Southside Johnny hospitalized after getting sick mid-show in Asbury Park, NJ

A jam-packed, sold-out iconic Stone Pony in Asbury Park was the site Saturday night for one of the many 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Stone Pony.

Headlining Saturday’s event was Jersey legend Southside Johnny Lyon who was surrounded by a who’s who of great national musicians, many from New Jersey.

Sharing the stage with Southside in the horn section was Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg and Marc “Love Man” Pender both from The Max Weinberg 7 who were the house band on Conan O’Brien’s TV show along with Doug DeHays on sax and on the keyboard, longtime music director of Southside Johnny’s band the talented Jeff Kazee just to name a few.

Saturday night’s show was night two of a two-night back-to-back celebration and Friday night Southside & Co. put on an impressive two-and-a-half-hour show. Turns out it may have been a little much for the 75-year-old Lyon.

Southside puts everything he has into a show, I have been with him many times and he has come off stage drenched in sweat and totally exhausted.

That type of all-out effort and presentation is a Jersey thing, playing hard for those who came to see him.

Friday night Johnny looked a little pale, Saturday night he looked a little worse. Five songs into his set, which started at 8 p.m., he said to the audience that he did not feel good and called up Jersey legend Bobby Bandiera who was in the Green Room getting ready to come on a little later in the show.

Coming off the stage Johnny got lightheaded and stumbled, he was escorted back to the Green Room where he got medical attention and taken by ambulance to Jersey Shore Hospital located minutes away. Looks like Johnny was dehydrated.

Some good news though, I heard from a close source that Southside Johnny is now home and resting.

Bobby Bandiera took the stage for the ailing Southside and let it rip, he did a killer version of “Hoochie Coochie Man,” a Muddy Waters classic, he did his single “C’mon on Caroline” and Jeff Kazee played a couple of great songs backed by the world-class band put together for the big show.

Bandiera played a few more songs and closed the show with Southside Johnny’s “I Don’t Want to go Home and Havin’ a Party, both brought the packed house to a rousing round of applause.

The remarkable thing about the music community here in New Jersey is that they are one in helping others when needed. Bobby Bandiera and Jeff Kazee made sure that the audience got a show worth their money.

Johnny may have gone down but there were other major musicians who were ready to step in. I love it and so did the audience.

Get better Johnny, no doubt he will be back on stage soon.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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