Music fans inside Morristown, NJ’s MPAC auditorium this Thursday, October 29, 2026 evening are ready to dance the night away at a The Music Lives On performance by the rockin’ Tex-Mex country group The Mavericks and Friends.
Led by singer/songwriter Raul Malo, The Mavericks were founded in Florida in 1989 after Malo met bassist Robert Reynolds in school and Reynolds persuaded his friend, drummer Paul Deakin, to join the band. Making a name for themselves in the Miami area as a country group that played rock clubs, The Mavericks went to Nashville in 1991 and achieved commercial and critical success with such breakthrough albums as 1994’s What a Crying Shame and 1995’s Music for All Occasions.
After splitting up in 2000, the group reunited in 2011 with Eddie Perez on lead guitar and Jerry Dale McFadden on keyboards. Sadly, Raul Malo passed away in 2025, but following a tribute concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the band decided to keep the music alive by continuing to tour with guest vocalists James Otto and Emily West as The Mavericks and Friends.
The lights dim and fans cheer as bassist/guitarist Robert Reynolds, drummer Paul Deakin, guitarist Eddie Perez, and keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden take the stage along with guitarist/bassist Scotty Huff, accordion player Percy Cardona, saxophonist Max Abrams, trumpet player Julio Diaz, and vocalist James Otto.
Opening with “Back in Your Arms Again,” Otto strums his guitar singing, “I knew I couldn’t stay away/No matter how I tried this love won’t be denied,” on this Mavericks’ Western swing tune.
Following up with the rockabilly number “Stories We Could Tell,” Max Abrams and Julio Diaz duel on saxophone and trumpet, eliciting cheers and applause from the crowd.
Four-part vocal harmonies are featured on “Come Unto Me” where Percy Cardona dances across the stage as he solos on the accordion on this appealing Americana tune.
Otto announces, “How you feeling out there tonight, Jersey?” before explaining that he became a fan of The Mavericks thanks to founding member Raul Malo’s “wonderful voice.” Here, Otto pays tribute to Malo crooning, “Oh baby, oh what a crying shame/To let it all slip away,” on The Mavericks’ 1993 Top 40 hit “What a Crying Shame.”
Robert Reynolds talks about his special friendship with Malo before introducing singer Emily West who cries out in her alto voice, “I’m showered in pain/Nothing remains/Of what used to be,” on the country power ballad “Here Comes the Rain.”
West also sings lead on the country swing tune “There Goes My Heart” which features a twangy Eddie Perez guitar solo and a duet starring Cardona on accordion and Jerry Dale McFadden on keyboard.
Following the country ballad “Forgive Me,” which features a slow and crying Max Abrams saxophone solo, West croons, “I was born, born to be blue,” on the country rocker “Born to Be Blue” to hoots and hollers from the crowd.
Otto renders an English version of the roots rocker “Pardon Me” before he gets the audience clapping along to the ‘50s-style “The Only Question Is” where he cries, “I’d do anything, anything for you/The only question is, ‘Do you want me to?’”
After McFadden plays a boogie woogie piano intro, Scotty Huff holds down the bottom on bass as Cardona is featured on accordion, Diaz renders a trumpet solo, and Abrams solos up and down his saxophone on the country song “As Long as There’s Loving Tonight.”
Following the rockabilly “Pretend,” founding member Reynolds dedicates the ensemble’s next number, the Latin-influenced country ballad “I Should Have Been True,” to Raul Malo.
West and Otto sing together on a lovely rendition of the Neil Young folk-rocker “Harvest Moon,” after which The Mavericks serve up a Bruce Springsteen song for the Jersey crowd, “All That Heaven Will Allow,” which gets audience members dancing to this rhythmic rocker.
Perez presents his own personal tribute to his “dear friend, Maestro Raul” by singing the Latin-rocker “La Macura” in Spanish, and music lovers clap along on the instrumental interlude before Diaz incorporates a snippet of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” into his trumpet solo.
Founding member Paul Deakin’s drums kick off “Recuerdos” where fans stand and move to the groove of this appealing Latin-pop tune. Then, Otto sings in English on the alternative country song “Every Little Thing About You” featuring an arrangement which spotlights Perez playing a fiery guitar solo.
West sings harmony with Otto as Perez croons, “I want to dance in the moonlight only with you,” on the rockabilly shuffle/swing tune “Dance in the Moonlight.”
After Perez introduces his stage mates, he and the group conclude tonight’s performance with “Dance the Night Away” where lights strobe across the stage as concertgoers stand and dance to this rhythmic pop rock/Western swing number.
Audience members cheer and band members take a bow and exit the stage before concertgoers are treated to a recording of Mavericks founding member Raul Malo singing the Spanish ballad “La Sitiera” while a spotlight shines on a lone microphone stand.
After the musicians filter back onto the stage, the ensemble performs a powerful encore rendition of the Latin-rocker “All Night Long” which leads into a coda of “Let the Sunshine In” from Hair.
The group follows up by presenting an encore version of The Mavericks’ 1996 country hit “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” where audience members join the band in singing, “All you ever do is bring me down/Making me a fool all over town,” on this upbeat tune before the musicians exit the stage to animated hoots, hollers, cheers, and applause.
To learn more about The Mavericks and Friends, please go to themavericksband.com. For information on upcoming performances at MPAC — including Don McLean and Lee Greenwood on November 15, 10,000 Maniacs on November 19, Judy Collins on November 22, and Darlene Love on December 4 — please go to mayoarts.com.
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