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Stewart played the drums for the band Church and State at Asbury Park Brewery on Saturday, June 15. The appearance was during the Asbury Underground arts and music crawl that was part of the statewide North to Shore Festival.
The comedian who owns a Colts Neck animal sanctuary said the band made its "premiere performance" at the Cookman Avenue brewpub.
"We have never played in public," Stewart said at the beginning of the band's set. "I certainly have never played music in public."
Stewart's well-known comedic charm came through when he asked the brewery's crowd to "please lower your expectations."
He also joked that some of the band's songs haven't even been named yet.
"This next song is called "Five"," said Stewart. "We wrote it two songs before "Seven". We haven't gotten around to naming these yet but we are going to name them. This song is called "Five" and it is two better than the one you just heard."
The brewery posted an Instagram photo of the owners with Stewart. The caption said they swapped stories about City Gardens, a historic punk rock club in Trenton where Stewart was once a bartender, according to Variety.
The brewery reopened on Friday, May 24 after originally opening in an old warehouse on Sewall Avenue in 2016. It's been run by musicians who grew up playing at nearby venues, and the musical influence is seen all over the taproom.
An artist in the city known as Porkchop created an art installation in the tasting room with collages of posters, photographs, and concert tickets of famous musicians who have performed in Asbury Park. A wooden record wall with more than 8,000 vinyl albums is behind the bar.
Fans of the brewery and 'The Daily Show' said they were thrilled by Stewart's surprise performance.
"Great set of original material by Jon, Andy, and the rest of Church and State!" one Instagram commenter said. "Look forward to hearing more!!"
"Yeah baby!!!!" another person commented "Love it! AP!!!! We love our Jersey boys!"
Asbury Park was the first of three cities to host the 2024 North to Shore Festival. Gov. Phil Murphy posted on social media that he went to Wonder Bar on North Ocean Avenue to kick off the first weekend.
North to Shore moves to Atlantic City between Monday, June 17, and Sunday, June 23. The final weekend will be held in Newark from Sunday, June 23, and Sunday, June 30.
High-profile acts during the next two weekends of the festival include musicians like Prince Royce & Wisin, Barenaked Ladies, and Trey Songz, along with comedians like Kevin Hart, Stephen Colbert, and Gabriel Iglesias.
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