There are some concerts that feel like a show, and then there are nights that feel like an experience from the moment you walk through the gates. A sold-out Stone Pony Summer Stage, a beautiful summer sunset hanging over Asbury Park, and three legendary ’90s bands sharing one stage made for exactly that kind of night.

The evening kicked off with the Spin Doctors, featuring Chris Barron, Eric Schenkman, Aaron Comess, and Jack Daley. From the first notes, it was obvious this wasn’t a band simply going through the motions. There was a looseness and genuine enjoyment to the performance that immediately pulled the crowd in. Barron owned the stage with his unmistakable energy, while Schenkman and Daley kept things moving with a groove that gave Comess plenty of room to shine behind the kit. There was something especially fun about watching a band with decades of history behind them still look like they were having a blast playing together. The crowd responded accordingly, and by the time the set was over, the Stone Pony was already feeling like one giant party.

Next came the Gin Blossoms — Robin Wilson, Jesse Valenzuela, Scotty Johnson, Bill Leen, and Andy Herrin — and this set felt like stepping directly into the soundtrack of a generation. Their songs have a way of transporting you somewhere, but hearing them live in a packed Stone Pony made them feel completely new again. For a moment, it was easy to forget you were standing in a sold-out summer concert and instead feel like you were back in the ’90s — pulling a favorite CD out of its case before a drive, popping it into the car stereo, or lying on a blow-up sofa in your bedroom with your Walkman, listening to the songs that somehow became part of the soundtrack to your life.

Wilson was effortlessly engaging throughout the set, bringing both the nostalgia and the personality that have made the Gin Blossoms so beloved. Valenzuela and Johnson traded energy across the stage, while Leen held down the foundation and Herrin was an absolute force behind the drums. There were smiles, movement, interaction, and those little moments between musicians that make you realize you’re watching people who genuinely love being onstage together.

And for a photographer, those moments are everything.

By the time Blues Traveler took the stage, the sun had begun to disappear, leaving behind one of those gorgeous summer skies that seemed almost too perfect to be real. With John Popper, Chan Kinchla, Brendan Hill, Tad Kinchla, and Ben Wilson, the band brought an entirely different kind of energy to the night.

Popper remains one of those performers who can command a stage simply by picking up his harmonica. His musicianship and unmistakable presence were on full display, but what made the performance so enjoyable was the way the entire band fed off one another. Kinchla, Hill, Tad Kinchla, and Wilson created a foundation that allowed the music to breathe and evolve. Blues Traveler has always had that ability to make a familiar song feel like it could go anywhere, and that sense was one of the highlights of the evening. The best concert photographs aren’t always the biggest poses or the most dramatic lights. Sometimes it’s the split-second smile between bandmates, the way someone turns toward another musician during a song, or the look on a performer’s face when they realize an entire crowd is singing their words back to them. Blues Traveler had those moments all night.

The night also featured a series of cross-band collaborations that made it even more special, Chris from the Spin Doctors came out to sing a song with Blues Traveler, Robin Wilson of Gin Blossoms stepped out for a separate song with Blues Traveler as well, and Blues Traveler’s keyboardist joined the Gin Blossoms onstage for a song of their own, along with several other spontaneous musical pairings throughout the set.

And maybe that’s what made this particular show so special. It wasn’t just three bands from the ’90s playing the songs people grew up with. It was three bands proving that those songs still have a pulse, and that the musicians playing them are still having just as much fun as the people listening.

As the night continued and the Stone Pony remained packed, it was hard not to appreciate the full-circle feeling of it all. These are songs that have lived through decades, followed people through different chapters of their lives, and somehow still have the power to bring thousands of strangers together on a summer night in Asbury Park.

The ’90s may be long gone, but judging by the energy inside the Stone Pony Summer Stage, the music — and the joy that comes with it — is very much alive.