Jennifer Tripucka 
It’s become a trend at the Jersey Shore… you never know who is in the audience at the bar you’re playing at, and what will become of the night. And for one local cover band, that was exactly the case in Long Beach Island at Buckalews this weekend. Wheatus drummer Peter Carrick Brown found himself briefly in the spotlight during an otherwise ordinary night out when the local cover band Ned Ryerson pulled him up on stage after learning he was in the room.
A local restaurant-goer shared exclusively with The Jersey Shore Girl that it was an “epic moment,” noting that it wasn’t the least bit planned. “The band was so pumped,” they shared.
“It wasn’t a planned thing,” another person said. “He [Peter] looked a little surprised, but he handled it the way musicians usually do, went with it.”
Peter, a Westfield, NJ resident, was out with family at Buckalews in Long Beach Island over Thanksgiving weekend, when Ned Ryerson had him come up with both his son and daughter who joined him to play and sing.
Instagram user @marissabrahney shared the moment with her followers on Instagram stories, sharing, “Very cool moment @buckalewslbi – a cover band was playing the song Teenage Dirtbag and the original drummer from the band who sings this (Wheatus) just happened to be at the restaurant eating with his family!”
Longtime fans know Wheatus has maintained a low-profile but real connection to New Jersey over the years. While the band hails from Long Island, their touring circuit throughout the early 2000s frequently ran through the Garden State — Asbury Park venues, New Brunswick bars, Shore clubs, college shows.
Those shows helped build a steady NJ fan base, one that stuck with them long after the early-2000s alt-rock wave shifted. For some people in the crowd, seeing Peter pulled up at a local gig felt like a small reminder of that history, and the band was definitely excited to welcome him up themseles.
All of this comes at a recent moment when “Teenage Dirtbag” has re-entered the chat: starting around 2021–2022, the song had a full-on resurgence on social media, especially TikTok. Users began pairing it with throwback photos, awkward teenage snapshots, emo-phase montages, and nostalgic posts that spoke directly to the misfit energy of the original track. Celebrities joined in, and the trend snowballed. This revival introduced Wheatus to an entirely new generation, many discovering the band for the first time.
A drummer from a band experiencing a twenty-year-later comeback being recognized at a local Jersey Shore spot = perfect way to spend post-Thanksgiving weekend.
