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Archive for the ‘Red Bank, NJ’ Category

Beat (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, October 9, 2024)

Posted in Beat, Count Basie Theatre, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Steve Vai, Tony Levin on October 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 9, 2024] Beat

I have seen King Crimson five times, all in the most recent iteration of the band.  I never saw the earlier incarnations when Adrian Belew was the singer/guitarist.

When it was announced that Adrian was gathering troops together to play 80’s era King Crimson, I was intrigued.  The tour had the blessing of Robert Fripp AND it featured Tony Levin on bass.  So that was pretty much all it took.

I’m not sure why Pat Mastelotto wasn’t invited, but Tool’s Danny Carey was a great choice.  As was bringing in fellow Frank Zappa guitar player Steve Vai Although the two never played together).

This ear of King Crimson is not my favorite.  Although Discipline was the first KC album I’d ever bought, I never really got into the other two (a few songs from each, but never the whole things). (more…)

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King’s X / Sound&Shape (The Vogel, Red Bank, NJ, July 27, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in King's X, Red Bank, NJ, Sound&Shape, The Vogel on July 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: July 27, 2024] Kings X / Sound&Shape

I’ve seen King’s X five times.  I’ve enjoyed all of their shows although I started to find them a little samey.

They tend to tour our area every couple of years.  I saw them two years ago and considered going to one of the three area shows this year, but things caught up with me.

I was intrigued to see them in Red Bank–at the small theater I hadn’t been to.  But I had other plans for this Saturday night so it never happened.

I’ve seen the setlist that they played this night and I have to say they really aren’t mixing it up much at all these days.  Which is a shame.  I know that they have some songs that they “have to” play but there’s a bunch in here that they could switch out.  I mean, I would like to see them once more, but I’d hope they’d throw in a few other songs next time.

Sound&Shape is new to me but apparently they have been playing prog metal for a number of  years.  Their sound reminds me of King’s X–heavy but clean.  The vocals are good.  It’s possible that if I had heard these guys before this show, I would have gone to one of the nights.

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Guster: “We Also Have Eras Tour” (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, March 26, 2024)

Posted in Count Basie Theatre, Guster, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Talking Heads on March 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 26, 2024] Guster

This was my eleventh time seeing Guster!  This show pushed them in to second place (along with Tori Amos and Richard Thompson) as the artists I’ve seen the most.

And what a great show this proved to be.  Following Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, Guster announced that they have eras too (since they’ve been around for 30 years) and they announced a two set retrospective of their career.

What I didn’t know (I saw no spoilers!) is that there would be a narrator telling us what was going on with the band.  Dave Butler (who also plays drums with Marco Benevento and has played live with Guster since 2015) was the evening’s narrator. [This also means I’ve seen Dave Butler play 12 times]. (more…)

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Fortune Feimster: Live Laugh Love (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, January 21, 2024)

Posted in Caitlin Peluffo, Count Basie Theatre, Fortune Feimster, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey! on January 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 21, 2024] Fortune Feimster

My wife asked for tickets to see Fortune for Christmas.  I was pretty delighted to see her too.  I don’t know her career that well, but she was a favorite character (Dougie) on the short lived Life in Pieces.

I didn’t really know what to expect from her stand up, but I assumed it would be brash and funny.

What was really impressive is that she basically told four stories over the course of 75 minutes and each story was funnier than the next.

There’s weren’t jokes per se, there’s no real one liners, they’re just very funny stories.

The first was about her and her wife going on a honeymoon to the Maldives and her discovering mid-flight that in the Maldives being gay is a crime.  Her (over)reactions to everything that people did on the island was great.  (more…)

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Caitlin Peluffo (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, January 21, 2024) [FORTUNE FEIMSTER]

Posted in Caitlin Peluffo, Count Basie Theatre, Fortune Feimster, Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey! on January 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 21, 2024] Caitlin Peluffo

Being an opening band has got to be tough.  being a warm up comedian might be tougher (or maybe not, if the crowd is already pumped).

