A NEW YEAR’S TOAST TO THE GRINCH
Southside Johnny, Mr. New Year’s Eve to you, plays toastmaster general as the Asbury Jukes batten down the Basie for another swingin’ sayonara to a used-up year. (Photos by Mike Black)
In an interview that appeared here in Red Bank oRBit last July, Johnny Lyon characterized his annual December 31 appearance at the Count Basie as “an act that I stole, as you know, from the late Guy Lombardo.”
Don’t remember Lombardo, the Canadian big-band leader they called “Mr. New Year’s Eve” back in the day? His signature hit was the definitive version of “Auld Lang Syne“ — a tipsy anthem propped up against a wall of woodwinds as warm and flush as a gin-drunk high. He and his Royal Canadians used to do an annual New Year’s dance at Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria ballroom; a stultifyingly square affair that inexplicably became a nationally broadcast embarrassment — and after the bandleader’s death in 1977, his nephew attempted to jizz up the act by adding an element of then-fashionable disco to the mix.
If you’re way too young for all that, you’ve still been exposed to another annual event to be filed under Things That You Can’t Un-See — the spectacle of Dick Clark, executive producer of the excruciatingly un-hip New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, and as such a TV institution who can’t be fired and won’t step down from his Times Square perch. We continue to wince through the countdown while the stroke-slurred “world’s oldest teenager” plants a jellyfish kiss on his wife, as the ball drops and our DiSaronno Sour comes back up.
So you see, New Year’s Eve — that misunderstood affair that often promises so much and costs so much more — is badly in need of a new figurehead, and we don’t mean the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest. As field marshal of the Asbury Jukes, Southside Johnny has the wit ‘n wisdom, the leadership qualities, and — as the 21st century edition of “world’s greatest bar band” hits the Red Bank stage for its eleventh annual swinging segue into a sporty new model year — the hard experience to truly make this night his own.
Never mind that the likes of Springsteen and Bon Jovi have teased Southside onstage by branding him “The Grinch” during Bobby Bandiera’s all-star holiday fundraisers — it was, after all, the Grinch who got to carve the roast beast at the head of the WhoVille table; the Grinch whose heart was ultimately the biggest in town. It’s why we helpfully nominate this homegrown hero as Mr. New Year’s Eve; why we wouldn’t think of letting anyone else light the first sparkler on July 4th weekend — and why, all things considered, the man would be a worthy appointee to the resurrected ceremonial post of Toastmaster General of the United States.
Southside Johnny returns to Red Bank to ring in another ring on the old tree trunk — probably without La Bamba (who’s busy on the set of the Tonight Show) and definitely without Bobby Bandiera (who’s hitting the road with Bon Jovi). (Photo by Mike Black)
Here in the greater Red Bank orbit, we’ve been well served by Johnny and the Jukes as they’ve seen us through some rough and tumble times over this past decade — from the year everybody went positively buggy with Y2K fears, to those post-9/11 days when we needed to drown our very real fears in booze and music, to last December’s days of despair and confusion, when that calendar couldn’t flip fast enough. The Jukes at the Count’s crib is a tradition that’s outlived the erratic history of Red Bank’s bygone First Night observances; one that’s outlasted any and all pretenders to the throne.
When Southside and company take to the Basie boards this Thursday night, they’ll be minus longtime guitar lieutenant Bandiera, who will be embarking upon a long and hopefully very lucrative gig as tour guitarist with Bon Jovi and the boys. Keyboard guy and songwriting partner Jeff Kazee will be taking on much of the vice-presidential duties, as the band keeps those I-don’t-wanna-go-home fires burning through a set of fanatically followed favorites and all-new items from 2010’s heralded release.
We’re counting on Southside Johnny — Toastmaster General, hipster Timelord — to ferry us safely to the other side of New Year’s Eve, where frustrations are pumped back up into dreams, and where the hopeful innocence of that first midnight kiss is something to keep in your heart all through the months. Tickets for the 9pm show are priced from $29.50 to $99, and can be reserved right here.
Posted
December 29, 2009
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