The Smithereens will perform ‘Especially for You’ in its entirety at The Vogel in December

The Smithereens (from left, Dennis Diken, Jim Babjak, Wesley Stace and Severo Jornacion) will perform at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Dec. 10-11.

The Smithereens will perform their breakthrough album Especially for You — released 40 years ago this summer — in its entirety at The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Dec. 10-11. Tickets will go on sale Aug. 14 at 10 a.m., with pre-sales beginning Aug. 11 at 10 a.m.; visit ticketmaster.com.

Co-founders Jim Babjak (guitar) and Dennis Diken (drums) will be joined at this show by singer-guitarist Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding) and bassist Severo Jornacion. Since the death of frontman Pat DiNizio in 2017, The Smithereens have continued performing with several different guest singers, including Marshall Crenshaw, Robin Wilson (of Gin Blossoms) and John Cowsill. Stace’s first shows with the band took place in California, in July.

Especially for You includes some of the band’s best-known songs, including “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep.”

These are its 12 songs:

“Strangers When We Meet”
“Listen to Me Girl”
“Groovy Tuesday”
“Cigarette”
“I Don’t Want to Lose You”
“Time and Time Again”
“Behind the Wall of Sleep”
“In a Lonely Place”
“Blood and Roses”
“Crazy Mixed-Up Kid”
“Hand of Glory”
“Alone at Midnight”

Here is a video of The Smithereens performing “Strangers When We Meet” with Stace, in July:

After DiNizio’s death, The Count Basie Center for the Arts presented a tribute concert, in January 2018, at which surviving band members performed with Stevie Van Zandt, Dave Davies of The Kinks, Patty Smyth and others. Since 2018, The Basie has been giving out an annual Pat DiNizio Musical Performance Scholarship, and last year, the band was inducted into the theater’s Walk of Fame.

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