Fans of ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s music are cruising into Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center amphitheater this Friday, September 19, 2025 evening for a third installment of the Malt Shop Memories Live concert. Starring Bobby Wilson, Frank Pizarro, The Knockouts, The Classics, The Fortunes, The Duprees, Jay Siegel’s Tokens, The Coasters, Johnny Farina, The Chiclettes, Sounds of the Street, Tommy Cono, and Vinnie Medugno, tonight’s free show is presented by the Garden State Arts Foundation.
Vice President of the GSAF Board of Trustees Ron Gravino welcomes concertgoers to this evening’s program. He thanks the sponsors of the show — including Live Nation Entertainment and the UMC Foundation — in addition to the many GSAF volunteers for their help with tonight’s event.
Gravino introduces this evening’s emcee, the MusicRadio 77-WABC DJ and entertainer, Vinnie Medugno. Backed by the vocal quintet, Sounds of the Street, and The Coda Band, Medugno opens tonight’s show singing a dynamic rendition of Jay and the Americans’ “Some Enchanted Evening.”
Announcing, “Welcome to Malt Shop Memories Live!” Medugno presents Sounds of the Street featuring Frank DiRobella, Buddy Brewer, Lou Orrichio, Joe Noto, and Tony Aquino. Accompanied by The Coda Band’s Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo on saxophone, Dennis DiBrizzi on keyboards, Joe DeAngelis on guitar, Paul Page on bass, and Pete Mastropaulo on drums, the New Jersey quintet performs a lively rendition of Frankie Ford’s “Sea Cruise” and a passionate interpretation of The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody.”
The crowd cheers and Medugno introduces The Knockouts — Bobby D’Andrea and Victor Guiamano — who sing and dance across the stage as they perform a rockin’ version of Joe Tex’s “Show Me (A Man Who’s Got a Good Woman).”
D’Andrea declares, “At 93 years old, I can do this song!” before launching into a punchy version of The Knockouts’ 1959 hit, “Darling Lorraine,” inspiring doo-wop lovers to rise to their feet.
As the crowd applauds, Medugno personally congratulates Bobby D’Andrea— whom he calls “the oldest living legend still performing” — on his presentation tonight.
Tommy Cono takes the stage and pays tribute to singer Bobby Rydell by performing “Wild One.” Backed by The Chiclettes and The Coda Band, Tommy energetically croons, “Oh, wild one/I’m-a gonna tame you down,” as concertgoers tap their toes in time to the music.
Cono also gives a dynamic interpretation of Rydell’s “Volare,” which has music lovers singing along on the infectious “Volare/Oh oh/Contare/oh oh oh oh” refrain before responding with avid cheers and applause.
Medugno praises Cono for “carrying the torch of Bobby Rydell,” prior to introducing the vocal trio, The Chiclettes. Here, vocalists Gracie, Mikayla, and Jennie take the stage and render a high-energy version of Chaka Kahn’s “I’m Every Woman.”
Vocalizing in three-part harmony, the trio performs an arrangement of The Andrews Sisters’ “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” which segues into Chubby Checker’s “The Hucklebuck.”
Lastly, after starting off slowly, the trio picks up the tempo on the Ike and Tina Turner version of “Proud Mary,” where Mikayla takes her turn handling the lead vocal.
As the arrangement heats up, it inspires enthusiastic whistles and cheers for The Chiclettes.
Medugno presents The Coasters — J. W. Lance, Primotivo Candelaria, Dennis Anderson, and Johnny Stone — who open their set with the group’s 1959 hit, “Poison Ivy.”
After asking the crowd, “What is your favorite Coasters’ song?” concertgoers shout out their favorites as the group cartwheels into its 1959 hit, “Charlie Brown,” and the audience joins in on the tune’s famous “Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” lyric.
To wrap things up, The Coasters impress with their dance moves on the group’s 1958 #1 hit, “Yakety Yak,” dancing on stage and doing kick steps to an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Medugno says, “Put your hands together for Mr. Emil Stucchio and The Classics,” as Stucchio takes the stage along with Teresa McLean and Al Contrera and sings lead on Mel Carter’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me.”
McLean impresses with a dynamic rendition of The Angels’ “’Til” before Stucchio and Co. perform The Classics’ 1963 million-seller, “Till Then,” to enthusiastic cheers and applause.
The Duprees — Tommy Petillo, Jimmy Spinelli, and Shawn Stevens — take the stage where Petillo’s smooth lead vocal is featured on the group’s 1963 recording, “Have You Heard.”
Backed by The Coda Band plus an additional horn section featuring tenor sax, trumpet, and trombone, the group performs its 1962 hit, “My Own True Love.”
Petillo acknowledges, “We’ve kept this music in live stage performances for more than 40 years,” before he and The Duprees conclude their set singing, “See the pyramids along the Nile,” on their classic number, “You Belong to Me,” and eliciting a standing ovation from the crowd.
