Rock and Roll and R&B/Soul with Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the New Stylistics LIVE! at PNC Bank Arts Center
By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery
Betcha by golly, wow — music lovers this Tuesday, September 17, 2024 afternoon at Holmdel, NJ’s PNC Bank Arts Center are ready for a concert of Rock and Roll and R&B/Soul music. Presented by the Garden State Arts Foundation, today’s show stars Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the New Stylistics along with Terry Johnson’s Flamingos and Elvis Presley tribute artist Richie Santa.
Vice President of GSAF’s Board of Trustees Ron Gravino welcomes concertgoers to this free event produced by Al Simone. Gravino thanks Live Nation Entertainment and other sponsors of the program along with GSAF executive director Cookie Santiago, Bob O’Brien, and the many GSAF volunteers for their help with this afternoon’s performance.
Gravino introduces New Jersey Turnpike Authority commissioner John Wisniewski who welcomes today’s emcee, Rhett Jahn, to the stage. Explains Jahn about today’s opening act, Richie Santa, “He doesn’t try to be Elvis — he pays tribute to him.”
The musicians of The Coda Band — Mary Beth Ryan-Mastropaolo on saxophone, Dennis DiBrizzi on keyboards, Joe DeAngelis on guitar, Paul Page on bass, and Pete Mastropaulo on drums — take their places on stage along with background vocalists Cassie Hawkins and Pila Payton before Santa enters the stage in a black and green jumpsuit complete with gold accents and an oversized gold buckle.
Opening today’s show with “That’s All Right,” Santa sings with feeling as he’s deftly accompanied by his background singers and The Coda Band.
The crowd cheers, and Santa struts across the stage as he performs a medley of Elvis Presley hits including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” and “All Shook Up.”
Santa addresses concertgoers stating, “Welcome to the PNC — in my opinion, the best venue in New Jersey!” before his backup singers snap to the beat and sway as Santa gives a passionate rendition of the powerful ballad, “If I Can Dream,” to large applause.
As he moves across the stage, Santa sings, “When no else can understand me/When everything I do is wrong/You give me love and consolation,” performing “The Wonder of You.”
To conclude his set, Santa renders an uptempo interpretation of Presley’s 1961 hit, “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” for which the crowd rewards him with a standing ovation.
Jahn returns to acknowledge, “This is a show of decades. Now, we’re going to take you back to the era of the 1950s,” as Terry Johnson’s Flamingos — featuring Terry Johnson, Starling Newsome, and Stan Prinston — take the stage.
Opening with Lou Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” the trio sings in tight harmony.
Johnson announces, “This is our tribute to Barry White,” and the group performs a medley of White’s hits including “Never Never Gonna Give Ya Up,” “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe,” and “My Everything,” all accompanied by The Coda Band.
On “Mio Amore,” a Flamingos’ ballad which features background vocals by Newsome, Prinston, and musical director Theresa Trigg, Johnson’s tenor voice calls out sweetly.
Stan Prinston handles the lead on “A Kiss From Your Lips,” backed by his stagemates performing stylized vocal harmonies and synchronized hand movements.
The crowd cheers, and Johnson handles the lead on the rhythmic Latin number, “Begin the Beguine,” before Starling Newsome takes his turn in the spotlight as featured vocalist.
Johnson reveals, “This is the first song I wrote and produced with the original Flamingos,” before he, Prinston, Starling, and Trigg perform the appealing ballad, “Lovers Never Say Goodbye.”
Johnson acknowledges, “This is the greatest song I’ve ever recorded,” as he and The Flamingos sail into the group’s biggest hit, “I Only Have Eyes for You.” As Prinston, Starling, and Trigg sing the famous “Sha bop she bop” background vocal line, Johnson smoothly vocalizes, “Are the stars out tonight/I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright/I only have eyes for you dear.”
Music lovers hoot and holler when Trigg asks, “Do you want to party?” and The Coda Band picks up the tempo for a raucous rendition of Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud.” Concertgoers clap along and dance at their seats to the groove of this high-energy Latin number before rewarding Johnson and the Flamingos with avid hoots, hollers, whistles, and cheers.
Following a short intermission, Jahn announces, “It’s my pleasure to introduce the one and only Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the New Stylistics!”