Anyhow, we didn’t know if there was a warm up act, and then as the show was announced we were told that Caitlin Peluffo would be warming us up.

I hadn’t heard of her.

She came out in jeans and work boots and joked  that she wasn’t gay, it was just a clothing choice.  She then announced that she had a boyfriend.  Peluffo has a very loud, aggressive style, which worked really well for some of the jokes, but here it almost felt defiant–that she was straight opening for a gay comedian.  Or something.

She had some good jokes about being a physically strong woman and how she liked to date smaller guys.  I enjoyed the gentle male bashing that she did, but somehow her jokes fell a little flat for me–smiles but not a lot of laughs. (more…)

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King’s X / Trope (The Vogel, Red Bank, NJ, August 4, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Count Basie Theatre, King's X, Red Bank, NJ, The Vogel, Trope on August 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: August 3, 2023] Kings X / Trope

I’ve seen King’s X five times, all within the last ten years.

I’ve enjoyed all of their shows although I started to find them a little samey.  Nevertheless, I enjoy them and, since they’re all suffering from some kind of health issues, who knows how much longer they’ll tour.

So when they announced two shows near me, I thought I might be able to go.

I had tickets for another show on the third and I had another show on Sunday, so I decided I didn’t need to go to either of these shows.  I would have liked to go to this one to check out The Vogel, the small venue inside of the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank.  But there will be other times I’m sure.

I’ve seen the setlist that they played this night and it was the same as the night before and those were similar to previous years.  So I really didn’t miss all that much. (more…)

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Mystery Science Theater 3000: Time Bubble Tour [Making Contact] (Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ, February 6, 2022)

Posted in Conor McGiffin, Count Basie Theatre, Emily Marsh, Joel Hodgson, MST3K, MST3K Live, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Nate Begle, Red Bank, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Yvonne Freese on February 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 6, 2022] MST3K Live

This was my fourth MST3K live experience and it was a hoot.  This was the first time that there was only one movie (in previous years they did two back to back–separate tickets).  This was also the first year that the host was a newbie.  Well, not totally new, Emily Marsh was on set for the previous show and as Emily Connor she will be co-hosting and maybe full-hosting the upcoming season.

Which is all well and good because I thought she was outstanding.  A bundle of energy, great comic timing and what a singing voice!

But the show started with the imposing presence of Yvonne Freese as Mega Synthia and sweet, one-eyed purple GPC!  She was outstanding last time and was even better this time as she was the center of attention for most of her on-stage time.  She was very funny and threw in some good improvs as the crowd reacted or didn’t.  She also has an amazing voice.

And of course, there are the bots–Conor McGiffin as Tom Servo and Nate Begle as Crow.  It’s amazing what a small crew they have for this tour (the props take up more room than the people).  There’s a mysterious fifth person on the tour as well.  She is “swing puppeteer” Kelsey Ann Brady who I gather is meant to fill in where and when she can.  Since the cast was all there, she was added as a kind of clone the Mega Synthia, which was pretty fun. (more…)

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Loudon Wainwright III / Deni Bonet (Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, PA, December 4 & Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, December 5, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Count Basie Theatre, Deni Bonet, Loudon Wainwright III, Red Bank, NJ, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA on December 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 4 & 5, 2021] Loudon Wainwright III / Deni Bonet

Loudon Wainwright III has been playing pretty and also pretty funny music for decades.  I discovered him about fifteen years ago and quickly became a fan of his work.

His newer material deals more with old age than his earlier stuff but it’s still enjoyable.  I’m sure he would play songs from throughout his career.

I’ve been aware of Loudon Wainwright playing the Sellersville Theatre for a long time (like two years).  I’ve wanted to see him for a while now, but Sellersville Theatre is a real hassle to get to.  When I saw that he was also playing in Red Bank, I thought that I might go to that show instead.  And that something came up and I never got there either.

