Bon Jovi band members David Bryan (left) and Matt O’Ree (right, with Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford pictured at center) are among the top-shelf classic rockers hitting the BCC campus — with Trevor Hall (below) representing rock’s next-gen freshman class — for a Rock the Farm Music and Food Truck Festival benefitting the nonprofit CFC Loud N Clear Foundation.
It doesn’t carry the hallowed-ground cachet of Max Yasgur’s legendary farm outside Woodstock, NY — and, truth be told, it’s been a long time since Brookdale Community College was anything resembling a farm — but when the Rock the Farm Music and Food Truck Festival sets up this Saturday afternoon, August 27, the sprawling Lincroft campus will be transformed into a world-class destination for fans of classic rock and other local-organic sounds.
Back for its third annual edition, the nine-hour extravaganza will once more be dedicated to raising funds and awareness on behalf of CFC Loud N Clear Foundation, the Monmouth County-based nonprofit that provides free counseling and support services to families affected by addiction. Here in 2016, it’s an event that’s poised to make a much bigger, more impactful noise than in previous seasons, thanks to the participation of some genuinely awesome figures from the FM wavelengths, vinyl bins, and possibly your bedroom wall circa 1973.
Included in the mix are members of Lynyrd Skynyrd (Artimus Pyle and his band), Blue Öyster Cult (brothers Al and Joe Bouchard), Vanilla Fudge (drummer Carmine Appice, who’s worked with students from Red Bank’s Rockit Live program), the original Alice Cooper band (bassist Dennis Dunaway) — and even a little combo called the Bruce Springsteen Band, whose drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez will showcase his latest project Dawg Whistle (a collaboration with a fellow Asbury Park music legend, Paul Whistler).
The local classic-rock cred extends as well to the still-potent force that is Bon Jovi, whose charter-member keyboardist David Bryan will team up to Rock the Farm with the platinum-plated rock institution’s new touring guitarist Matt O’Ree. The award-winning blues-rock ace recently made available “My Everything is You,” a spotlighted track (written, produced by and featuring Bryan) from the forthcoming “ree-lease” entitled “Brotherhood.” The two new bandmates debuted the composition at the 2016 edition of the annual Light of Day Festival in Asbury Park, so expect all this and more during the Saturday soiree that kicks off at 1 p.m.
The next generation of festival-friendly rock is represented by Trevor Hall, the South Carolina native whose mostly acoustic sound boasts elements of reggae, Americana, and even Sanskrit chant. The musical menu is further filled out by acts that range from relatively rarely seen out-of-staters like Boston’s Chadwick Stokes, to Shore area faves like Quincy Mumford and The Sam Sims Band. Take it here for complete schedule and ticketing info ($50 through August 26; $60 day of event), and here for a roster of participating food truck vendors — a rolling smorgasbord featuring everything from old-school BBQ to artisanal cupcakes and crafty pierogi.
