WILLIAM SNYDER
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, shown performing at Wembley Stadium in 2019.
Here is a roundup of major arts events taking place around New Jersey, through Aug. 21.
MUSIC
• The Who will bring their The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour — I know they’ve said previous tours would be their last, but I kind of believe them this time — to The Prudential Center in Newark, Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m., and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Actor-musician Billy Bob Thornton and his Boxmasters band will open in Newark; Booker T. Jones (of Booker T & the M.G.’s fame) will do so in Atlantic City.
Who co-founders Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are now 80 and 81, respectively; this year marks the 60th anniversary of the band’s debut album, My Generation. Townshend and Daltrey are being joined on this tour by guitarist Simon Townshend (Pete’s 64-year-old brother), drummer Scott Devours, bassist Jon Button, keyboardist Loren Gold, percussionist Jody Linscott, and backing vocalist John Hogg.
ARIES PHOTOGRAPHY NOLA
SAMANTHA FISH
• The dynamic blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Samantha Fish will headline this year’s edition of the free, annual Morristown Jazz and Blues Festival, taking place on Aug. 16 on the downtown Morristown Green. (Read a new interview with her HERE.)
She and her band will perform at 8 p.m., after King Solomon Hicks, at 6 p.m.; Blues People, at 4 p.m.; The Jazz Ambassadors (U.S. Army Big Band), at 2 p.m.; and Dani G. & Friends, at noon. It is recommended that attendees bring lawn chair or blankets.
• 103.5 KTU will present a marathon Beatstock concert at The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, Aug. 17 at 4 p.m., with performances by Boy George, Joey McIntyre (of New Kids on the Block), Right Said Fred, Robin S., 3rd Bass, C&C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams, No Mercy, George Lamond, Coro, Judy Torres, Corina, Cynthia, Lisette Melendez, DJ Skribble and Louie DeVito.
• DJ Cassidy’s Pass the Mic Live! show at The Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Aug. 17 at 7:30 p.m., will feature a long list of prominent hip-hop artists, mostly associated with the New York/New Jersey hip-hop scene in the ’80s and ’90s. Artists will include Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Rakim, Treach (of Naughty by Nature), Black Sheep, Buckshot, CL Smooth, Havoc, Milk Dee, M.O.P., Nice & Smooth, Onyx, Smif-N-Wessun and Super Cat.
HEATHER JOHNSON
From left, Larry McCray, Jimmy Hall, Sierra Green and Devon Allman.
• Devon Allman, son of the late Gregg Allman, has been involved in many bands over the last 25 years, including The Allman Betts Band, The Devon Allman Project, Honeytribe and Royal Southern Brotherhood. His latest album, The Blues Summit, teams him with Jimmy Hall (of the band Wet Willie), Larry McCray and Sierra Green, with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Robert Randolph making guest appearances. And his Devon Allman’s Blues Summit Tour (also featuring Hall, McCray and Green) will come to The Vogel at The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m.; and the free Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk series at Kennedy Plaza in Atlantic City, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
• Yes, there is a band that exists solely to pay tribute to Bread, those giants of ’70s soft-rock whose hits included “Make It With You,” “Baby I’m-a Want You,” “If” and “Everything I Own.” And yes, they are called … Toast. The band, which is based in Utah and bills itself as “The Ultimate Bread Experience,” will perform at The URSB Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.
• Though currently based in Nashville, Doc Holiday (the stage name for Eddie “Fast Eddie” Wohanka), 92, has roots in the Asbury Park music scene, with bands such as The Jaywalkers. He was also the driving force behind the creation of a plaque honoring “The Creators of SOAP (The Sound of Asbury Park)” that was unveiled on the Asbury Park boardwalk in 2006. And he has organized a show, “S.O.A.P. 2025: Doc Holiday & Friends,” which will take place at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, Aug. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Performers will include original E Street Band drummer Vini Lopez, Leon Trent, Nicky Addeo, Nikki Addeo, Stormin’ Norman Seldin, Pam McCoy, Devin Michaels & Hell or High Water, Stilletto & the Saxman, Jobonanno and Meagan Solomon, and proceeds will benefit the Sunflowers for Soldiers organization.
Jane Lynch, right and Kate Flannery.
• Actress Jane Lynch (“Glee,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Only Murders in the Building”) will present a comedy/cabaret show titled “The Trouble With Angels,” also featuring Kate Flannery (best known as an actress on “The Office”), Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. at BergenPAC in Englewood. Lynch and Flannery describe their show as “An evening of mischief and music from two very familiar faces. It’s like the Rat Pack… but with a couple of broads.”
THEATER
• The Streetcar Project, in association with Asbury Book Cooperative, will present its minimal production of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” at Asbury Park’s historic Carousel House, Aug. 17-19 at 7 p.m.
Over the past two years, The Streetcar Project has presented the 1947 drama — almost universally acknowledged as one of the greatest American plays — with four actors in unconventional-for-theater locations around the country, including a barn, a factory and an airplane hangar. “By presenting Tennessee Williams’s complete, unabridged text with no props or set, this production is designed to be performed everywhere,” a press release states. “It’s hyper intimate, completely unique, and incredibly revealing. It strips bare to the bones the greatest piece of American drama.”
Amanda Callas, reviewing a 2024 production in Venice, California, for broadwayworld.com, wrote: “There is a muscular purity in The Streetcar Project, a bold counterpoint to the delicate, poetic beauty of Tennessee William’s language. This production feels contemporary and fresh, with an edgy, f-you, punk rock rebelliousness. Yet it also feels profoundly truthful to the original grittiness of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ how it was received when it premiered — its New Orleans funk and grime, its rough, perverse sexiness and sweatiness.”
OTHER
• David Harbour, David Arquette, Judge Reinhold, Sting (the professional wrestler, not the musician) and Luis Guzmán will be among the participants at the Monster-Mania Con horror movie convention taking place at The DoubleTree Hotel in Cherry Hill, Aug. 15-17, with many other celebrities on hand, as well, to meet fans, sign autographs and do photo ops.
REVIEWS
“Andrea Chung: The Ocean Doesn’t Recognize Tears” at Project for Empty Space, Newark. (Through Aug. 17)
“The Garden State” at Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit. Works by members of New Jersey Photography Forum. (Through Aug. 25)
“Pulp: The Fluid and The Concrete” at Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton. Paper-making works. (Through Aug. 31)
“Léni Paquet-Morante: Extract/Abstract,” presented by Princeton University Art Museum at Art@Bainbridge. (Through Nov. 2)
“Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always” at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick. (Through Dec. 21)
“Morven Revealed: Untold Stories From New Jersey’s Most Historic Home” at Morven Museum & Garden, Princeton. (Through March 1)
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