Music fans at Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center amphitheater this Friday, October 3, 2025 evening are ready for a night of groovin’ to the music of The Rascals. Presented by legendary DJ Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow and also starring Gary Lewis and the Playboys, tonight’s show is sponsored 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 supporters of the show — including Live Nation Entertainment, PNC Bank, and the UMC Foundation — in addition to the many GSAF volunteers for their help with tonight’s event.
Gravino introduces MusicRadio 77-WABC DJ Cousin Brucie who greets the large crowd saying, “Look at this audience! I have the most beautiful audience in the whole world!”
Brucie welcomes Gary Lewis and the Playboys who take the stage and open tonight’s show with a rollicking rendition of Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon’s hit about the 1960s-era New Jersey amusement park, “Palisades Park.”
Concertgoers cheer and Lewis, 79, responds, “Thank you! Welcome tonight, everybody!” as he and The Playboys — guitarist Mike Gladstone, drummer Todd Bradley, keyboardist Willy O’Riley, and bassist Nick Rather — perform their 1965 pop tune which bulleted to #2 on the charts, “Count Me In.”
Lewis reveals, “Leon Russell and I wrote this next song,” as he and the band tumble into a bouncy version of his 1965 smash, “Everybody Loves A Clown,” which gets audience members’ fingers and toes tapping.
Lewis recalls touring with Gene Pitney, Bobby Goldsboro, The Yardbirds, and Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs before introducing bassist Nick Rather who sings lead on Sam the Sham’s 1966 hit, “Wooly Bully.”
Following The Playboys’ nostalgic 1965 #2 smash, “Save Your Heart for Me,” Lewis performs his debut recording which, as he explains, “kicked The Beatles out of the #1 spot” — his 1965 chart-topper, “This Diamond Ring.”
Lewis announces, “This was our last song on the charts before I got drafted,” as he and The Playboys sail into 1966’s “Sure Gonna Miss Her,” an easy-to-listen-to number which features the sound of Willy O’Riley’s swirling keyboard.
Following a toe-tapping version of the rockin’ dance tune, “Barefootin’,” guitarist Mike Gladstone is featured on the ‘60s surf-rocker, “Little Miss Go Go.”
Gary’s 1966 #8 nod to summer, “Green Grass,” is up next before Willy O’Riley sings lead on a rousing cover version of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” where music lovers happily join in singing on the song’s ubiquitous “Sha-la-la la-la-la-la la-la la-la te-da” lyric.
Following enthusiastic applause, the band performs Gary’s 1967 Top 20 remake of Brian Hyland’s hit, “Sealed With a Kiss.”
After acknowledging his on-stage colleagues, Lewis concludes his set with a buoyant rendition of the 1966 Beach Boys-influenced tune he wrote with Leon Russell, “She’s Just My Style.”
Four-part harmonies ring out on this fun, upbeat tune which has music lovers giving Lewis and Co. a standing ovation and a fan presenting Lewis with a single red rose.
In addition to congratulating Lewis on his performance, Cousin Brucie acknowledges Lewis’ feat of being the only recording artist in history — aside from the Lovin’ Spoonful — to have a run of seven consecutive Top 10 records in the U.S.
Following intermission, Cousin Brucie welcomes a surprise guest to the stage — Tommy James of Tommy James and The Shondells — who talks about writing the group’s 1968 hit, “Mony Mony.” Brucie also introduces another surprise guest, Vito Picone, who discusses composing the 1958 hit, “Little Star” for his group, The Elegants.
Noting how much “joy” tonight’s next act has given the world, Cousin Brucie introduces The Rascals. Music lovers cheer as keyboardist Benny Harrison, bassist Jimmy Keneally, drummer Vinnie Santoro, guitarist Mike Severs, and a three-piece horn section take the stage along with founding member Felix Cavaliere.
Opening with “Do You Feel It?” Cavaliere, 82, soulfully leads The Rascals as they sing, “Do you feel it? (You know I do)/Do you feel, baby, do you feel it? (You know I do).” Concertgoers clap in time as Cavaliere’s organ calls, horns answer, and guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums keep the rhythm flowing.
