Strolling the Atlantic City, NJ boardwalk this Friday, August 2, 2019 evening, visitors can see the blue Atlantic and smell the salt air as they hear the sound of a carousel and the whirr of a sightseeing helicopter taking off from the Steel Pier.
There’s music in the air on the boardwalk and, also, inside AC’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The moment patrons enter they’re greeted with priceless rock memorabilia, the sounds of slot machine bells hitting jackpots, and the enticement of world-class entertainment presented in the spacious and modern Etess Arena.
Tonight, music lovers of all ages are lined up and ready at this electrifying Jersey Shore setting for an appearance by the original “Jersey Boy” himself, the legendary Frankie Valli.
As we wait for the doors to open, we chat with Kevin from Long Beach Township who tells us, “I’ve seen Frankie Valli about 10 times. I’ve been a fan since the ’60s, when he was at the height of his fame.”
Continuing, “I really like his music — I’ve seen Jersey Boys six times,” Kevin explains, “He still sounds terrific at age 85. Last night, he played in Bethlehem PA, he’s here tonight, and tomorrow night he’ll be here again — that’s three days in a row that he’s singing, and at the age of 85, that’s amazing!”
His companion, Jeanine from Point Pleasant, says, “Even though I’m not a long-time fan like Kevin, I do remember Frankie Valli singing ‘Grease,’ and I’m sure I’ll know many more of his Four Seasons’ hits when I hear them.”
The doors open and, inside the Etess Arena, we chat with a group of long-time Frankie Valli fans.
Says Rose — originally from Brooklyn, but now from Old Bridge — “I’m a big fan of Frankie Valli! I love his music, I love his voice, and I love all of his classic songs. I’m looking forward to hearing many of them tonight,” before noting, “When I got the tickets for this show, I decided to bring my friend, Esther — she’s a huge fan.”
Declares Esther — originally from the Bronx, but now from Old Bridge — “I love Frankie Valli! I’ve been a fan of his forever — I guess you could just call me a big groupie! I follow him, and have seen him several times since the ‘60s.”
Continuing, “I love Frankie and his songs,” Esther explains, “His music gives you a lift. It has meaning. You can relate to it. It’s not what kids listen to today — it’s real music.”
Sandy from Cranford agrees adding, “I enjoy Frankie Valli’s music and the music of that entire era — especially because I can understand all the words!”
Sandy’s friend, Donna from Toms River, concurs acknowledging, “My husband even sang Frankie Valli’s song, ‘In My Eyes,’ to me on our wedding day — you know, [sings] ‘In my eyes/You’re my masterpiece.’ I just love his songs — they have expression. There doesn’t seem to be much talent, art, or class anymore in today’s music, but I can tell you this — Frankie Valli’s songs have class.”
The lights dim and the words, “Inspiration, Aspiration, Realization…dream on,” flash before the packed house on a series of three large screens at the front of the arena. A video begins to play and images of Valli with Dick Clark, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Lionel Ritchie, Cher, Paul McCarney, and others light up the auditorium.
A nine-piece band — led by musical director Robbie Robertson and featuring two keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, trumpet, trombone, and saxophone— takes the stage. The instrumentalists begin to play a fanfare as four male background singers — the new Four Seasons — start to sing Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ 1966 Top 20 hit, “Working My Way Back to You,” complete with Jersey Boys moves as colored lights swirl over the crowd and bathe the audience in splashes of red and purple.
Frankie Valli enters the stage to enormous applause and joins in on the action before segueing into another 1966 Top 20 hit, “Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me),” where he croons, “I’ll be strong, I’ll try to carry on/Although you know it won’t be easy when you’re gone” as a number of women in the crowd can be seen happily dancing at their seats.
At the number’s conclusion, the crowd cheers and Valli greets them stating, “All I can say is it’s great to be home in New Jersey! Are we gonna have some fun? Clap your hands and sing out loud and dance or do whatever you feel like doing.”
Launching into a quartet of additional Four Seasons’ hits, Valli and Co. perform 1967’s “Beggin’,” 1964’s “Save it for Me,” and the group’s 1964 Top 5 smash, “Dawn (Go Away),” the harmonies sounding rich and full, ringing out with passion and feeling to the band’s expert accompaniment. They wrap up this portion of the show with a rendition of the Four Seasons’ 1966 Top Ten hit, “Tell It To the Rain,” which features the sound of thunder, flashing lights, and a rockin’ guitar solo.
