Hot Mulligan, Joyce Manor & Koyo Light Up The Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park

Photos: Andre Paras

Hot Mulligan, Koyo, saturdays at your place, and Joyce Manor set the stage for a massive headlining performance

The Garden State is rippin’, roarin’, and ready for a summer chock full of emo and pop-punk on the big stage. It’s that time of the year to call out from work and absolutely send it on every crowd surf and shout for all the lyrics you love alongside an audience doing the same.

Hot Mulligan’s June 2026 tour hit the iconic Asbury Park landmark venue The Stone Pony Summer Stage on June 16th, with a stacked bill of Joyce Manor, saturdays at your place, and Koyo to get the crowd rowdy’d up in support. 

The North 2 Shore Festival presented the show, and for New Jersey is an annual tradition bringing all kinds of music, comedy, film, and technology throughout the state.

From the moment the show started, the energy was high off the charts. Stony Brook New York’s own Koyo had the crowd jumping around from front to back, surfing, and opening up the pits that would hardly close all night long.

The set hit so hard that a snare drum broke at the end of the “It Happens to the Best of Us,” but fortunately, Brandon Blakeley, drummer of Hot Mulligan, came to the rescue to help fix it up.

The band brought a heavy hardcore-punk sound, aided by catchy melodies, with the fresh new sound of their new 2026 album “Barely Here” dominating their setlist. Without a doubt, the heaviest of the bunch, and for a band that’s fourth on the bill, they rocked it like the headliners were next, closing their set to crowd-favorite “You Hate Me.”

Up next was a big switch-up in sound, and over to the youngest band of the bunch, saturdays at your place. They certainly kept the energy up but reigned in the summer vibes with their more indie-rock adjacent emo sound, with some math-rock / midwest-emo style guitar riffs along the way.

The three-piece was tight, playing some sweeter tracks with the sun shining bright behind them. The pop-friendly anthemic style certainly drew in a younger audience then and showed for a nice clash of generations and who’s next for this sound and scene in the future.

As their kick drum made clear pictures with the artwork, the band once again supported their release from last year titled “these things happen,” mixing in their new songs with their old songs along the way.

And like that, the third band was already up. And now we go from the youngest group to the one that’s been doing this the longest (of this bill), and that was California’s own Joyce Manor.

These Stone Pony frequenters, racking up their 6th visit all time to perform at the venue, still bring tracks dating back to as early as 2013 through this year. As the years go on, it makes for a good mix of traditional harder pop-punk to new lighter power-pop-inspired tracks, bringing the sound of the Californian shores all the way to the east coast.

Still, frontman and guitarist Barry Johnson has always been consistent in writing, finding new and nuanced ways to navigate lyrics on everyday life and relationships, while even tapping into new and eclectic influences like The Smiths or 100 gecs on the new album “I Used To Go To This Bar.”

Known for their snappy tracks around 2 minutes in runtime, the band ran through a 15-song set in no time, managing to tap into almost all eras of the band we’ve come to know. From the borderline folk-punk “All My Friends Are So Depressed” to the emo classic “Catalina Fight Song,” the versatility of Joyce Manor is off the charts.

Cap it off here, and you’ve already got a great show, but it’s crazy to think that there’s more and that “more” is Hot Mulligan. The self-proclaimed inventors of post-emo and the defining fifth-wave / new emo band to do it.

The second band of the night, hailing from Michigan (saturdays at your place being the first), there’s a distinct sound that Hot Mulligan has to offer that’s made them iconic in the scene in the first place.

Every night on tour, Nathan “Tades” Sanville is tasked with the difficult job of replicating his unique vocal style on stage. What vocal technique it must take to scream sing all night while hitting some high melodies regularly.

Just like their vocals, the band’s sound is raw, real, and vulnerable. Behind the funny names of their tracks lie a lot of that indie-rock vulnerability that also fits emo quite well.

Being the headliner, this band earns the right to talk to their fans out to see them, and they didn’t waste the time to use their platform. What began with awkward, dry banter on comedic cheering and ironic booing for songs like “Featuring Mark Hoppus” ended with something more important.

You’d think the crowd would be tired at this point, but it was still safe to expect 4-5 surfers to carry a song if you’re up by the barricade, and lots of jumping, pushing, and moshing at its hardest for the night on top of that.

The band jokingly called fans to “ask for a raise at your job” since “they’re not paying you enough anyway,” called out religious platforms on dividing and misleading the public, and even took shots at the current presidential administration before playing their new single “I Don’t Think It’s the Right Time for Emojis,” continuing the commentary on that track with lyrics like “separate your church out of my f*cking state…”

Despite the tough subject matter, the band didn’t let this ruin the flow of the night, and if anything, it all added more fuel to the fire. It felt like there were designated sing-along songs, harder tracks, and even ones to dance to, offering something to everyone at least.

The final three tracks were fun and electric, with the Pony getting to experience the band’s three most popular tracks (according to Spotify) all in a row, starting with “BCKYRD,” to “*Equip Sunglasses,” and ending with the almost-rap track at times titled “How Do You Know It’s Not Almost Armadillo Shells?” to cap off the night just right.

It’s safe to say that Jersey, The Stone Pony, and we at TOP8 Scene are gearing up for an energetic yet emotional summer, and this was certainly a great start to it. Watching generations like Gen Z and millennials come together to a show with such diverse acts in emo, each getting their well-deserved love through the night.

SCENE SNAPS 

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