Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park could be the site of a new, free concert series in 2018 if Red Bank RiverCenter is successful in landing a grant it’s in the running for.
And the downtown promotion agency is asking for the public’s help in the form of an online vote.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love, above, and not-so-secret Santa Brian Kirk, below, return to the Count Basie stage for their respective holiday shows this Friday and Saturday.
A holiday tradition bit the fake-snow dust in 2014, when a retiring David Letterman hosted musical guest Darlene Love in her umpteenth and final annual performance of the soaring “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
But Red Bank audiences can vouch that Ms. Love and her Christmas-pop signature are alive and well. And when the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer returns to the Count Basie Theatre stage this Friday, she’ll bring along some special friends with a Jersey Shore connection — while kicking off a weekend that boasts another special sleighride from a locally homegrown Santa: Brian Kirk.
Thousands of revelers enjoyed the music, warm weather and fake snow as Holiday Express kicked off another holiday season at the Red Bank Town Lighting Friday night. redbankgreen was there as Santa and Mrs. Claus, Bobby Bandiera and Miss Teen New Jersey set the crowd dancing. Check out our photos by clicking “read more” below. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
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Tim McCloone and Holiday Express rocked in the holiday season Friday night with an appreciative but cold throng of revelers. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
They all showed up in Red Bank Friday night to ring in the holiday season: Frosty, the Grinch, Santa and the Mrs., and especially the ringleader, Tim McCloone.
Starting the well-attended street party off with favorites “All Alone on Christmas” and “Frosty the Snowman,” Holiday Express got the masses singing and moving to the beat for the annual night-after-Thanksgiving town light-up. Red Bank’s volunteer fire department handed out cups of hot chocolate to help defrost frozen fingers while festive lights were turned on to brighten the streets and sidewalks.
Were you one of the bundled up in the crowd? Click below to see who else showed up for the party.
Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at the Red Bank train station from Little Silver to a crowd of excited children and adults. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
More than 100 children and adults waited for Santa and Mrs. Claus to make their way to the Red Bank train station from Little Silver Friday night.
Dozens more disembarked from the annual Santa Express, sponsored by the Galleria of Red Bank, to entertainment by the Kathryn Barnett School of Dance and the Pipes and Drums of the Atlantic Watch. Many then made their way east along Monmouth Street in a parade to the Holiday Express Concert and town light-up.
Were you among them? Look below to see if you made this years photo album. And if you missed Santa, click here for more opportunities to see Jolly Old St. Nick.
Broad Street in Red Bank, looking north from the Post Office through a rain-blurred windshield Wednesday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Amid talk of a northeaster – or, as the Pepperidge Farm voiceover guy might say, a ‘nor-eastuh’ – dumping snow on much of New Jersey, here’s the weather outlook for the greater Red Bank Green for the next few days…
“This is the first concert that I have played in Little Silver,” Tim McLoone, appearing with the Shirleys, told a subdued audience at the Butch Ryser Memorial Patio Sunday night, “and I live here.”
Slated to appear next Sunday evening: country and blues band Harper’s Fellow, featuring songs from their debut album, “Thanks For Tonight.” There’s more info about the concert series here. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
Beachgoers beat a retreat from Beach E at Sandy Hook following the cancellation of a weekly concert because of an approaching storm Wednesday evening.
Forecasts indicate that Hurricane Arthur will veer east of the Jersey Shore, but heavy rains will drench the mid-Atlantic region from Thursday afternoon into Friday, July 4. Mostly sunny skies are expected to follow Saturday and Sunday. (Vine video by Gerda Liebmann.)
Sunrise on our beautiful Navesink River Thursday, as seen from the Navesink River Rowing Club on Maple Avenue.
Expect a lovely day today, says the Weather Channel: partly sunny, temps in the mid-70s and dropping to the low 50s tonight.
Could be a perfect night for the the Nick Clemons Band show at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank, overlooking you-know-which river. Show starts at 7 p.m. (Click to enlarge)
Derek Holland gives a goofy interview in this undated YouTube video. (Click to enlarge)
Nearby concertgoers applauded when Texas Ranger Derek Holland was thrown out of Red Bank’s Count Basie Theatre Monday night, one witness tells the Asbury Park Press.
Countering Holland’s version of events, narrated in a series of tweets, 40-year-old Amy Sloan of Howell described the lefty pitcher as “being really obnoxious” and ruining the enjoyment of the Counting Crows fans seated nearby.
From the Press story, published Friday:
[See update at bottom of story, 3:27 p.m.]
A major league pitcher was “kicked out” of the Counting Crows concert at the Count Basie Theatre Monday night, according to a published report based on his own tweets.
Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland tweeted, “Did u know that u can get kicked out of a concert for 1 standing up and enjoying the concert an 2 taking to many pictures.Thanks New Jersey,” according to the NBC Sports website.
Though details are hazy, a disruption by a group of concertgoers with Holland may have annoyed others sitting nearby, leading to a dispute that “escalated,” a Basie official tells redbankgreen.
Dance majors in RBR’s Visual and Performing Arts program present ‘A Blast from the Past,’ 23 dances choreographed to the music of the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna and more. (Click to enlarge)
Friday, January 18
FAIR HAVEN: Fair Haven’s Raven and the Peach is the setting for a special fundraiser dedicated to the animal adoption charity Project Animal Worldwide (PAW), with light fare, desserts, gift basket auctions, jewelry bar and a tasting presented in the restaurant’s wine cellar from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $30, with the wine tasting for an additional $15. Call 732-979-6499 to reserve. 740 River Road.