“Are you having fun out there?” asks Valli, to which the crowd joyfully replies in the affirmative, before he announces, “This next song was inspired by Frank Sinatra and written by Cole Porter.”
Here, Valli performs a lush arrangement of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” which features a big band sound, close jazz vocal harmonies, and a horn interlude.
“Give the band a hand!” exclaims Valli before the end of this number which elicits avid cheers and applause from the crowd.
A highlight of tonight’s show is the ensemble’s performance of Valli’s 1975 Top Ten hit, “Swearin’ to God.” Opening with a vintage ’70s Clavinet keyboard and wah-wah guitar intro, the vocal “oohs” and disco beat captivate the Hard Rock crowd. After Frankie and the new Seasons sing “Swearin’ to God/There’s no one else on earth I’d rather be,” Valli says, “How about my singers?” as the vocalists leave the stage to allow the talented instrumentalists to demonstrate their musical strengths. What follows is a funky and melodic sax solo, a Robbie Robertson keyboard solo complete with breath controller and energetic key slapping, not to mention a jazzy guitar solo. Following large applause, Valli returns to continue singing, pointing to a special member of the crowd on the line, “He’s given me you.”
The fan swoons and the audience cheers before Valli dedicates his next song “to all those politicians out there that are doing each other in.”
Here, Valli performs the “B-Side” to The Four Seasons’ 1964 #1 hit “Ragdoll,” “Silence is Golden.” Opening with the sound of a calypso shaker, Valli and the new Seasons stand with their hands at their sides as they sing in five-part harmony to the calypso beat.
Valli tells the crowd, “This next song was written by Barry Gibb. See if you guys remember it.”
Audience members “ooh” and “aah” the moment they recognize the intro to Valli’s 1978 #1 smash, “Grease.”
Valli fans dance at their seats and sing along to the famous “Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion” lyric before following up with a standing ovation for the ensemble’s scintillating performance.
Keeping the crowd on its feet, high-hat and congas start off the rhythm and music lovers clap along to the beat of Valli’s 1975 Top 5 hit, “Who Loves You.” Audience members smile and dance as they enjoy the blistering performance coming from the stage. After singing along on the “Who loves you, pretty baby/Who’s gonna help you through the night” lyric, the Jersey crowd is treated to a screaming guitar solo.
At the conclusion, as Valli sees the house standing and cheering, he holds both of his hands out before putting one hand to his heart in response to this sincere outpouring of admiration exclaiming, “You guys are fantastic — you must all come from Newark!”
Continuing, “It’s so nice to see everyone coming together in harmony,” Valli jokes, “I guess I’ll have to run for President.”
The audience cheers and Valli introduces his next number revealing, “It talks about a different kind of harmony.”
As a member of the audience shouts out, “You go, Frankie!” Valli and the band perform “Perfect Harmony.” With a swirling keyboard intro and hip-hop-like rhythm, Valli and The Seasons sing, “Harmony/Perfect harmony/Take me where the people still believe in harmony” as a video shows images of the Statue of Liberty, The Blue Angels, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and more, before ending with an image of a blue and beautiful earth to enormous cheers and applause.
In talking about the recording of his most recent album, Valli says, “There were no songs from today that applied to us, so we did an album of classics from the ’60s called Romancing the ‘60s.”
Dense Beach Boys-style harmonies permeate the group’s interpretation of one number from this album — Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem” — which features a Latin rhythm and a hot saxophone solo.
Following up with another track from Romancing the ’60s, Valli performs a medley of The Temptations’ “My Girl” and The Rascals’ “Groovin’.” Guitar and horns are featured on this innovative arrangement as Valli sings and the new Four Seasons dance along holding their microphone stands.
The audience whistles and cheers and Valli announces, “This next song sat on the shelf for three years before it was a hit.”
Here, he launches into another highlight of tonight’s show, a live rendition of Valli’s 1975 chart-topper, “My Eyes Adored You.” As he sings, “My eyes adored you though I never laid a hand on you” audience members wave their lighted cell phones back and forth, creating a visual tribute to Valli and his music as others sing and a few couples in the crowd begin to slow dance.
Another highlight of the show is a goose-bump inducing rendition of The Four Seasons’ 1975 #1 hit, “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).” Each of the new Seasons takes a turn in the spotlight singing lead before Valli joins in. Then, Valli and the Seasons dance together on stage while the crowd dances along at their seats. Everyone ends up singing together on the joyful “Do do do do-do” refrain before the celebration ends in a frenzy of lights and sound.
