Monday, August 10, 2015
Our Mission
Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2015-2016 season is made possible, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and other numerous foundations, corporations and individuals. As a courtesy to the artists and for the uninterrupted enjoyment of your fellow patrons, please turn off all cell phones, pagers, beepers and other electronic devices. Please unwrap any lozenges before the performance begins. No portion of this performance may be photographed, recorded, filmed, taped, broadcast or mechanically reproduced without the written consent of the Artist and/or the Presenter. Mayo Performing Arts Center is not responsible for lost or stolen items. FM KIRBY FOUNDATION
THE BLANCHE & IRVING LAURIE FOUNDATION
Media Partner
Rob Thomas with Special Guests Plain White T's Rob Thomas Rob Thomas has been one of modern music’s most compelling and commercially successful artists for well over a decade – between Matchbox Twenty, his solo work, and his various collaborations with iconic artists like Santana, Mick Jagger and Willie Nelson, his tally now stands at more than 80 million albums sold worldwide. Arguably the most accomplished singer/songwriter of his generation, it all comes back to the creative source for Rob. As he says with typical understatement, “I’m a guy who hears songs in his head, and I have to write them down, and I have to get them out. I’m just lucky enough that I can make it my life’s work.” ROB THOMAS, IN FACT… “The whole thing started over 17 years ago because I had a bunch of songs,” says Rob of the genesis of Matchbox Twenty. Since then, he has penned a remarkable string of smashes, including their #1-charters “Push,” “3AM,” “If You’re Gone,” “Bent,” “Disease,” and “Unwell,” and other major hits like “Real World,” “Back 2 Good,” “Mad Season,” and “Bright Lights.” In 1999, his smash collaboration with Santana, the Thomas-penned “Smooth,” earned Rob three Grammy Awards and today ranks #1 on Billboard’s “Top Hot 100 Rock Songs” chart and #2 on the magazine’s “Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.” In 2004, the Songwriters Hall of Fame presented Thomas with its premiere “Starlight Award” – created to recognize a composer in the early years of his or her career that has already made a lasting impact. He has won numerous BMI and ASCAP Awards, and has earned the Songwriter of the Year crown from both Billboard and BMI for two consecutive years. 2005 saw the release of Rob’s first solo album,”…SOMETHING TO BE”, which was produced by Matt Serletic. The #1, multiplatinum “…SOMETHING TO BE,” made history as the first album by a male artist from a rock or pop group to debut at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 since the chart was launched 50 years earlier. The album earned a pair of Grammy nominations and spawned a string of hit singles, including the smash “Lonely No More” – which was #1 in 15 countries, “This Is How A Heart Breaks,” “Ever The Same,” and
“Streetcorner Symphony.” Rob embarked on a world tour and also appeared at the historic Live 8 multi-concert event in July 2005, performing both as a solo artist and joining Stevie Wonder for a duet version of the Wonder classic, “Higher Ground.” In 2007, Thomas reunited with Matchbox Twenty for “EXILE ON MAINSTREAM.” Their first album in five years, the set combined a retrospective of their greatest hits with six new songs produced by Steve Lillywhite – including the RIAA gold single, “How Far We’ve Come.” Debuting at #3 on the Billboard 200, the RIAA gold “EXILE ON MAINSTREAM” scored the biggest first week of the year for a greatest hits collection. Thomas landed another solo hit in 2007 with “Little Wonders,” from the soundtrack to the Disney animated feature, Meet The Robinsons. In December 2008, he performed at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC, where he paid tribute to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey with an emotionally charged rendition of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” featuring a choir of 150 New York City policemen and firefighters. In 2009 Rob released his second solo album, cradlesong with Matt Serletic again in the producer’s chair. The album features the chart -topping singles “Her Diamonds and “Someday.” Rob made Billboard chart history once again as the only male artist with multiple #1 hits at Adult Top 40. With this coronation, Thomas tied Pink with the most No. 1's by a solo artist in the chart’s history. In 2011 Rob Thomas and his Matchbox Twenty band mates released a brand new studio album, “NORTH”. The album’s unprecedented success marked their first chart topper --debuting at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. “NORTH” was fueled by critical acclaim as well as the hit singles, “She’s So Mean”, “Overjoyed” and “Our Song”. The band toured the globe including two SRO tours of the U.S. and a dynamic performance at the famed Rock in Rio In spring ’14 Rob hit the road again for a five week North American special intimate headline run. The shows offered the rare and unique opportunity to catch the superstar performing in a more up close and personal setting, playing a career-spanning set. Rob
