THE NEW JERSEY STAR LEDGER – BY JAY LUSTIG – Star-Ledger Staff – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2005
SHORE GROUP PAYS TRIBUTE TO ROY ORBISON
“I gotta follow that?” asked John “Southside Johnny” Lyon with a look of mock-horror on his face, as he took the stage at Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre, Friday night.
He was exaggerating for comic effect, but still, he faced a daunting task. It was the first show by the newly formed Jersey Shore Rock and Soul Revue, and Bobby Bandiera, the Revue’s leader, had just finished singing a version of Roy Orbison’s 1961 hit “Crying” that Orbison himself would have been proud of. Audience members responded with a standing ovation, and some were still standing as Southside Johnny walked out.
The nine-member Revue, dominated by current and former members of Southside Johnny’s Asbury Jukes, plans to present a series of Basie shows paying tribute to various rock, pop and R&B legends. It decided to start with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Orbison, in part, because he has had such a huge influence on Bandiera.
A longtime Juke as well as a solo artist, Bandiera can imitate Orbison’s operatic voice with uncanny accuracy. He handled lead vocals throughout most of Friday’s sold-out show, which featured trademark Orbison songs such as “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Only the Lonely (Know How I Feel),” “Running Scared” and “Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)” as well as more obscure tunes like “Uptown,” “Workin’ For the Man” and “Candy Man.”
“I grew up listening to Roy Orbison,” said Bandiera, 51, before adding a self-deprecating joke: ” … if you could call this grown up.”
Not all the material was by Orbison, who reached the Top 40 for the first time in 1960, and died of a heart attack in 1988, at the age of 52.
Bandiera performed several self-written songs that showed the influence of Orbison’s style, including “Only in a Dream,” “Tracey Marie” and “Pardon Me.” Southside Johnny, a surprise guest at this show, made his first appearance singing Bandiera’s “(We’ll Make This) World Stand Still,” which has a strong Orbison flavor. Then he returned to sing and play harmonica on the portion of the show that seemed to have the least to do with Orbison: the encore, a medley of Bandiera’s upbeat rock song “C’mon Caroline” and the Sam Cooke classic, “Twistin’ the Night Away.”
The Traveling Wilburys — the supergroup Orbison formed with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne just months before his death — were represented by “Not Alone Any More” (sung by guitarist Bob Burger) and “Handle With Care” (a duet featuring Bandiera on Orbison’s lines, and Burger on the other parts).
Keyboardist Mick Seeley sang a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” since the song was influenced by Orbison, and contains the line, “Roy Orbison singing for the lonely/Hey that’s me, and I want you only.”
The versatile band — also featuring keyboardist Kevin Kavanaugh, drummer Joe Bellia, bassist Steve Shewchuk, saxophonist Joey Stann and backing vocalists Lisa Lowell and Maureen McCrink — proved adept at the slow-building melodrama of “Blue Bayou” (with McCrink on lead vocals) and “It’s Over,” but also showed it could pull off the lean-and-mean rockabilly of “Ooby Dooby” (sung by Lowell) and “Mean Woman Blues.”
While all the musicians were competent in their lead vocal slots, the show only became magical when Bandiera was singing. When it comes to evoking Orbison’s spirit, you really have to hear Bandiera to believe him.
Plans call for the Revue to present tribute concerts at the Basie about three times a year. Possible tributees include Elvis Preseley and Frank Sinatra.
Between songs, Bandiera announced that the Revue’s next show will be on Aug. 6. Tickets are not yet available, and the subject of the tribute has not been determined.
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