RED BANK: The Elvii return, for the ninth annual edition of what’s become an unshakably shakin’ Basie tradition, Elvis Birthday Bash. Soaps actor Scot Bruce (as the younger Elvis) and award winning Mike Albert (as the Vegassy jumpsuit Elvis) team up once again for a Count Basie two-fer at 8 p.m. Tickets are $19.50, $29.50, and $39.50. Call 732-842-9000 to reserve. 99 Monmouth Street.
It’s a full-on sight-and-sound spectacular: the annual night-after-Thanksgiving Santa Claus train ride into Red Bank followed by the parade to Broad Street, the downtown light-up and the Holiday Express concert.
For the 18th consecutive year, it was all once again best experienced perched on dad’s shoulders while wearing a funny hat.
redbankgreen photographer Peter Lindner was there. Were you?
Scenes from the 2010 Holiday Express concert. (Click to enlarge)
The newborn 2011 holiday season moves outdoors with a bang of a snare drum and a blast of white light on Broad Street in Red Bank Friday night.
That’s right, it’s time for the 18th annual Holiday Express concert, complete with a bustling Santa parade, a sudden toss of sparkle into the roadside trees and familiar, feel-good seasonal tunes by Tim McLoone and his stage-sprawling band of musicmakers.
And it all kicks off a season of Gingerbread Walks, Horse & Carriage Rides, Holiday Harmonies on the streets and more, including a new, movable feast sponsored by the town’s restaurants called Holiday Flavour.
Middletown property owner Jon Bon Jovi has scheduled an “intimate,” $250-a-seat concert next month to raise money for Red Bank’s Parker Family Medical Center.
News of the benefit appeared yesterday on the website of the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, the venue that will host the January 27 show.
The venue’s website says the tickets go on sale today at 10a, but the tour page at Bon Jovi’s website says the show is sold out.
As in years past, Tim McLoone’s rolling, feel-good music extravaganza, Holiday Express, kicked off the Christmas season in Red Bank Friday night with a concert for several thousand visitors who braved a post-Thanksgiving chill.
redbankgreen was all over Broad Street to capture it in pixels, as per usual. Here’s a hundred angles on the merriment.
(To enlarge the photo display, start it, then click the embiggen symbol in the lower right corner. To get back to redbankgreen, hit your escape key.)
As usual, several thousand people are expected to pack Red Bank’s Broad Street for a Holiday Express concert and overall merriment Friday night. These pix are from 2009. (Click to enlarge)
Even hardcore humbugs and web-shopping wetblankets can agree that there’s no better time for a bit of light therapy than Black Friday.
This Friday evening, for the 17th consecutive year, Holiday Express the all-volunteer force of musical goodwill pulls into station stop Red Bank to perform a free outdoor concert that sounds the keynote to the annual Town Lighting ceremony.
If you’ve spent at least a year of your life in the area, you’ll know the event as the “real” kickoff to the holidays not just in Red Bank but all around the greater ‘green. And it’s just the tip of the icicle for a sleighload slate of activities that begins in earnest this weekend.
It seems that KaBoomfest is becoming two events in one: a night of drunken rowdiness, largely among teenagers who hang out on Red Bank’s West Front and Broad streets during the fireworks, and the traditional night of family-oriented entertainment.
These photos capture the brighter side of the event, from the smiles of festivalgoers to the gunpowder wizardry of the folks at Garden State Fireworks, who paint the sky so brilliantly.
Thanks to Peter Lindner for the barge pix and shots of the Friday night concert in Marine Park.
To enlarge the photo display, start it, then click the embiggen symbol in the lower right corner. To get back to redbankgreen, hit your escape key.
Get into the zone early, motorists, or get boxed out. (Click to enlarge)
If this is Independence Day weekend, it must be time for redbankgreen‘s annual KaBoom Fireworks on the Navesink Survival Guide: all you need to know about getting into Red Bank, enjoying the fireworks and related entertainments, and getting back out safe and sane on Saturday, July 3.
A Ferris wheel and other rides were set up Tuesday in a vacant lot opposite Riverside Gardens Park. (Click to enlarge)
Now taking shape on West Front Street in Red Bank: a carnival of sorts.
Six rides, five games and chance and booths offering midway fare such as cotton candy began setting up in a vacant lot opposite Riverside Gardens Park yesterday, giving shape to an expanded KaBoom Fireworks on the Navesink that this year runs for three days instead the traditional single day.
Also on the bolstered agenda: a free concert in Marine Park featuring four acts, including “Crossing Jordan” star Jill Hennessy, now moonlighting as a singer-songwriter.
Yes, the traditional Holiday Express concert and illumination of downtown Red Bank combined once again to make for a great-sounding and dazzling extravaganza Friday night.
But it might be said that the real scene-stealers were the hats. With the wind whipping and temperatures dropping to the low 40s, Riverview Medical employees were out there giving away free pairs of knit gloves. But what about the all-important noggin? If you couldn’t have a kid sitting on your shoulders, the second-best way to keep your head warm was a stylish chapeau, perhaps with a trim of fur or a sprout of antlers.
As always, redbankgreen was there to thoroughly document the event, and culled this grouping of 75 shots from the hundreds taken. Enjoy, folks. And please let your friends know you saw them here.
To enlarge the photo display, start it, then click the embiggen symbol in the lower right corner. To get back to redbankgreen, hit your escape key.
Unadorned, but not for long, this year’s holiday tree awaits its big moment in the courtyard of the Dublin House restaurant on Monmouth Street earlier this week.
One of the biggest, and certainly the jolliest, events of the year returns to Red Bank for its 16th edition Friday evening.
We’re talking about the hard-to-name series of mini-spectacles that begin with a Santa Claus-accompanied train ride into town, gather steam with a parade down Monmouth Street, go all sparkly with downtown tree lighting and culminate with the chummiest R&B-inflected outdoor holiday singalong money can buy.
And it’s all free.
