By Chuck Darrow
To be honest, the talent rosters that Atlantic City’s nine casinos have put together for the summer, ’24 season are hardly the most glittering or star-studded lineups we’ve ever seen.
There are no equivalents of, say, Whitney Houston, Cher, Bob Dylan or Frank Sinatra, all of whom made the AyCee gaming-hall scene in summers past. But there certainly are a number of notable bookings covering a large swath of show business. Among those slated to appear before the autumnal equinox are a few controversial comics and various musical acts covering a wide variety of genres and generations.
Here’s a (mostly chronological) look at some of them; for tickets to any of the shows, go to ticketmaster.com.
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (June 22; Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City).
At this point, with the exception of Johnny Mathis, no one has been performing in Atlantic City longer than Valli. But all his tomorrows were yesterday; the 90-year-old pop immortal has declared his current road trip with the latest incarnation of the Four Seasons—dubbed “The Last Encores”–will be his final road trip. So, if you’ve never seen the man who voiced such beloved songs as “Dawn,” “Rag Doll,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” and “Grease,” this is your last chance to see him perform live in the region.
Dave Chapelle (June 29; Hard Rock).
Even if you’re not a big fan of the funnyman who seems to have controversy as a permanent companion, there’s always a chance he’ll say something that will dominate at least one 24-hour news cycle—thereby giving you the opportunity to say, “I was there.”
Pat McGann (July 5; Ocean Casino Resort)
Chicago-area native McGann has spent the better part of the past decade in the enviable position as permanent show-opener for superstar gagster Sebastian Maniscalco. Now, the very funny (and PG-13 rated) comic who specializes in observations about the absurdities of everyday life, is topping the bill.
Hasan Minhaj (July 6; Casears Atlantic City).
Speaking of controversial comedians, last fall, Minhaj was the subject of a New Yorker magazine article that revealed that (gasp!) he made up stories just for the sake of making people laugh. That bombshell expose reportedly cost him the host’s chair on “The Daily Show;” it will be interesting to see if he addresses the incident when he hits the stage at Caesars.
Blue Oyster Cult (July 13; Golden Nugget Atlantic City).
The high-volume ‘70s band out of Long Island didn’t have the commercial track record or artistic impact of contemporaries like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but it did give us two of the most enduring (and melodic) hard-rock hits of that era: “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “I’m Burnin’ For You.”
But what makes them worth checking out is that the original unit’s creative core—composer/guitarist/co-lead vocalist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser and composer/multi-instrumentalist/co-lead singer Eric Bloom remain in the band.
Totally Tubular Festival (July 19; Hard Rock).
The 1980s will come roaring back–at least for one night—as a slew of artists who contributed to the pop soundtrack of the Ronald Reagan era convene at the Rock. The lineup includes Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me with Science”); Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins (“Hold Me Now”); Modern English (“I Melt with You”); Bow Wow Wow (“I Want Candy”) and Men Without Hats (“The Safety Dance”).
Matt Rife (July 25-28; Ocean).
Last year, the now-28-year-old Ohioan was standup comedy’s “It” boy. But earlier this year, he found himself in the PC bull’s-eye after it was reported he’d made some jokes about domestic abuse during a performance. Nonetheless, there are obviously plenty of folks who simply don’t care: All four of his Ovation Hall shows—accounting for some 20,000 tickets—are sold out, which means if you want to see him, the secondary-ticket market is where you need to be.
BoyzIIMen (Aug. 16; Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa).
The Philly-bred unit that brought sweet harmonies and melodies back to R&B music are always guaranteed to provide an evening of sonic delights.
The Stray Cats (Aug. 16; Ocean).
The Stray Cats—led by guitar slinger extraordinaire Brian Setzer–combined 1950s rockabilly with modern (for their time), MTV-influenced sensibilities to become one of the biggest acts of the early 1980s. For what it’s worth, the trio’s March, 2019 rave-up at Ocean was one of the most exhilarating gigs I’ve ever seen along the Great Wood Way.
Tony Danza “Standards & Stories” (Aug. 16; Resorts).
This benefit for the locally based Schultz-Hill Foundation is recommended for anyone interested in what live, mainstream entertainment looked like in the post-war years before pop culture was subsumed by the “youthquake” of the 1960s.
The popular TV star will serve up a one-man variety show that includes songs, jokes, anecdotes from his personal and professional lives and, perhaps, even a little tap dancing.
Extended run shows
Once upon a time (when bus-tripping visitors were a major source of casino revenue), the summer entertainment schedule was top-heavy with production shows that would be staged six or eight times a week. That Golden Age was killed years ago by the legalization of casino gambling in nearby states, but there are four once-a-week revues on the books for the upcoming busy season.
Three of them are from AyCee-based impresario Allen Valentine: “The Burlesque Show,” which runs Thursday nights at Borgata, “Disco Inferno,” which will put on its boogie shoes Sundays at Bally’s Atlantic City (starting June 23) and “Divas of Pop,” a salute to female pop-rock titans of the past six or so decades that debuts July 4 (and runs Thursdays) at Ocean.
Also at Ocean is “Super Trans Am,” which is dedicated to the chart-topping songs of the 1970s (Sundays beginning June 23).
Paying tribute
Of course, tribute presentations of all stripes populate the summer schedule. Among them are The Australian Pink Floyd Show (June 28, Tropicana); Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift (June 29, Resorts); Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience (July 5, Tropicana); Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience (July 13, Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City); Roy Orbison & The Everly Brothers Reimagined (July 20, Casears); Bat: The Official Celebration of Meat Loaf (Aug. 9, Borgata) and Bee Gees Gold (Aug. 23-25, Hard Rock).
And on a personal note, I have to include a booking that is especially near and dear to me: It’s a salute to David Bowie’s epochal 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” which only happens to be, in my humble opinion, the greatest LP of all time.
