Three years after stroke, Jesse Malin brings inspiring ‘Silver Manhattan’ show to New Jersey

Jesse Malin, in a pre-2023 photo.

“I try hiding the pain because I don’t want to make people worry or treat me different. … But it’s always here,” said Jesse Malin during his “Silver Manhattan: A Musical Guide to Survival” show at The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts, Aug. 14. “
I’m in pain right now.”

At several points in the 100-minute show — which opened a two-night stand at the Red Bank venue — Malin, 59, talked about the pain he is still experiencing as the result of a 2023 spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down. But the show was more about his triumph over adversity than the adversity itself. It proved he not only can still perform his songs as well as he ever has, but that — despite his limited mobility, and the pain — he still has a commanding stage presence, and can even project a sense of irrepressible youthful enthusiasm.

Throughout Malin’s career, he has always come across as a true believer in the power of rock ‘n’ roll. Nothing about that has changed.

The show, which originated last year at The Gramercy Theatre in New York and had not previously been presented in New Jersey, is a unique combination of music and autobiographical storytelling, with Malin’s six backing musicians sometimes playing characters in his stories. Malin calls it a play, not a concert. It has a co-writer (Lauren Ludwig), a director (Ellie Heyman), lighting and sound designers, and so on.

“Silver Manhattan” opened with a shock that signalled how far Malin was willing to go to tell his story. He was carried through the audience, to the stage, on a stretcher, in a kind of procession with his saxophone player in front of him and his trumpet player behind him. He then performed most of the show in a wheelchair, accompanying himself on guitar, but ended with an inspiring demonstration of how far he has come in his physical rehabilitation.

His monologues zigzagged all around his life: his childhood and family ties … his stints in the bands Heart Attack and D Generation … his emergence as an acclaimed solo artist … the night that he suffered the stroke (remembered in vivid, harrowing detail) … his initial depression when he learned how severe his condition was (“What if I don’t get better? How will I perform? Yeah, I play guitar, but what I really play onstage is my body. It’s broken. I’m something I don’t recognize”) … his participation in a program in Argentina that attempts to speed the healing process with stem cells … his decision to put “Silver Manhattan” together.

JOHN CAVANAUGH

JESSE MALIN

“I thought if we did this play, there would be something cathartic about telling this completely true story, but when we were rehearsing it, it was fucking traumatic to go over again,” he said. “But to do it with you guys, tonight, and in person, it feels really uplifting.”

Another frequent theme was his love of his lifelong hometown, New York. He began his first monologue of the night, in fact, by remembering typical wild New York nights, before his accident, of making new friends, discovering new music and movies, dancing, falling in love and more. These nights wouldn’t end, he said, until you “jump back in bed just before the sun comes up and that last garbage truck rolls by … anything’s possible here.”

At another point, he told some of the crazy stories he has collected from his many years as a touring rock artist. He’s basically seen it all, he said, “but in all that time, you know what I never saw? A frontman in a wheelchair.”

Take away all the talking, and you were basically left with a full-length concert, ranging from quiet, reflective songs (he sounded positively forlorn on “Room 13”) to the raucous rock of “Prisoners of Paradise” (performed as the show’s musical climax) and full-throttle punk in the form of the D Generation song “No Way Out” and Heart Attack’s “Trendies.” Malin also performed Heart Attack’s New York Dolls-like “Everybody Wants to Rock and Roll” in a segment during which he talked about how that band got its start by playing at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. (Bree Sharp, a singer and guitarist in Malin’s “Silver Manhattan” band, memorably played a cantankerous CBGB booker.)

Before singing the show’s last song, “You Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start to Pray,” Malin mentioned that while touring is still very difficult for him, another series of New York “Silver Manhattan” shows may take place in the spring. He also said that, since the stroke, “this huge outpouring of love and support … like, beyond anything I could have imagined,” is what has kept him going, in his recovery.

“That and music,” he said. “It was tremendous, and still is.”

JESSE MALIN

Here are the songs performed (in full or at least partially) at The Vogel:

“Turn Up the Mains”
“Here’s the Situation”
“Sway”
“Whitestone City Limits”
“Death Star”
“No Way Out”
“Everybody Wants to Rock and Roll”
“Burning the Bowery”
“Room 13”
“Revelations”
“Trendies”
“Black Haired Girl”
“I Would Do It for You”
“Prisoners of Paradise”
“My Little Life”
“You Know It’s Dark When Atheists Start to Pray”

Jesse Malin will present a holiday show at Irving Plaza in New York, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m., with a portion of the proceeds benefiting The Christopher Reeve Foundation. Visit ticketmaster.com.

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