The audience explodes with hoots and hollers before Valli introduces his band members and follows up by thanking the audience “for the wonderful success of Jersey Boys.”
Valli takes a moment to talk about the first live performance he ever saw — a concert by Frank Sinatra at New York City’s Paramount Theater, which he attended with his mom at the age of six or seven — recalling, “That’s when I realized that’s what I wanted to do,” and warning, “If you want something bad enough, don’t let anyone talk you out of it!”
Here, he sings his 1967 Top 5 hit, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.” The audience robustly joins in on the “I love you baby/And if it’s quite all right” refrain, at which point Valli stops to listen, clearly enjoying the sights and sounds of his fans who are performing especially for him.
After the number concludes with excited audience cheers and applause, Valli introduces his next batch of tunes stating, “A bunch of guys in Newark, NJ sang songs like these under the street lights.”
Pointing and winking to the audience as he goes along, Valli performs another medley of Four Seasons’ hits including the 1962 #1 smash “Sherry,” the 1962 chart-topper “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” the 1963 #1 record “Walk Like a Man,” and the group’s 1965 Top 20 hit “Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye).”
Music lovers stand and cheer as Valli takes a bow and exits before retaking the stage waving, pointing to the band, and mouthing, “You want me?” as the crowd continues to cheer.
An iconic drumbeat introduces Valli’s first encore number of the evening — his 1964 #1 hit “Rag Doll,” which has audience members singing along on the well-known “Ooh ooh-ooh-ooh ooh/I love you just the way you are” refrain before responding with sustained cheers, applause, and a standing ovation.
For a second encore — and the final number of the evening — Valli and Co. perform The Four Seasons’ 1965 Top 5 hit, “Let’s Hang On.” Frankie fist bumps people in the audience as the crowd sings, “Let’s hang on to what we’ve got/Don’t let go, girl, we’ve got a lot/Got a lot of love between us/Hang on, hang on, hang on to what we’ve got.”
As the musicians continue to play, Valli declares, “We love you, New Jersey! You guys are dynamite. Give it up for the band!” before accepting a rose from a fan in the front row and announcing, “Now go out in the casino and win!”
As audience members exit the Etess Arena — with many making their way over to the casino to honor Valli’s request — we chat with several in the crowd who share their reactions with us to tonight’s performance by Frankie Valli.
Comments Debbie from Brigantine, “Frankie Valli was fantastic! I really enjoyed him. This was my first time seeing him in person, and he was even better than I ever imagined he would be.”
Karen from Dundalk, MD calls Valli’s performance tonight, “Amazing!” adding, “When I heard that Frankie Valli was going to be in Atlantic City, I just had to get tickets. My husband, Tom, and I made the trip up from Maryland; our niece, Diane, came up from Florida; and we all loved it.”
Revealing, “Frankie Valli is my sister’s all-time favorite performer — she grew up singing all of his songs, and she even named her daughter Dawn,” Karen acknowledges, “We just sent a picture of us at the concert to her phone,” joking, “She’s going to be so jealous!”
Says Karen’s neice, Diane from St. Augustine, FL, “This is my first time back in New Jersey since 1972. I came especially for this show, and I’m so glad I did. I knew all the songs, and the show was so much more than I expected — it gave me goose bumps when I heard Frankie Valli perform all of his classic hits.”
Next, we chat with with Joe and Joyce from Philadelphia. Whereas Joe calls Valli’s performance “Wonderful,” declaring, “We loved it!” Joyce remarks, “It was so entertaining — the band was great and Frankie really sings!”
Comments Carmela from Atlantic City, “When we were young, we all tried to sing just like Frankie Valli,” acknowledging, “We did that tonight and it was so much fun,” noting, “We saw him last year and his performance was even better this year.”
Bernice from Southampton agrees asserting, “I liked tonight’s show even better than last year’s. They made a lot of changes which I really enjoyed,” exclaiming, “Frankie Valli has to be one heck of a singer to be able to sing all of those songs!”
Lastly, we chat with Janice from Philadelphia who calls Frankie Valli’s performance tonight, “Phenomenal,” explaining, “He is the best — amazing, incredible — and with the voice of an angel.”
Continuing, “He hasn’t aged at all,” Janice concludes by asserting, “There is no one else like him — he’s truly one of a kind!”
To learn more about Frankie Valli, please go to frankievallifourseasons.com. For information on upcoming performances at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s Etess Arena — including Hall and Oates on August 30, Journey on September 27 and 28, and Foreigner on October 4 — please click on www.hardrockhotels.com/atlantic-city.
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