Following a short intermission, Vinnie Medugno returns with The Chiclettes to perform Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity.” Inviting the audience to sing along with him, Medugno effortlessly pops into his falsetto voice on a compelling version of Jay and the Americans’ “Cara Mia.”
Medugno introduces Jay Siegel’s Tokens — Jay Siegel, Kurt “Frenchy” Yahian, and Gabe Dassa — who take the stage to perform The Tokens’ 1961 hit, “Tonight I Fell in Love.” Music lovers happily join in on the “Dom, doobie dom, woo-ooh, doobie, doobie” refrain before Jay Siegel’s trademark falsetto rings out on the “Tonight, tonight I fell in love” lyric.
Siegel and the Tokens follow up with a record-copy rendition of “Portrait of My Love,” the group’s 1967 Top 40 hit which brings fervent applause from the crowd.
Siegel and Co. conclude their set by impressing the audience with a timeless rendition of a Tokens’ song that was a worldwide hit twice — first in 1961 and again following the release of the 1994 animated Disney film, The Lion King — “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Their extended live version of the song has music lovers throughout the amphitheater clapping and singing along before rewarding Siegel and the trio with a standing ovation.
Accompanied by The Coda Band, Santo and Johnny’s Johnny Farina takes the stage to play The Chantays’ “Pipeline” on Hawaiian steel guitar.
Farina announces, “This next song I want to do is gonna need your help — I know you can do it!” before concertgoers clap in rhythm to a nimble rendition of Duane Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser” by Farina and The Coda Band’s Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo on alto sax.
On his final selection, Farina’s hands glide across the strings of his Hawaiian steel guitar on Santo and Johnny’s 1959 #1 hit, “Sleepwalk,” its ethereal sound inspiring an avid standing ovation from the crowd.
Medugno warns, “We’re going back to the British Invasion!” as he welcomes The Fortunes to the stage where Jonathan Washington, Skip Petronic, and Michael Candito sing, “I can dig it/He can dig it/She can dig it/We can dig it,” on The Friends of Distinction’s “Grazing in the Grass.”
The audience sings along with Washington on the The Fortunes’ 1971 hit, “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again.”
“You’re a great crowd — let’s hear it for Jersey!” exclaims Washington as he and The Fortunes conclude their portion of tonight’s show with their 1965 smash, “You’ve Got Your Troubles,” to avid cheers and applause.
Medugno introduces Frank Pizarro, the former lead singer of The Platters, who takes the stage with backup singers Baby Ray Moyer, Valerie Pizarro, and Orville Bryan before Pizarro impresses with an emotional rendition of The Platters’ ethereal 1956 hit, “My Prayer.”
After performing The Platters’ 1955 chart-topper, “The Great Pretender,” Pizarro acknowledges, “This is my favorite song,” and concludes his set with The Platters’ 1958 smash, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” Crooning, “They asked me how I knew my true love was true,” Pizarro’s strong voice rings out before he and his colleagues are rewarded with a standing ovation.
Lastly, Medugno welcomes “Mr. Entertainment,” Bobby Wilson — the son of Jackie Wilson — who takes the stage along with The Chiclettes to perform a dynamic rendition of the 1965 Wilson Pickett song, “634–5789.”
Wilson follows up with a soulful performance of his dad’s smash, “Lonely Teardrops,” and dedicates his father’s song, “Reet Petite,” to GSAF VP Ron Gravino.
Taking off his jacket, Wilson knocks out a rendition of Jackie Wilson’s “Baby Work Out.” Then, after reminding the crowd, “We’ve got to love one another and love ourselves in order to be united with God,” Wilson is joined by the entire Malt Shop Memories cast for a lively rendition of his dad’s 1967 classic, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”
Concertgoers sing along as the performance builds to a climax before Medugno concludes tonight’s show by asking for “one more round of applause for everyone on the stage,” leaving music fans with fond recollections of tonight’s Malt Shop Memories concert experience.
To learn more about future Garden State Arts Foundation concerts at the PNC Bank Arts Center — including Bob Miranda and The Happenings, Vito Picone and The Elegants, and John Scupelliti and The Reactions on September 29, and Cousin Brucie Presents The Rascals with Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish along with Gary Lewis and the Playboys on October 3 — please go to gsafoundation.org.
To learn more about Malt Shop Memories cruises — including the upcoming 2026 cruise featuring The Duprees, The Fortunes, The Coasters, Frank Pizarro, Johnny Farina, Bobby Wilson, Sounds of the Street, Vinnie Medugno, and The Chiclettes, along with Wayne Newton, The Temptations, Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone, Darlene Love, Priscilla Presley, and many more — please go to maltshopcruise.com.
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