The rainy weather this June 10, 2025 afternoon hasn’t kept music lovers away from a free Garden State Arts Foundation concert at Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center starring the ’60s and ’70s pop/rock bands, The Grass Roots and The Buckinghams.
Inside the PNC amphitheater, Vice President of the GSAF’s Board of Trustees Ron Gravino welcomes concertgoers to today’s performance and thanks sponsors including Live Nation Entertainment as well as the many volunteers and contributors who helped put on today’s show.
Gravino introduces The Buckinghams and keyboardist Bruce Soboroff, guitarist Dave Zane, vocalist Carl Giammarese, drummer Tom Scheckel, and bassist Nick Fortuna take the stage and open today’s set with “Don’t You Care.”
In his warm, smooth voice, Giammarese croons, “If you don’t love me/Why don’t you tell me” on this The Buckinghams’ 1967 Top Ten hit before asking, “How are you guys doing this afternoon?” and the crowd cheers as the weather starts to break.
Giammarese announces, “This one’s from The Summer of Love,” as he and the Bucks launch into the group’s 1967 hit, “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song),” and music lovers sing along on the song’s infectious “Hey baby/Hey baby” coda.
Giammarese welcomes the crowd stating, “It’s great to be here at the PNC Bank Arts Center with the Grass Roots,” prior to exclaiming, “This year is The Buckingham’s 60th anniversary!” Here, Giammarese introduces fellow Bucks’ founding member, bassist Nick Fortuna, and the band launches into one of the first songs they ever recorded — “I’ll Go Crazy” — featuring guitarist Dave Zane on lead vocals.
Concertgoers sing and clap along with Fortuna who sings lead on The Outsiders’ 1966 hit, “Time Won’t Let Me.”
The Buckinghams perform a song which Giammarese reveals made its debut on TV’s The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” where Tom Scheckel’s drums drive the rhythm behind Giammarese’s and Fortuna’s soulful lead vocals.
Giammarese is the featured singer on The Brooklyn Bridge’s hit, “The Worst That Could Happen,” supported by backup vocals from Soberoff, Zane, and Fortuna.
After announcing, “This song made its debut on The Ed Sullivan Show,” Giammarese renders a lovely rendition of 1967’s “Susan” which has audience members clapping and singing along on the snappy “Susan/I love you” coda before reacting with avid applause and cheers.
“We are so blessed to have such a wonderful audience!” exclaims Giammarese as he, Zane, and Fortuna lend their vocal talents to The Beatles’ “This Boy,” accompanied by Zane on electric guitar.
Giammarese takes over on bass so Fortuna can sing lead on a soulful rendition of the 1967 Soul Survivor’s hit, “Expressway to Your Heart.”
Suggesting that after 60 years, “We’re still rockin’ and rollin’!” Giammarese introduces his bandmates and the musicians launch into their final song of the afternoon — The Buckinghams’ 1966 #1 hit, “Kind of a Drag.” The crowd happily sings along on the song’s “Girl, I love you/I’ll always love you” lyric prior to rewarding the musicians with a standing ovation, after which Giammarese replies, “Thank you all — you’ve been a great audience and we appreciate it!”
Following a short intermission, Gravino introduces The Grass Roots. Keyboardist Larry Nelson, lead vocalist/bassist Mark Dawson, drummer Joe Dougherty, and guitarist Dusty Hanvey take the stage and open their set with a rockin’ version of their 1970 hit, “Temptation Eyes,” where Dawson, Hanvey, and Nelson sing in harmony on the tune’s catchy “Temptation eyes/Looking through my my my soul” chorus.
Following a rollicking rendition of “Heaven Knows,” Dawson greets the crowd declaring, “We can’t think of a better place to be on a Tuesday afternoon! Hello to all of our friends in the cheap seats,” prior to joking about the free show, “Oh, they’re all cheap seats!”
Dawson and the band segue into The Grass Roots’ 1971 Top 10 single, “Sooner or Later,” where the crowd energetically joins in singing with Dawson on the song’s infectious “Sooner or later/Love is gonna get ya” refrain.
The group continues with a bouncy cover version of Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds’ 1971 hit, “Don’t Pull Your Love (Out On Me, Baby),” where music lovers clap and sing along to the joyful sound.
Larry Nelson is featured playing a swirling organ solo on “Things I Should Have Said” and Dawson and The Grass Roots follow up with a bouncy version of their pop rocker, “Baby Hold On.” Dawson announces, “We call this next song the happiest song ever!” as toes tap and heads bop to the group’s rendition of the 1971 Edison Lighthouse hit, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes).”
Hanvey takes over the mic and dedicates The Grass Roots’ 1967 gold record, “Let’s Live For Today,” to veterans — notably those who served in Vietnam — saying, “Thank you for your sacrifice. ”
The audience joins in on the song’s powerful “Sha-la la-la-la-la live for today” chorus before Hanvey impresses with an electrifying guitar solo which has audience members hooting, hollering, and cheering for more.
Dawson reacts by declaring, “That was a treat — you just got double scooped by Dusty!” as he and the group step into the the rockin’ pop tune, “Lovin’ Things.”
Exclaiming, “We want to make this a New Jersey-style oldies party!” Dawson and Co. continue with “Where Were You When I Needed You?” a catchy Grass Roots’ pop confection which has music lovers singing along on the tune’s “Where were you when I needed you/Where were you when I wanted you” refrain.
“That was good singin’!” declares Dawson as he and the group sail into “The River is Wide,” an R&B-influenced pop song which features solid percussion work from drummer Joe Dougherty. After Dawson exclaims, “Let’s get a little more guitar playing out of Dusty!” Hanvey shines picking out a guitar solo on the rockin’ “Come On and Say It.”
Dawson warns, “Prepare to get ‘groovied!’” as he and the band launch into “Feelings,” a backbeat rocker The Grass Roots performed in the 1968 Doris Day film, With Six You Get Egg Roll.
Dawson asks drummer Daugherty to choose the band’s next selection and he picks 1971’s “Two Divided by Love” which has audience members singing along with Dawson on the tune’s catchy “Two divided by love/Can only be one/And one is a lonely number” refrain.
Announcing, “We had a great time today — thanks to everyone!” Dawson and Co. cap off this afternoon’s performance with The Grass Roots’ 1969 hit, “I’d Wait a Million Years,” with music lovers happily joining in on the tune’s “I’d wait a million years/Walk a million miles/Cry a million tears” refrain.
Concertgoers stand and cheer and Dawson inquires, “Time for one more?” Here, he and the band present a powerful rendition of their 1968 Top 5 hit, “Midnight Confessions,” where audience members sing and dance on the tune’s “In my midnight confessions/When I tell all the world that I love you” refrain.
At the conclusion, music lovers cheer and applaud as Dawson looks out over the crowd and exclaims, “You guys were amazing! We love you! Thank you so much, everybody!”
For more on The Buckinghams, please go to thebuckinghams.com. For further info on Mark Dawson and The Grass Roots, please navigate to markdawson.us. To learn more about Garden State Arts Foundation concerts please click on gsafoundation.org.
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