SO, was anyone at the Bobby Bandiera Christmas show last night?
 

Apparently Jon played Please Come Home for Christmas, Blue Christmas, Run Rudolph Run, and Who Says You Can't Go Home, as well as guesting with Southside Johnny on I Don't Wanna Go Home and Bruce Springsteen on Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Santa Claus is coming to Town.

The show sounds like it was a blast: can anyone here confirm?

they always sing i dont wanna go home

dont know why, its shit

I live 2 miles from Count Basie and couldn't get a ticket, not a single ticket. They sold out in an hour the day they went on sale, 11/21. I had a feeling Bruce and Jon would show up. I would have LOVED to hear Bruce and Jon do Tenth Avenue Freeze out as it's one of my favorite Bruce songs. I have heard the show was well over 3 hours long.

deb

I would KILL to see a show like that in Jersey.

I have had the same problem with getting tickets at the Basie. If you don't just go an stand in line when tickets go onsale I doubt that you will get one unless you know somebody. I tried for the Hope concert and couldn't get them either. :(

As I posted on Greasy Lake - I hope somebody recorded the show and will share.

Kathleen

Was this the show they were advertising when we were outside that theatre?

...Or was that Red Bank?

That DOES sound like a great show and a nice mini set from JBJ....

That was the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank that we were outside and yes - that was the show they were advertising. Getting tickets is almost impossible though. It's a small place to begin with and they sell only at the box office or on the phone. Forget getting through on the phone - you just have to stand in line.

Kathleen

Had I not been leaving town that day to head back home to North Carolina for Thanksgiving I would have just gone straight to the theater an camped out for one.

Man, that would be great if someone recorded it.

deb

Here's a review of the show:

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/ledg...870.xml&coll=1

Shore legends play Santa
Springsteen and Bon Jovi lead rollicking revelry that tops $100,000 for ALS
Thursday, December 14, 2006
BY JAY LUSTIG
Star-Ledger Staff
POP/ROCK

For once, Bruce Springsteen was at a loss for words.
He and Jon Bon Jovi were exchanging banter at the end of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," the grand finale of the Bobby Bandiera All-Star Concert that took place Tuesday night at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank.

Bon Jovi, playing Santa Claus, asked him if he had been good this year. Springsteen replied that he had.

Then Bon Jovi threw him a curveball, asking him to define "good."

Springsteen hesitated a moment, then played a sweet, lyrical guitar solo that appeared to be an attempt to define the word, nonverbally.

It was that kind of night, as old friends, including Southside Johnny Lyon and Gary U.S. Bonds, got together to raise more than $100,000 for the Joan Dancy & PALS (People with ALS) Support Group. The organization was named for the late Joan Dancy, a Middletown resident who died from ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease -- last year. It was founded by Terry Magovern, who was Dancy's fiancé, and is Springsteen's longtime bodyguard, assistant and friend.

Despite the seriousness of the cause, the show had the same loose, fun spirit of Springsteen's own holiday concerts of the past. Costumed revelers (Santa Claus, the Grinch, Elmo, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and more) joined the musicians for "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Springsteen and Bon Jovi cracked each other up with goofy dance moves when they dueted on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." During a set by the Mark Pender Band, trumpeter Pender, trombonist Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg and other horn players strolled through the theater's orchestra section, then up to the balcony, continuing to play the whole time.

For his show-closing set, Springsteen was backed by Bandiera (who also played with Bon Jovi, Southside Johnny and Bonds) and 13 members of Bandiera's Jersey Shore Rock-n-Soul Revue. They created a big, brassy sound on old favorites such as "Darlington County" and "Spirit in the Night" as well as one of Springsteen's most hopeful recent songs, "Waitin' on a Sunny Day," dedicated to Magovern and the late Dancy.

Springsteen's set peaked with a fast, forceful version of "Seaside Bar Song," a'70s obscurity that he resurrected on his 1998 "Tracks" boxed set, and has performed occasionally since then.

Bon Jovi dueted with Southside Johnny on "I Don't Want to Go Home" before presenting his own set, which emphasized seasonal material such as "Blue Christmas" (sung in an Elvis-like croon), "Run Rudolph Run" and "Please Come Home for Christmas."

He closed with his recent hit, "Who Says You Can't Go Home." He introduced the song by talking about how proud he was to be from New Jersey, and how happy he was to share the stage with people like Southside Johnny ("my hero"), Springsteen ("the man"), Bonds ("one of the originators") and two original members of Southside Johnny's Asbury Jukes (keyboardist Kevin Kavanaugh and percussionist Ken "Popeye" Pentifallo).

Previously, he was also effusive in his praise of Bandiera, a longtime Juke who played guitar on the recent world tour by the Bon Jovi band. He called him a "true legend of the Jersey Shore."

The show opened with short sets by Holiday Express and the Mark Pender Band, and a long one by the Jersey Shore Rock-n-Soul Revue. The Revue concentrated on songs from their recent Phil Spector tribute concert ("Da Doo Ron Ron," "Be My Baby," "River Deep -- Mountain High," "Unchained Melody," "Let It Be"), but ended with an extended run through Neil Young's "Like a Hurricane," complete with a mesmerizing guitar solo by Bandiera, who drew from Young's own palette of earthy grunge-rock tones.

Southside Johnny sounded hoarse singing "Spanish Harlem" with the Jersey Soul Rock-n-Soul Revue, but rallied during his own set, belting out classics like "Talk to Me" and "Trapped Again." Bonds also made a cameo with the Revue, on "Little Bitty Pretty One," then returned for a set of his own, which included trademark songs like "New Orleans" and "Quarter to Three."


Jay Lustig writes about popular music for The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at jlustig@starledger.com or (973) 392-5850.