The Piano Guys, above, make an encore appearance at the Count Basie Theatre on August 4. Veteran troubador Gordon Lightfoot, below, returns to Red Bank on August 6.
An up-close and in-person look at TV’s latest crop of primetime music American Idols. An area encore by a surprise sensation spawned via YouTube. And a raconteuring retrospective from a veteran who did it the hard way, along that endless highway…
It’s all lined up in the nights to come on the history-basted boards of Red Bank’s Count Basie stage.
This Sunday sees the 14th annual touring presentation of American Idol Live! pull up to the Basie. equipped this time out with “an opportunity to get up close and personal with the Top Five IDOLS from Season 14.” The quintet of fervently followed finalists – winner Nick Fradiani; runner-up Clark Beckham; Tyanna Jones, Rayvon Owen and JAX – is backed by a live band in a slick 7:30 pm show for which regular admission tickets ($43.50 to $63.50) are available here. Special VIP options range from $145 to $315 for a “front row package” that includes access to soundcheck, a Q&A and photo ops with “select members” of the show. Take it here for info on area auditions for season 15.
Tuesday night finds the Utah-based Piano Guys returning to Red Bank on the continuation of a tour that’s taken them from mobile-device curiosities – skilled pros who pooled their music, media and marketing talents to craft attention-grabbing videos like an epic chamber-pop take on the One Direction song “What Makes You Beautiful” – to a live touring attraction that excels in without-a-net performances. Viral virtuosi Jon Schmidt (piano) and Steven Sharp Nelson (cello) are joined by Paul Anderson and Al van der Beek in an 8 pm concert for which tickets ($45 to $69.50, with a $145 meet and greet option) can be reserved right here.
Thursday, August 6 marks the return of a veteran folk-rock troubador. Road-tested raconteur Gordon Lightfoot, who emerged from the 1960s Canadian scene that spawned Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen – and whose best-known songs have been interpreted by everyone from Peter Paul and Mary (“Early Morning Rain”) and Barbra Streisand (“If You Could Read My Mind”) to alt-rockers Elwood (“Sundown”) and the Butthole Surfers (the freak-hit sea chantey, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”) is back on a full tour itinerary following some serious health issues and equipped as always with his smoke-cured backbacon voice. Lightfoot visits the Basie with a “50 Years on the Carefree Highway Tour” that combines songs from all corners of his half-century-plus career with behind-the-scenes stories and personal anecdotes. Right here for tickets ($29 to $150).