After telling music lovers, “We wrote this song so everyone could feel like we did,” Cavaliere and Co. launch into a masterful rendition of The Rascals’ 1968 Top 5 hit, “It’s a Beautiful Morning.” Cavaliere’s voice sounds strong and melodious as he vocally ad libs over the swirling keyboards and horns on this classic tune.
Cavaliere inquires, “How many of you remember ‘The Summer of Love,’” before he and his friends cruise into The Rascals’ “A Girl Like You,” with an arrangement which features trombone, sax, and trumpet solos on this blue-eyed soul tune from 1967.
Cavaliere and keyboardist Benny Harrison handle the lead vocals on the R&B-influenced, “Love is a Beautiful Thing,” and follow up with “A Ray of Hope” where a funky groove and horns punctuate this upbeat anthem which proclaims, “We’ll pray for a day when all men are free/And people can live like they’re meant to be.”
Cavaliere talks about how during the pandemic he and guitarist Mike Severs produced Felix’s solo recording, Then and Now, before Cavaliere slides into the album’s “Slip Away,” where he cries, “Can you slip away without him knowing you’re gone?” on this R&B-infused rocker.
Drummer Vinnie Santoro’s voice is spotlighted on The Rascals’ 1965 hit, “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore,” which also features Jimmy Keneally’s bass thumping as audience members move to the groove in their seats.
Cavaliere tells a story about The Rascals’ early days as musicians playing at the Choo Choo Club in Garfield, NJ before he and the band race into The Rascals’ original fast rocker, “Come On Up.” On the interlude, Felix reminds concertgoers that back in the ’60s, “We all knew each other’s music,” as he and the group segue into Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”
Cavaliere recalls, “One time, this guy came up to me and gave me a big kiss saying, ‘You put my song on the other side of ‘Groovin’!” Here, he and The Rascals perform a soulful version of “Mustang Sally,” a number which went on to become a hit for Wilson Pickett. The audience sings along as Cavaliere works in snippets of Pickett’s “Land of 1000 Dances,” The Temptations’ “Get Ready,” and Lipps Inc’s “Funkytown,” before deftly segueing back into “Mustang Sally” where the crowd happily joins in singing on the “Ride, Sally, ride” refrain.
The party continues with Felix crooning The Rascals’ 1967 Top 20 hit, “(I’ve Been) Lonely Too Long,” and Benny Harrison handling the lead on The Young Rascals’ 1967 Top 5 hit, “How Can I Be Sure?”
The crowd cheers as Rascals founding member Gene Cornish, 81, joins the group on stage. Acknowledging, “I feel like I’m home because I lived in New Jersey for 30 years!” Cornish and the band perform The Rascals’ 1967 chart-topper, “Groovin’.”
After meandering into snippets of Jay and the Techniques’ “Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” and a pair of Temptations’ songs — “My Girl” and “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)” — the ensemble segues back into Groovin’.”
Cavaliere announces, “Please say a prayer for our brothers and sisters overseas,” as he thanks service members and rockets into The Rascals’ 1968 #1 hit, “People Got to Be Free,” where music lovers join in singing the song’s “All the world over, so easy to see/People everywhere just wanna be free” lyric.
As the band continues to percolate beneath him, Cavaliere incorporates snippets of The Edwin Hawkins Singers’ “Oh, Happy Day” and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ “Nowhere to Run” before returning to “People Got To Be Free,” which ends with the audience reacting with an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Cavaliere exclaims, “We hope you had a good time tonight, and if you want to get up and dance, then dance!” as he and the band kick off a roof-rockin’ rendition of The Young Rascals’ 1966 #1 hit, “Good Lovin’” where concertgoers dance before hooting, hollering, cheering, and applauding for Felix, Gene, and the band.
After Felix asks, “Do you want to hear one more?” the crowd replies in the affirmative and The Rascals play a medley of classic tunes which starts off with Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” and continues with The Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” Sly and the Family Stone’s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven,” before Felix and Gene shake hands and Cousin Brucie exclaims, “Good night, everybody — thank you!”
To learn more about The Rascals, please go to felixcavalieremusic.com. For more info on Gary Lewis and the Playboys, navigate to garylewisandtheplayboys.com. For information on upcoming GSA Foundation concerts at PNC Bank Arts Center please click on gsafoundation.org.
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