Asbury Park Press Entertainment

Review: Two big nights for 'Light of Day'

Published in the Asbury Park Press 11/05/03

By RICHARD SKELLY
CORRESPONDENT

ASBURY PARK -- Bruce Springsteen joining Garland Jeffreys on stage for a blistering guitar solo, and later, a sing-along on "96 Tears" was certainly a highlight of this past weekend's "Light of Day" fund-raising concerts at The Stone Pony. The shows, now an annual event, are held to raise money for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation.

But the reality is, there were as many highlights as there were performers at this massive marathon of music organized by Highland Park impresario and producer Bob Benjamin, Tony Pallagrosi of the Red Bank-based Concerts East Inc., Tony "Boccigalupe" Amato and a small army of volunteers.

There was Birmingham, England, drummer Peter Boot's beautiful three-minute drum solo at the top of Joe D'Urso and Stone Caravan's set on Saturday. Boot's performance was his own way of acting in defiance of his Parkinson's Disease. (Boot led a band called Budgie in the U.K. in the 1970s and organizes Parkinson's benefit shows in England.)

Every day, he said, aside from taking drugs to control it, he works out on drums for two hours to counteract the effects of Parkinson's, a wasting, neuro-muscular disorder.

Actor Michael J. Fox, who also suffers from Parkinson's, donned a guitar and sang along Saturday night on the theme song "Light of Day," and later on the grand finale, "Twist and Shout."

The "Light of Day" show, held every year on or around Nov. 1, Benjamin's birthday, grew out of a smaller fund-raiser and birthday party for Benjamin at the Downtown Cafe in Red Bank five years ago. Benjamin, who also suffers from Parkinson's Disease, turned 45 over the weekend.

Aside from the near-certain knowledge that they'd see and hear Springsteen perform -- he's generously played, hung out and signed autographs at three previous "Light of Day" concerts -- patrons of the shows also knew they were supporting a good cause at the fourth annual event, which this year was expanded over two days.

Springsteen and various other performers, including Joe Grushecky, Willie Nile, Jeffreys, Fox, Jobonanno, D'Urso and others, convened onstage for Saturday night's finale, which included soul-stirring takes from Springsteen, backed by Grushecky's band, on "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" "Fire" and "Johnny 99."

Vincent Pastore, the ill-fated "Big Pussy" in HBO's "The Sopranos" series, served as emcee on Sunday. He also has a connection with Parkinson's Disease, as did Nicole Atkins, who performed on the acoustic stage Sunday afternoon. Atkins told a crowd around the acoustic stage that her grandmother died from the disease.

"My mother passed away from Parkinson's Disease," related Pastore from the Pony's main stage on Sunday evening as he was about to introduce performer Willie Nile. "She knew me when I was trying to run a nightclub, the Crazy Horse, up in New Rochelle. She never had the opportunity to see my success."

Nile performed as brilliantly Sunday as he did on Saturday with Springsteen and the entourage. Accompanied Sunday by Bruce Tunkel on guitar and backup vocals, he charmed the crowd with "Vagabond Moon," "I've Got A Girl" and "You Should Have a Party (When You Get the Blues)" as well as "I Wanna Be Sedated," a song in honor of his late lower Manhattan chum, Joey Ramone.

Vocalist Jennifer Glass sang forcefully and soulfully on Saturday, accompanied by E Street violinist Soozie Tyrell. Jeffreys and his Coney Island Playboys stirred the crowd on Saturday with consciousness-raising songs such as "Don't Call Me Buckwheat" and "I May Not Be Your Kind" and "Spanish Town." He performed with equal passion and verve on Sunday evening, accompanied just by guitarist Alan Freedman.

Also on Sunday night, folksinger Dan Bern delighted the crowd with his humor-filled, insight-filled political songs, followed a short time later by Gary U.S. Bonds and his band, who worked some new material into their set from a forthcoming CD of roadhouse blues planned for release next spring. John Eddie and his new touring band also performed new material from his Lost Highway debut. Throughout it all, when a backing band was needed, Tony "Boccigalupe" Amato and the Bad Boys -- complete with horn section -- were there to provide it, such as when soul and blues singer Freddie Scott got up to sing "Stand By Me" and "Hey, Girl."

Thanks to good stage managing and prior planning, the entire afternoon and evening shows on Saturday and Sunday were a small miracle of organization, with seamless transitions from music on the main stage to the acoustic stage. Amato's rented bus was parked out behind the Stone Pony, to serve as an operations center for the shows, but his white truck (used to transport his massive Hammond B-3 organ and the rest of the bands equipment around) was also parked in back, used to hold additional equipment and a plethora of raffle prizes.

When all was said and done, more than $100,000 was raised for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and MDA of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Several dozen volunteers dragged their tired feet around the Pony as Exit 105 took the stage on Sunday night at 12:30 a.m.

An ancillary show, held Sunday afternoon at Harry's Roadhouse nearby with Vini Lopez and the Disco Rejects, Maybe Pete and others, raised about $2,700 more for the cause, Benjamin said.