“Fe fe, fi fi, fo-fo, fum! Look out, Molly, now here they come!” to Kennedy Plaza on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ this July 29, 2026 evening for a free Mardis Gras AC concert by internationally-known rock and soul singer Mitch Ryder along with The Tony Mart All-Stars.
Ryder, 81, is not only known for a successful recording career complete with Top 10 radio hits and multiple albums but for influencing such preeminent rockers as Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and Bob Seger.
Backstage before the show, Ryder talks about returning to perform in New Jersey this summer revealing, “I performed here at the Shore last year and when I was invited to come back and do it again, I was very, very happy.”
After declaring, “I enjoy Jersey! A lot of people in and out of my life over the many years are from New Jersey, and I don’t think it’s something in the water but they tend to be outgoing personalities and I like that,” Ryder goes on to joke, “I’m from Michigan where we’re used to keeping our mouths shut and freezing to death — that’s what we do well.”
Born William Sherille Levise, Jr., Ryder acknowledges that on the road to rock and roll stardom when his management suggested he call himself something different, “we got my stage name out of a Manhattan phone directory,” joking, “Originally, they wanted to call me Michael Rothschild, but we decided not to offend the entire banking industry in Europe.”
Despite going on to score with such radio hits as “Jenny Take a Ride” and “Devil with a Blue Dress On” in addition to recording more than 25 albums over a four-decade period, Ryder is proud to note, “What we did achieve, mostly, was not public knowledge, but industry knowledge by other artists.”
Ryder explains, “A compliment from another artist about my career with The Detroit Wheels is cherished because we not only influenced a lot of famous people, but also the regular guy who wanted to start a band and play our songs but couldn’t quite make the commitment necessary to succeed in music,” prior to concluding, “You have to love it more than anything in your life. Music is a total commitment and those who dedicate their lives to it can say what I say, which is, ‘I started my career and ended it totally devoted to music.’”
On the Boardwalk, Mardi Gras AC concert producer Carmen Marotta greets tonight’s crowd and welcomes The Tony Mart All-Stars — guitarists Danny Eyer and Bugzy Boyer; bassist Rich Kurtz; keyboardist Waynard Scheller; percussionists Bob Kimmel and Jim Glenn; saxophonist Howard Isaacson; and vocalists Bob Ernano, Patty Balbo, and Sharon Garland Sweeten — to the stage.
For each of the tunes in the Tony Mart All-Stars opening set, Marotta explains how the songs are associated with his father’s famous club, Tony Mart’s, which for over 40 years presented such luminaries as Bill Haley and the Comets, Conway Twitty, Joey Dee and the Starliters, Duane Eddy and the Rebels, Del Shannon, The Hawks, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and many more at the Jersey Shore.
The All-Stars kick off tonight’s show with a bluesy version of “Let the Good Times Roll.”
Guitarist Danny Eyer sings, “Come on, baby, let the good times roll,” before handling the lead on Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Shake, Rattle and Roll” where Bugzy Boyer solos on guitar, Waynard Scheller tickles the ivories, and the audience sings along with Eyer on the tune’s appealing “C’mon, shake, rattle, and roll” chorus.
Eyer follows up by getting the audience clapping along as he sings and plays guitar on Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock.”
Music lovers stand and dance to The All-Stars’ rendition of Joey Dee and The Starliters’ “The Peppermint Twist” before Bugzy renders a rockin’ solo on Duane Eddy’s “Honky Tonk.”
On Del Shannon’s “Runaway,” vocalist Bob Ernano cries, “I’m a-walking in the rain/Tears are falling and I feel the pain,” and concertgoers happily join with the backup vocalists in singing the tune’s appealing “I wonder/I wo-wo-wo-wo-wonder” refrain.
Eyer calls out, “Do you feel alright?” as concertgoers stand, clap, dance, and sing along with The All-Stars on an energetic version of The Isley Brothers’ “Shout.”
Patty Balbo follows up by enchanting the crowd with a bluesy rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.”
Marotta explains to the audience how Ronnie Hawkins’ group, The Hawks, went on to become The Band before Ernano wraps up the All-Stars’ opening set with a soulful performance of The Band’s “Who Do You Love” which generates animated cheers and applause from the crowd.
Following a short intermission, The All-Stars take the stage with Mitch Ryder who opens his set with “Little Latin Lupe Loo,” shaking his tambourine as he sings in his iconic soulful voice, “Talk about my baby/A little Latin Lupe Loo/She’s a hot footin’ baby/There ain’t no dance she couldn’t do,” on this R&B rocker.
Backup vocals by Jim Glenn, Patty Balbo, Sharon Garland Sweeten, and Bob Ernano accompany Ryder as he sings, “It was all right (It’s all right)/Oooooh it was all right (It’s all right)/Ohhh it was all right/(It’s all right),” on his 1971 rendition of “Rock ’N Roll.”
Ryder greets the audience and talks about meeting Lou Reed who said he liked Mitch’s cover of “Rock ’N Roll” better than his own original version. Moving on to Ryder’s first hit with the Detroit Wheels — the 1965 Top 10 single, “Jenny Take A Ride” — Bob Kimmel’s driving drums get audience members’ feet tapping before Ryder sings the tune’s iconic lyric, “Oh see/C.C. Rider/I said see, what you have done now.”
Ryder talks about singer John Mellencamp who offered to produce the record which put Mitch back on the charts in 1983. Here, he performs “When You Were Mine,” crying, “When you were mine/I gave you all of my money/Time after time/You done me wrong,” on this appealing power-pop tune.
Next up is Ryder’s 1967 R&B number, “Sock It to Me Baby,” about which Ryder acknowledges, “They took it off the air because it had dirty lyrics!” With the band rockin’ and rollin’, Ryder’s vocal rings out as he sings, “Sock it to me baby/Sock it to me baby baby,” before Danny Eyer contributes a dynamic electric guitar solo.
Wailing guitars characterize “Long Neck Goose,” a roots rocker which has Bugzy and Scheller dueling on guitar and keyboard before Ryder pays tribute to his friend, Jimi Hendrix, with an electrifying rendition of the psychedelic rocker, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” On this breathtaking performance, Ryder sings with grit, Rich Kurtz rocks on the bass, and Bugzy makes his guitar sing as the crowd stands, cheers, and applauds.
“This is the best talent!” says Ryder about the All-Stars, adding, “These ladies and gentlemen are both fine and talented,” before he exclaims, “I hope you had a good time tonight!” and concludes his set with his 1966 Top 5 single, “Devil with a Blue Dress On.”
Audience members dance and clap to this high-energy rocker as they join in singing the tune’s “Fe fe, fi fi, fo-fo, fum” lyric, after which Ryder and the band segue into Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” which has audience members cheering on their feet.
“Goodnight, everyone! God bless you!” declares Ryder as he exits the stage leaving The All-Stars to continue to rock the night away with an appealing set of tunes including saxophonist Howard Isaacson’s infectious smooth jazz hit “Daylight,” Bob Dylan and The Band’s “I Shall Be Released,” and many more.
To learn more about Mitch Ryder, please go to mitchryder.net. For information on future free concerts on the Atlantic City Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza — including Ivan Neville on August 12, Dana Fuchs on August 17, Booker T. Jones on August 19, A Celebration of The Allman Brothers’ Live at Fillmore East on August 24, Dead Zep on August 26, and Flow Tribe on August 31 — please click on tonymart.com.
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