Light of Day 26 - Count Basie Theatre 1/17/2026

 The annual Light of Day festival returned with it's centerpiece show, Bob's Birthday Bash, at the the Count Basie Theatre(now named Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre) on January 17th. 

  The concert saw the return of many veteran LOD performers like Willie Nile, Joe D'Urso, Johnny Rzeznick, Williams Honor, James Maddock, Dramarama, and more recent additions like, Low Cut Connie, Fantastic Cat and Remember Jones who also acted as the shows MC.

 Bruce Springsteen once again performed with Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers to close out the show, after guesting with Willie Nile. Bruce's set , as usual, contained Houserockers songs, his own material and a passionate performance of The Promised Land which he introduced citing recent events in Minneapolis.

 Remember Jones performed a couple songs throughout the show while bands setup for their sets. He performed solo with only piano accompaniment.

 As usual, many artists joined each other throughout the night. Some highlights include Bobby Mahoney and Emily Grove joining Williams Honor for their entire set, Williams Honor joining James Maddock for his set, Rob Dye and Danny Clinch playing with Johnny Rzeznik of The Goo Goo Dolls on Iris, and Johnny Rzeznik joining Bruce and Joe Grushecky for The Promised Land.

 The showed ended with a sing along of Thunder Road, but not before the entire theatre sand Happy Birthday to Bob Benjamin, the shows namesake. 

  Here is the setlist: 

  Remember Jones 

   Bitch is Back (Elton John cover)

   Miss Emily

   Stand Together Band Together

   Williams Honor w/Bobby Mahoney & Emily Grove

    I Got You Good

    Can't Wait to Be Ashamed

     I Got Ways

   Matt & Eryn O'Ree

   She Loves Me Anyway

   Remember Jones

   Dixie Lullaby

   Let Em Look

    Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan

   Welcome Home

   Rockin' in the Free World(Neil Young cover)

   Let It Go

   Noisy Guitars/I Wanna Be Sedated( Ramones cover)

   Emily Grove

   Josephine

   Dramarama

   Work For Food

    Bother Me?

    Last Cigarette

   Anything, Anything

   Will Daily

   All That I Wanted

   James Maddock Band w/Williams Honor

   Beautiful Now

   Runaway

   Keep Your Dreams

   When the Suns Out

   Amanda Cross & Derek Cruz

  Get a Little Rowdy

   Remember Jones

  Lucille/Good Golly Miss Molly/Tutti Frutti(Little Richard cover)

  Feelin Alright(Joe Cocker cover)

   Fantastic Cat

   Donnie Took the Bus

   The Gig

   The Hammer & The Nail

   Fiona

   C'mon Armegeddon

   Go All Night

   Jill Hennesy

   She Dances Some More

   No Surrender(Bruce Springsteen cover)

   Willie Nile

    Wild World

    We Are We Are

     I Gotta Run Free

     One Guitar w/Bruce Springsteen & James Maddock

    Low Cut Connie/Adam Weiner

     Death & Destruction

     Revolution Rock N Roll

    Johnny Rzeznik

     Slide

     Here is Now

     Miracle Pill

     Black Balloon

     Sympathy

     Name

     Better Days

     Come To Me

     Broadway w/Rob Dye & Danny Clinch

     Iris

     Remember Jones

     Knocks Me Off My Feet(Stevie Wonder cover)

     Joe D'Urso/Adam Ezra/Jake Thistle

     Hold On

    Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers w/Jeff Kazee

    Until I See You Again

    New Orleans(Gary U.S. Bonds song) w/Gary U.S. Bonds

              w/Bruce Springsteen from here on

    Jole Blon(Gary U.S. Bonds song) w/Gary U.S. Bonds

    This Little Girl(Gary U.S. Bonds song) w/Gary U.S. Bonds

    Darkness on the Edge of Town

    Savin' Up

    I'm Not Sleeping

    Pumping Iron w/Danny Clinch

    Lucky Town

    Atlantic City

    Never Be Enough Time

   Johnny 99

   Promised Land w/Johnny Rzeznik

   Light of Day - All Performers

   Happy Birthday - All Performers

   Thunder Road - All Performers

James Maddock Band

   

