Matchbox Twenty frontguy Rob Thomas strikes out solo once more, on an acoustic tour that takes him to station stop Red Bank for a two-show two-fer on Tuesday and Wednesday.
His hitmaking career is closing in on twenty years, at a point when many of his 1990s chart-topping contemporaries have either been relegated to the cutout bin, or cut themselves out of the game entirely. But if Rob Thomas possesses some closely guarded secret of longevity in a famously fickle field, it probably has more to do with a perfectly unglamorous work ethic than any crossroads deal with the devil. The frontman of the on-again, off-again Matchbox Twenty — a multiple Grammy winner, chart-topping songwriter, and founder of the animal rescue Sidewalk Angels Foundation — has lent his pop instincts to collaborations with Hall of Fame heavyweights (Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder), and a high-profile mentoring gig on TV’s The Voice that left fans and producers wanting more. But it’s as a solo act that Thomas takes the Count Basie stage this week, for a TWO night stand that takes its time unfolding over the evenings of May 6 and 7.
Expect “special intimate performance” renditions of hits from both the Thomas and Twenty catalogues, with the singer joined at 8 pm by a small combo of touring musicians, and tickets ($45-$129) gettable here for Tuesday, or here for Wednesday.
