Bobby Bandiera to be honored at Count Basie Theatre

by JAY LUSTIG
Bobby Bandiera will be honored by the Count Basie Theatre on Aug. 29.

Bobby Bandiera will be honored by the Count Basie Theatre on Aug. 29.

Bobby Bandiera, who has a long history of performing at the Count Basie Theatre — at his Jersey Shore Rock-n-Soul Revue shows, at his charitable Hope Concerts, at Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes concerts and other shows as well — will be honored at the Red Bank theater’s second annual Vanguard Awards show, Aug. 29.

(AUG. 24 UPDATE: Southside Johnny will be on hand to present Bandiera with his award.)

(AUG. 25 UPDATE: Steven Van Zandt will be there as well.)

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Investors Bank chief lending office Richard Spengler will also be honored at the event, which will feature the annual summer concert by Rockit!, the Basie’s rock band program for young musicians. Rockit! will perform The Who’s “Tommy” in its entirety as well as other songs of 1969 (including material by Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and King Crimson), with “curation, guidance and performances from Bandiera, 2014 Vanguard winner Maureen Van Zandt and very special guests,” according to a press release.

Tickets, priced at $25, go on sale Friday at noon; visit countbasietheatre.org. VIP packages, including an intermission reception and sponsorship of the ceremony, will also be available. Proceeds will go toward scholarships and other initiatives of the theater’s arts education and outreach programs.

Last year’s honorees, in the initial Vanguard shows, were Steven and Maureen Van Zandt, Monmouth County freeholder Lillian Burry and Monmouth County Arts Council executive director Mary Eileen Fouratt.

Here is a video of Steven Van Zandt performing with Rockit!:

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