“God Bless Bruce Hornsby!” Bruce Hornsby LIVE! at Ocean City Music Pier
By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery
The crowd cheers this Monday, June 26, 2023 evening as Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers take the historic Ocean City Music Pier stage on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. A musician who draws from a variety of musical traditions — classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, gospel, rock, blues, and more — Bruce Hornsby has made a name for himself with his prodigious keyboard playing, top notch songwriting, and an eclectic style of music which appeals to lovers of a variety of different musical genres.
Born in Williamsburg, Virginia, Hornsby formed his band, Bruce Hornsby and The Range, in 1984 and scored a #1 record in 1986 with his civil rights song, “Just the Way It Is.” He co-wrote and played piano on “The End of the Innocence” for Don Henley and played piano on Bonnie Raitt’s hit, “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” in addition to appearing on albums by Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Stevie Nicks.
Over the course of his career, the three-time Grammy winner has become known for his piano, keyboard, and accordion work with The Grateful Dead, his bluegrass music project with country artist Ricky Skaggs, and his work as a solo artist — in addition to his highly spontaneous and interactive live concerts with his touring band, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers.
Inside the Ocean City Music Pier auditorium, Hornsby smiles and waves as his Noisemaker bandmates — John “JT” Thomas on keyboards, Gibb Droll on guitar, John Mailander on fiddle, Chad Wright on drums, and Jervonny “JV” Collier on bass — take their places on stage.
Chad Wright and John Mailander kick things off on drums and fiddle on “Great Divide” as Hornsby takes off his jacket to clap along and the audience joins in. Hornsby’s Southern-tinged vocal draws the listener in as he sings, “And you always go your way/And I always go mine/Maybe one day we’ll come together/Across the great divide.” Sitting at the grand piano, Hornsby judiciously adds chords to this country sounding jam as the music swirls and sings.
Concertgoers applaud as “JV” Collier solos low and funky on the bass, scatting softly as he plays. Hornsby deftly solos on grand piano and Gibb Droll follows him first with a guitar solo and then as a part of a guitar/fiddle duet with violinist John Mailander as white lights swirl on the screen behind the band.
The audience applauds, and Hornsby and Droll begin to play the captivating and melancholy introduction to “Resting Place” before segueing into an upbeat version of the tune. Singing, “And the hail falls hard/And the wind whips my face/And I’m a long, long way from anywhere real safe,” Hornsby and the band demonstrate adept musicianship, making each other smile with their easy give and take as they play.
Music lovers applaud throughout the piece as it morphs and changes. “JT” Thomas’s keyboard solo brings applause before John Mailander takes his turn on fiddle and Mailander and Hornsby play counterpoint to one another on violin and piano. Syncopated rhythms dance and prance together creating a tapestry of sound, the musicians impressing music fans in the crowd with their precision and creative improvisation.
The audience hoots and hollers, and Hornsby reveals, “That was the second song we did from the 1998 Spirit Trail album which is being rereleased for its 25th anniversary.” After holding up a pile of handwritten song requests submitted by the crowd, Hornsby announces, “This third song from Spirit Trail is much requested tonight.” Here, Hornsby and The Noisemakers perform the R&B infused “Funhouse” where guitar and fiddle duel and Hornsby scats as he plays keyboard adding sound effects to the overall arrangement.
The audience cheers, and Hornsby responds, “Thank you! It’s fun to play with my mates. Now we’re going to take you back in time to ’88.” Staccato piano, guitar, and fiddle play off one another and music lovers applaud as soon as they recognize Hornsby’s composition, “Look Out Any Window.” Singing, “Look out any window/Look out any open door,” Hornsby rocks as he and his musicians enjoy playing off each other. Hornsby, Mailander, and Droll sing in harmony on the vocal interlude before carefully watching one another and playing together following Hornsby’s lead.
Fans yell out, “Bruuuuce!” and Hornsby acknowledges, “It’s been a long 37 years since my first record,” prior to talking to the audience about receiving a bobblehead of NBA superstar Allen “Bubba Chuck” Iverson which he’s placed prominently on the grand piano.
Following the odd-metered and Latin-inspired “Gulf of Mexico Fishing Boat Blues,” Hornsby performs a selection from his latest album, ‘Flicted, entitled “Maybe Now.” Featuring impressive percussive piano technique on the electronica-influenced piece, Hornsby crosses his arms as he plays high and low on the keyboard.
Suggesting, “Let’s go back to 1990 to our third record with this duet with Shawn Colvin,” “JT” Thomas and Bruce play the organ/piano intro to the Bruce Hornsby and the Range tune, “Lost Soul.” The spotlight is on Hornsby as he sings the ballad while simultaneously playing grand piano and electronic keyboard.
As the performance progresses, the arrangement builds with emotion and washes over the audience while Droll’s twangy guitar and Mailander’s legato fiddle float high above the rhythm section.
Contemporary classical music is featured on the audience-requested and dissonant “Shit’s Crazy Out Here” where Hornsby cries, “I’m up and then I’m down/I’m in and then I’m out/Shit’s crazy.” After segueing into an excerpt from György Ligeti’s “Étude №13: L’escalier du diable/The Devil’s Staircase” Hornsby gets the crowd’s attention with his piano prelude to “The Way It Is.” Audience members sing along to the song’s “That’s just the way it is/Some things will never change” refrain and Hornsby bops his “Bubba Chuck” bobblehead to the beat before taking a dazzling piano solo which brings enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Droll plays an acoustic guitar solo where Hornsby expertly echoes his playing on the piano. The audience stands and cheers, and Hornsby explains, “We are truly making music in the moment,” prior to joking, “I never know what I’m doing!”
