Joe Jackson, The Police, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker and of course Crenshaw himself. Hearing these songs again in a room this intimate was a reminder of how lucky we are to live where history and discovery share the same stage.

Marshall Crenshaw

Marshall Crenshaw walked onto the Wonder Bar stage with a band that was tight, skilled and completely in sync. Fernando Perdomo handled guitar and vocals with a confident swing. Derrick Anderson supplied drive and depth on bass and vocals. Mark Ortmann anchored everything with steady and focused drumming. Together they delivered a set that blended nostalgia with freshness. Crenshaw’s songs have a distinct timeless quality and the packed room responded to every familiar chord change.

Here is the set list from the night:

Move Now
Crying Waiting
Passing Through
Bob Dylan
Favorite W O T
Live Learn
Driving and Dreaming
Planet of Love
Blues is King
Whenever on Mind
Maryanne
Will of Wind
This is Easy
2541
There She Goes
Cynical Girl
Someday
Brenda Lee
Monday Morning

Hearing these songs up close brought back the clarity of Crenshaw’s writing. The melodies were crisp and the performances full of life. Even the quieter moments carried weight because of how deeply these songs are woven into the memories of so many people in the room. The band played with joy, purpose and a clear sense of mutual trust. Crenshaw’s voice still has that unmistakable character that made him stand out in the first place. It was a night where the music did what you hope it will do. It brought people back, reminded them who they were then and who they are now and did so without ever feeling frozen in time.

James Mastro

Opening the night was singer songwriter James Mastro, a musician whose history runs parallel to the same era that shaped so many of us. Many remember him from his days with The Bongos in the 1980s. His most recent project, Dawn of a New Error, released about a year ago, shows that he is creating some of his strongest material yet. The album has barely left the top of my own playlist since the day it came out. My Spotify year end report even listed him at number two which says a lot considering how much music I work through every year.

Onstage his set carried the same energy. His writing blends the spirit of early new wave with a modern edge that makes it feel entirely current. The songs had warmth, clarity and intention. He drew the room in quickly and set the tone for an evening centered around artists who have endured and grown rather than faded into background nostalgia.

If you are not familiar with Mastro’s work, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with Dawn of a New Error. It might end up at the top of your playlist in 2026.