Under the direction of keyboardist/vocalist Kenny Thompkins, the members of the New Stylistics orchestra — featuring musicians on keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums, along with a brass player and a woodwind player — open the show with a dynamic overture of Stylistics’ hits. Trumpet and sax lead the way as audience members bop in their seats to the medley before vocalists Russell Thompkins, Jr., Raymond Johnson, and Jonathan Buckson take the stage smiling.
The crowd cheers as Thompkins, Jr. and Co, perform The Stylistics’ “You Make Me Feel Brand New.”
Backed with lush orchestration, vocalist Ray Johnson sings the lead slowly and clearly on the “My love/I’ll never find the words, my love” verse of this timeless ballad. Thompkins, Jr. takes over with his patented high falsetto voice on the “Only you/Cared when I needed a friend/Believed in me through thick and thin” bridge before the vocalists sing in harmony on the memorable “God bless you/You make me feel brand new” refrain.
The horn section adds to the vibe of “Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart).” Audience members gently nod their heads as Thompkins, Jr. emotes on the song’s catchy “Stop, look, listen to your heart/Hear what it’s saying” refrain.
Concertgoers cheer, and Thompkins, Jr. responds, “Thank you very much,” before Johnson and Buckson do fancy stepping while Russell sings lead on “People Make the World Go Round,” an enigmatic number which features an offbeat shifting meter. Following an electric guitar solo, the vocal trio echos the hypnotic “People make the world go around” coda and the audience rewards the performers with fervid cheers and applause.
Thompkins, Jr. and Co. continue their afternoon set with the funky disco tune, “Hurry Up This Way Again,” and the poignant ballad, “Ready for Anything.” On the upbeat “Rockin’ Roll Baby,” background singers Johnson and Buckson snap their fingers and dance before the band rocks on the tune’s rhythmic “Na na-a na na-a na, Na-na-na-na” coda.
The audience cheers when they recognize the introduction of The Stylistics’ 1972 hit, “Break Up to Make Up.” Audience members nostalgically sing along on the tune’s “Break up to make up/That’s all we do/First you love me, then you hate me/That’s a game for fools” chorus.
Segueing into “You’re A Big Girl Now,” the vocal trio sings, “You’re a big girl now,” in harmony before Johnson and Buckson croon, “No more daddy’s little girl,” in unison as Thompkins, Jr.’s falsetto floats high above his stagemates.
Thompkins, Jr. thanks his “favorite singer,” Dionne Warwick, for the group’s next number, “You’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart),” where trumpet and flute fill out the rhythmic arrangement which is set to a bossa nova beat.
Music lovers sing along with Thompkins, Jr. on The Stylistics’ hit, “I’m Stone in Love with You,” as he intones, “If I could, I’d like to be a great big movie star/An overnight sensation, drive a big expensive car/I would buy you everything your little heart desires/These things I do ’cause I’m stone in love with you.”
The group continues with The Stylistics’ smash, “You Are Everything,” where Johnson and Buckson dance and pantomime to Thompkins, Jr.’s lyrics. The audience joins in singing the well-known “You are everything and everything is you” chorus prior to standing and cheering at the conclusion.
Thompkins, Jr. reveals, “This is my favorite Stylistics song and I’d like to dedicate it to the ladies,” as he and the band perform the group’s 1973 hit, “Betcha By Golly, Wow.”
Audience members get lost in a wave of nostalgia as they sing along on the number’s delightful “Betcha by golly, wow/You’re the one that I’ve been waiting for forever” refrain.
Following a short reprise of “You Make Me Feel Brand New,” Thompkins, Jr. concludes today’s program with a sparkling disco rendition of “Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love),” where he and the New Stylistics have the audience standing, dancing, and singing along to the song’s infectious rhythm.
“Thank you so much, God bless you!” exclaims Thompkins, Jr. as he takes a well-deserved bow and he and the band exit the PNC stage to enthusiastic cheers and applause.
To learn more about Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the New Stylistics, please go to facebook.com/The New Stylistics Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. For more info on Terry Johnson’s Flamingos please go to theflamingos.com. For further information about Richie Santa, please go to richiesanta.com.
For info on future GSAF concerts at the PNC Bank Arts Center — including Cousin Brucie Presents Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. along with Darlene Love and The Soundtrack of Our Lives with Deborah Rennard and Al Sapienza on September 26 — please click on gsafoundation.org.
