SATURDAY MUSIC: OUTSIDE STORES
Incognito, in the street: Don Lee is among the performers taking it outdoors this Saturday evening, as Red Bank Street Life continues apace.
Clearwater Festival in Asbury Park. The 34th edition of the annual Clearwater Festival returns to Sunset Park in Asbury Park for a single Saturday’s worth of live music (by famous folkies and bluesmen, in addition to some of the creme of Shore talent), food, crafts and environmentally themed displays, now with FREE admission courtesy of organizers New Jersey Friends of Clearwater. Look to our feature right here in oRBit for the details and crucial links. Saturday 11am-7pm/ FREE
Bank of America presents Red Bank Street Life. Maybe the Sidewalk Sale analogy is not the way to go here — these, after all, are performers in the full flower of their prime, and not some discontinued stock marked down for clearance — but when Street Life, the Saturday night summertime series of free outdoor mini-concerts (organized by Red Bank RiverCenter and sponsored by Bank Of America) returns once more to the borough’s sidewalks and storefronts on August 15, you can do worse than to look at it as something of an open-air bazaar for consumers of the latest currents in local music. This Saturday between 6 and 9pm, you’ll find Maracas Latin Quartet appearing in the courtyard of the Dublin House at 30 Monmouth Street, as well as Celtic violinist and dancer Jennifer Johnson at Ten Thousand Villages (69 Broad Street), the radio-ready poprock of Don Lee outside River’s Edge Cafe (35 Broad Street), Paul Pugliese at Red Ginger Home (65 Monmouth Street), Gina Blechman at Haagen Dazs (90 Broad St.), one-guy band Grand Masonet by Bellini Shoes (16 White Street) — and the formidable female voices of the Heart of NJ Chorus conceivably materializing just about anywhere downtown. Saturday 6-9pm/ FREE
All growed up: the reunited Backstreet Boys are the headline attraction at the annual Beatstock event, going on Saturday night at the PNC.
KTU Beatstock at PNC Bank Arts Center. It’s certainly not the most spontaneous show you’ll ever see, nor even the most rehearsed, but the annual Beatstock event promoted by New York’s 103.5 WKTU is, in its own very controlled way, a rarity on the summer-season schedule of LiveNation’s PNC Bank Arts Center gulag. It’s not part of some what-town-is-this nationwide tour, its top ticket price (while still kind of rich) is about half of what many of the venue’s featured acts charge, and it’s actually something of a throwback to the days when the most popular metro-area stations would put up package shows emceed by the likes of Alan Freed and Murray the K. For the 12th edition of “the biggest dance concert in America,” the aging Backstreet Boys were a relatively late add to a docket that already featured Pitbull, Kelly Rowland, Teutonic pop she-wolf Cascada, Swedish siren September, Kevin Rudolf, Kim Sozzi, LMFAO, Backstreet heirs V Factory, Guru Josh Project, Chris Willis, plus freestyle performances from KTU’s Judy Torres, Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, George Lamond, Rockell, Coro, Stuntman, Angelo Venuto and more. And if the featured talent isn’t your cup of tea, remember that Murray the K would book “teen” acts like the androgynous young Wayne Newton. Saturday, 7:30pm/ $25.25-$75.25
Storyteller, singer and spoken word artist Rock Wilk gets personal, and honorary Shoreguy John Eddie goes Nashville, on a Saturday night in Asbury Park.
Rock Wilk at The Showroom. For a guy who’s notorious for doing his best writing while riding the subway back and forth all night long, the search often takes precedence over the destination. And, while we would never be so presumptuous as to suggest we “discovered” him in any way/shape/form, we’ve been pleased and proud to have brought you early ink on the artist known as Rock Wilk — singer, poet, producer, spoken word artist and compelling performer whose own personal quest for a sense of identity has resulted in an arresting body of work that’s raw, confessional and way beyond the realm of “Journey to Me” jackoffery. Wilk has also been searching for the perfect venue in which to feature his one-man multimedia performances, and his activities in and around Asbury Park — whether at the Crane House, Core Restore, SICA in Long Branch or even the Borders bookstore in Eatontown — arguably found their finest forum in his previous appearances at The Showroom, the storefront screening space that first hosted him and his program Ma’Plej back in May. This Saturday night, the Rock returns to Mike and Nancy’s place with Broke Wide Open, a presentation that takes its name from his autobiographical CD of songs (lest we forget, the man’s an accomplished arranger who’s worked with the likes of Nile Rodgers) and includes some new material that illuminates and transcends the personal stories within. The 8pm show’s on the verge of a sellout as we post this, but if nothing else make a note to investigate the work of this rare artist wherever and whenever you can in the future. Saturday, 8pm/ $10
John Eddie at the Stone Pony. In an interview that appeared late last year here in oRBit, honorary Shore denizen John Eddie observed that the older he gets, the more country he gets in terms of his songwriting and maturity level, calling today’s country music scene “70s rock and roll all over again.” With his long-playing career on an uptick after making his very best records in recent years (and having penned some popular songs for the likes of Kid Rock and Sammy Hagar), the recovering Jungle Boy has “Gone Nashville” on a formal if not necessarily permanent basis, kicking off the bootscuffing with a showcase gig tonight at his spiritual home, the Stone Pony. Expect the usual level of songcraft from Mr. Eddie (who’s put in some good work with roots-country sensation James Otto), cradled in a more countrified instrumentation — with an approach that’s surely more passionate than posturing; all cattle and (hopefully) no hat. Saturday, 8pm/ $17 advance, $20 door
Money Money time: 1960s chartbusters Tommy James (left) and Felix Cavaliere bring their 21st century editions of The Shondells and The Rascals respectively to the Great Auditorium stage on Saturday night.
Tommy James and Felix Cavaliere at the Great Auditorium. This is about as rocked-up as it ever gets at Ocean Grove’s Great Auditorium — we suspect both of these guys might have had trouble even getting into the place back in the day — but don’t let the hair helmets and casino outfits fool you. With competent backing bands as their latterday Shondells and Rascals, and an iPod’s worth of time-tested hits between them, the two co-headliners still have what it takes to put across a show, be it Felix’s heartfelt New York soul or Tommy’s signature psychedelic bubblegum. Tickets reservable right here. Saturday, 8pm/ $30, $35
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August 15, 2009
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