Hornsby leaves his spot at the piano and takes a seat in the front of the stage holding a dulcimer where he’s joined by Wright with a washboard and spoons, and Mailander with his fiddle. Droll plays an electric sitar introduction to a mostly unplugged version of “Is This It” where Hornsby sings, “Is this it/Is this the end/Is this my time/Is this the end of the line,” accompanied by dulcimer strumming, spoons clacking on the washboard, legato fiddle, and more.
Hornsby announces, “That was from our latest record from 2022, ‘Flicted,” when a fan yells out a song request and Hornsby explains, “We do a lot of requests, playing about 100 different songs of mine every year,” before noting, “This next song is about my son, Russell, who, when we traveled, always wanted to visit every gift shop.” Accompanying himself on dulcimer on the folk-like “The Good Life,” Hornsby croons, “I’m living the good life/I got my beautiful things so high as a kite/Living the good life/I buy and buy so high in the sky.”
The audience hoots and hollers, and Hornsby reacts by saying, “Thank you so much! This is a simple and fun song from 2019 when we did a whole dulcimer album.” Following a funky mostly acoustic rendition of “Rehab Reunion,” Hornsby reveals, “I wrote this next song in ’91 or ’92 for The Staple Singers. They didn’t do it, but I invited Mavis Staples to sing it with me on one of my own records.” Here, he and the band perform a hip-hop inspired gospel rendition of “Celestial Railroad” featuring John Mailander on mandolin and a wailing electric guitar solo by Gibb Droll as lights roll in waves out over the audience.
Chad Wright starts off the next number playing complex rhythm patterns on the drums while green lights swirl. Mailander and “JV” Collier join in on fiddle and bass as Hornsby plays accordion on “Jacob’s Ladder.” Hornsby happily hits the bobblehead before singing, “Step by step, one by one, higher and higher/Step by step, rung by rung/Climbing Jacob’s ladder” on this Hornsby original which became a #1 hit in 1987 for Huey Lewis and the News.
After introducing his bandmates, Hornsby explains that his next song, written in 1988, was resurrected for the opening of an American TV series. Here, he and the band perform “The Show Goes On,” a piece which was used as the soundtrack to the opening montage of the Season 2 premiere of the FX television show, The Bear.
Beautiful cascading grand piano is followed by keyboard, electric bass, fiddle, guitar, and drums on this arrangement as Hornsby expressively croons, “The show goes on, as the autumn’s coming/And the summer’s all gone/Still without you, the show goes on.”
Music lovers stand and cheer and Hornsby says, “Thanks for coming tonight!” as he bows and waves to the crowd before returning to the piano. Acknowledging, “We haven’t played this one in years,” Hornsby gets the crowd clapping along to “Big Rumble,” a funky hip-hop rocker which features three-part harmonies and bouncy piano and fiddle playing which get audience members on their feet. Thanking the crowd one last time, concertgoers respond with cheers of apprecation and applause while the band bows and waves goodnight.
As music lovers make their way out of the auditorium, several offer their opinions of tonight’s performance. Declares Sue from Margate, “The show was wonderful — Bruce Hornsby and his band are such great musicians, and I really enjoyed experiencing it in this very cool venue!” Victoria from Haddonfield agrees, adding, “Bruce is an amazing musician and it’s lovely to see him making music for the sake of music.” Jay from Ventnor City acknowledges, “It was great to hear him do songs he usually doesn’t do like ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ where even just watching his hands was amazing!”
Martin from Atlantic City contends, “There are plenty of entertainers and performers out there but very few true artists. Although many consider him more of a singer/songwriter and pianist, Bruce Hornsby is like a jazz artist to me because he can improvise, and he does across all genres —rock, hip hop, country, folk, classical, jazz — you name it; he’s just brilliant.”
Recalls Dave from Baltimore, “I’ve been a drummer for 20 years, and my favorite thing about a Bruce Hornsby concert is that it’s completely organic — you can see him over and over and every time it’s a new experience.” Sharon from Asbury Park concurs, adding, “Nothing is better than seeing the communication between Bruce and his musicians onstage. As a member of the audience, it’s easy to tell how much they love playing together.”
Lori from Ferndale, WA exclaims, “I’ll travel almost anywhere to see Bruce! I’ve known him since the ’90s. I’ve seen seven shows this tour, and tonight’s performance was just magnificent. I was the one who requested ‘Shit’s Crazy,’ and it sounded amazing!”
Continuing, “Bruce is a musician’s musician — his voice is awesome and his piano playing is out of this world,” Lori suggests, “There aren’t many instrumentalists out there who can jam and keep up with him and there isn’t anyone else who can play like him, but I think it was Elton John who put it best when he said, ‘Bruce Hornsby is the best pianist in rock music.’”
Lastly, Dawn from Honeybush, PA reveals, “This is my 20th Bruce Hornsby concert. I love how he pulls people together at his shows, where you feel like you’re sitting and listening to him in his living room — he’s just a real ‘salt of the earth’ kind of guy.” Acknowledging, “My 20-year-old son is here with me tonight,” Dawn concludes by disclosing, “When he was a little boy, he would listen to Bruce Hornsby’s music before going to bed, and every night he would always recite the same prayer: “God bless Bruce Hornsby!”
To learn more about Bruce Hornsby, please go to brucehornsby.com. For information on upcoming performances at Ocean City Music Pier — including Kenny G on July 10, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on July 17, and Aimee Mann with Jonathan Coulton on July 31 — please go to ocnj.us/SummerConcertSeries.