also returned, for the fourth year in a row, to Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino in January for three sold out shows to benefit Sidewalk Angels, the New York based not-for-profit foundation that Rob started with his wife Marisol. Sidewalk Angels is dedicated to providing critically needed funds and support to grassroots groups across the country. It is the primary supporter and sponsor of a number of no-kill animal shelters and animal rescues, reflecting the passion of the foundation’s co-founders to fight for the rights and fair treatment of those with no voice. Additionally, the foundation also supports a myriad of other causes, from childhood health and wellness to the fight against homelessness. Rob Thomas is now putting the finishing touches on his highly anticipated 3rd solo album set for release late summer ‘15. He has also just announced plans for a North American headline tour kicking off June 11th and continuing through August 10th. Plain White T's It's been years since the Plain White T's kicked off their career in the Chicago suburbs, playing a mix of pop, punk, and melodydriven rock & roll in basements and clubs across the metro area. A decade-and-a-half later — with several thousand shows and a string of platinumselling singles, including the mega-hit "Hey There Delilah” (the 18th most downloaded song of all time), under their belts — the guys haven't stopped heading back to the basement to dream up new sounds. There's where the Plain White T's put the finishing touches on American Nights, the band's first independent album since 2001. Independence. It's what American rock & roll — and American nights — have always been about. Even during the band's days with Fearless and Hollywood Records, the Plain White T's thrived on doing things their own way. They'd hire close friends to produce their albums and ask high school classmates to direct their music videos. Now, five years after the release of Wonders of the Younger, they're upping the ante by striking out on their own as an independent band, even putting the finishing touches on their newest album in frontman Tom Higgenson's basement studio. The result is American Nights, an album that focuses on everything fans have come to expect from the Plain White T's — summery
anthems, heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics, acoustic love songs — while still breaking new ground. It's an album about freedom. An album about looking back while still moving forward. It's also the most collaborative thing the guys have ever done, with three of the band members contributing their own songs to the track list. Higgenson wrote six. Guitarist Tim Lopez, who sang the Top 40 single "Rhythm of Love" on Wonders of the Younger, wrote four. Guitarist Dave Tirio wrote one. "We had complete freedom," says Higgenson. "We didn't worry about figuring out what our label wanted, or what would help us get onto the radio. We weren't worried about doing too many acoustic songs or too many rock songs. We just wanted to do the ones that told our story. We wanted to be honest, because that's always been what's connected us the most to our fans." The future looks bright for the Plain White T's. Even so, American Nights is an album that lives in the present, focusing on what's happening now instead of what might happen tomorrow. "Pause," the album's lead single, urges the listener to live in the moment, while "Stay" finds its narrator prolonging the inevitable end of a relationship, looking to spend one final hour with his partner before the two part ways. The tempo picks up during the anthemic title track, where Higgenson hits the streets of his hometown with a pretty woman in the shotgun seat, and then cools down during Lopez's "Love Again," a breezy love song with a melody reminiscent of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Those two bookends — the epic rock songs and the acoustic-leaning ballads — have always been the Plain White T's bread and butter, and they're dished up in hefty servings throughout the album. "After years, we finally get to make the album that we wanted to make," Higgenson says. "That's the most exciting thing for any artist: to have free reign to make an artistic statement. We're rejuvenated and re-inspired. We're taking the reins."