  

                                     

Remember Jones

                                          

Williams Honor

 

                                                   

Dramarama

                                            

Fantastic Cat

                                                     

Jill Hennessey

             

                                              

Willie Nile w/Bruce Springsteen & James Maddock

                                            

Low Cut Connie

 

                                           

Bruce Springsteen w/Johnny Rzeznik & Joe Griuhecky

                                                     





        

     

   

 

    

In Memoriam - Uncle Floyd

 

Rest in Peace. Use to watch him on WWHTG. There was something magical about that show. 

Dick Van Dyke

 
                                                     Happy 100th Birthday

David Byrne - Radio City Music Hall 10/11/2025

 Another amazing concert for David Byrne. I knew he could not top the American Utopia concerts, but his Who is the Sky? tour is remarkable, an extension of the American Utopia tour and probably its equal..

  For this tour the format is similar, all the musicians are untethered and roam the stage throughout the show. The setlist was comprised of an equal amount of David Byrne solo songs and Talking Heads songs, and one cover, which he had recorded recently. 

   There were a few members of his American Utopia band this time around, and the remaining musicians were wonderful. They were introduced in two very unique way, First during Independence Day, a highlight, where all the musicians names were projected in front of them on the stage floor and also on the screen behind them, and then during Burning Down the House when all the musicians names and their instruments were projected on the back wall..

   Mr. Byrne once again could have come out and performed a bunch of his great songs and it would have been a great concert, but as always he created a show which started with a nod to our planet, our "Heaven" as he called it, and brought us on a journey of the good, the bad, the beautiful and ugly that we deal with daily. 

    God bless David Byrne and his always creative visions.

      Here is the setlist: 

 Heaven (Talking Heads song)

 Everybody Laughs

 And She Was (Talking Heads song)

 Strange Overtones

 Houses in Motion (Talking Heads song)

 T-Shirt

 (Nothing But) Flowers (Talking Heads song)

 This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads song)

 What is the Reason for It?

 Like Humans Do

 Don't Be Like That

 Independence Day

 Slippery People (Talking Heads song)

 I Met the Buddha at a Downtown Party

 My Apartment is My Friend

 Hard Times (Paramore cover)

 Psycho Killer (Talking Heads song)

 Life During Wartime (Talking Heads song)

Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)

            ENCORE

Everybody's Coming to My House

Burning Down the House (Talking Heads song)

Al Stewart & The Empty Pockets - The Vogel, Red Bank, NJ 9/6/2025

 Having just celebrated his 80th birthday the previous day. Al Stewart brought his farewell tour to the Vogel Theatre in Red Bank New Jersey on September 6. He was backed by the Chicago band The Empty Pockets. 

I have never seen Mr. Stewart and was incredibly grateful I was able to see him before he stops touring. 

I know the music would be good, but he sounded better than I had imagined he would, given the fact that he was fighting a summer cold.

His stories between songs were very funny, touching and showcased his knowledge of history, which are a trademark of his music.

  The Empty Pockets opened the show with a short set and provided great backing for Mr. Stewarts songs. Their set included Make it Through, Mrs. Sacramento, Everybody Knows You When You're Down & Out and Outside Spectrum.

  Selfishly, I hope he decides to make this farewell tour go on for years. 

  Happy Birthday!!!!

  Here is the setlist. 

     You Should Have Listened To Al

     Antarctica

     The Palace of Versailles

     Time Passages

     On the Border

     Midas Shadow

     Broadway Hotel

     The Dark and the Rolling Sea

     Joe the Georgian

     One Stage Before

     Year of the Cat

      Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Bob Dylan cover)  

 

In Memoriam - Robert Redford

                                                     Rest in Peace

In Memoriam - Ozzy Osbourne

                                                  The original. Rest In Peace