I’m under the impression that he tours a lot (when he’s not acting) so I’m sure I’ll be able to see him again.  I hope so (maybe a little closer to me).

Deni Bonet is a pop/rock singer/songwriter and classically trained violinist who has recorded and performed with R.E.M., Sarah McLachlan, Cyndi Lauper, Scissor Sisters, and Warren Zevon among many others.

I’m not sure if she played in Red Bank as well, since there was no opening band listed.  But I’ll assume so.

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King Crimson (PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ, September 4, 2021) [rescheduled from June 22, 2020, State Theatre]

Posted in Adrian Belew, Count Basie, Holmdel, NJ, King Crimson, New Brunswick, NJ, PNC Bank Center, Red Bank, NJ, State Theatre, The Zappa Band on September 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2021] King Crimson

This show was originally scheduled at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, which would have been an amazing place to see King Crimson.  The sound would have been incredible, and it’s only 30 minutes from my house.  When this was first rescheduled, it appeared that they’d be playing at the Count Basie in Red Bank, which would have been fine–great sound, but a further drive.  Then it wound up at PNC Bank Center, which has less great sound, but is a nice venue and is very easy to get to.

A few days before the show I heard an ad on the radio that said this was King Crimson’s final tour. I hadn’t heard that before.  And maybe if they had originally played in 2020, they might have done another stretch into 2021…who knows.  Anyhow, an article recently said that yes, this was probably the final tour, but they didn’t want to make a big deal about it.  So it’s possible that this will be my final King Crimson show (five times in eight years is pretty good–especially for King Crimson).

The last few times King Crimson has played two 90 minute sets.  But this time they had the Zappa Band opening for them.  Which meant that they’d do only one set.  Sadly, for the same amount of money.  But oh well.  What this meant was that they did a 90 minute set that almost felt like a greatest hits (of the last few tours) package.

I decided to splurge somewhat for this show–not paying for a VIP, sorry Robert–but I was reasonably close and more or less in the middle.

The back row has remained consistent throughout these tours: Tony Levin (bass, Stick, keyboards this time, too); Mel Collins (saxes, flutes); Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, vocals), and of course, Robert Fripp (guitar and more).  From this vantage point I could see everyone very clearly, which was ideal.  A very obnoxious couple sat down next to me but there were, thankfully, two empty seats on the other side of me so I slid over and was able to sit between the heads of the two people in front of me for an unobstructed view.  The obnoxious couple left mid set…huh. (more…)

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M. Ward / The Decemberists (Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank NJ, June 12, 2018) [CANCELLED]

Posted in Cancelled, Count Basie Theatre, M. Ward, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Red Bank, NJ, The Decemberists on June 12, 2018| Leave a Comment »

[CANCELLED: June 12, 2018] M. Ward/The Decemberists

S. and I love The Decemberists.  They are probably one of our favorite bands.  Despite this, we haven’t seen them live all that much.  In part because they went on a huge long hiatus after releasing one of my favorite albums (why didn’t I see them on that tour?).

We have seen them twice (only!) and each show was great in its own way.

But when they announced a new tour with a date in Philly AND New Jersey, I was sure to get tickets for both shows.

They were scheduled to play at the Mann Center on June 7.  The Mann is an amazing venue but it is a super duper pain in the butt to get to.  So, we decided that since we had tickets to the show in Red Bank, we would blow off the Mann show.  Astonishingly I couldn’t sell the tickets, so I just ate the price.  Dang.

Turns out Colin’s voice was giving him trouble and that show wasn’t his best.  Although they did wind up playing a great set list.

Nevertheless we were very excited for our show and hoped his voice would be perfect five days later.

Then today at 3:30 this afternoon we received this email.

The Decemberists event scheduled for Tuesday, June 12 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ has been cancelled due to Colin Meloy’s ongoing voice issues.

We effectively missed two shows of one of our favorite bands in a week. (more…)

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