Belmont Avenue Comes To New Jersey- September 10, 2026

I am not sure how many years, I have been trying to take Mom to see Dion when he played at MPAC in Morristown. Its gotta be well over six, since the reasons I had to not follow up on the idea ranged from weddings, to recitals, to illnesses to Covid shutdowns and a few other things. I feel like it is appropriate that it finally happened in "The YearTM." 

Dion is now 87 years old, has written several books and is billed as "The Rock and Roll Philosopher."  His tour dates were all driving distance from New York City. I feel like I need to apologize for expecting the show to be mostly him telling old stories intermixed with low energy versions of his songs. 

When we arrived my expectations remained as my first though was, "Man, I thought the Alice Cooper audience skewed older." 

When I saw the set up for the number of musicians on the stage, I thought maybe they would be singing and playing around him. 

Wrong again.

The moral, I suppose, is never underestimate an Italian from the Bronx.

He opened with "Ride With You," a song he wrote in 2000, and rocked that place! He was clearly leading the group, his voice hitting the notes cleanly and with strength for the entire hour and a half show.

His back up group were also immensely talented. There was a drummer, and bass player rocking out while keeping the tempo and rhythm. There was a exceptional lead guitarist, but Dion took on the other guitar duties while signing. Because much of his work predates when electric guitars fully took on the "solos" role, there was a top notch saxophone player as well. Finally there was a keyboardist adding depth to the sound on the piano and synth parts. Dion's back up "Do Wop" group were three guys of varying heights and excellent voices. Starting with the tallest- the expectedly unusual and talented bass singer, next was the guy who played Dion in the Papermill Playhouse (and targeting Broadway) show of his life "The Wanderer" who obviously fit right in (We saw him as Mike TeeVee.) Finally a buff guy singing the high parts and throwing his whole soul into the performance.

Dion mixed in numbers from as far back as his Belmonts' days, that he still sounded fantastic on, as he pulled numbers from his entire career. Some of those songs he wrote at age seventeen. Its got to be a heck of a feeling to have a theater full of people cheer wildly when announcing something you created seventy years before, and then cheer more because you can still perform it that well. He hasn't rested on his successes. He's been cranking out music almost the whole time since he started. During Covid, he made three blues albums. The more recent songs he performed still sounded like "Dion songs."  

He did use the short introductions to tell some stories about the past. "Donna The Prima Donna" was named after his sister. "Hug My Radiator" was written about touring the freezing midwest with Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. His emotions during that tale were obvious, and it made it easy to understand why their plane crash hit him as hard as it did. He alluded to that, how far he fell afterwards, and that the love of his wife and his faith restored him when introducing "Sweet Surrender," one of his songs from his born again Christian music era (which still sounded like "A Dion Song.") He has since returned to Catholicism. (See- "Italian from the Bronx.) 

It was also nice to hear someone name dropping celebrities that I had actually heard of. (And most of the people I work with wouldn't have.) He's been performing for 70 years, known his wife Susan the whole time, and been married for over 60. The songs he wrote about her, and the stories he told showed how strong their bond was and still is. 

He mentioned that Susan was better with words than he was when talking about trying to impress her early on. They went to Annette Funicello's birthday party which was filled with famous performers of the time. It was in New York and some of his friends snuck in. She was talking to "Bosco," and he asked her why since, "He's a freakin' jerk."

Her answer- "His view of reality is colored by his cultural limitations."

His reply- "That's what I said. He's a freakin' jerk."

Proving that whether talking or singing, he's still that same Italian kid from the Bronx.

Continuing that theme- a couple of other nuggets of wisdom from the "Rock And Roll philosopher."

On the current trend of those in power trying to change what has worked for many years- 
"My mother always said, don't tear down a fence until you learn why it was put up."

and

On a song requested that he hadn't practiced much-

"No sense being Italian if you can't make a fool out of yourself sometimes."

The second quip was before "Where or When" during the middle set of the concert. The band left and they brought out a chair and acoustic guitar. With just his voice and playing he continued to fill the 1319 seat, sold our theater.  This was not only when singing slower numbers, but also house rockers like "Lovers Who Wander."

He never took a break. I saw him step back once from center stage to get some water and that was it. Forget hoping I have that much energy at his age, I'd like to have that much energy now.

The band came back for "Abraham, Martin and John," a really beautiful song of his. He then switched back to the electric guitar and brought out the back up singers to finish up the night with even more energy than he started with. 

I guess Rock and Roll can make you immortal. (If it doesn't kill you immediately, that is.) 

The ovation after "Run Around Sue" showed it clearly was the finale, with "The Wanderer" being the encore. 

When you're 87, you don't have to perform the charade of leaving the stage and coming back. He knows the age of his audience, and we all appreciated him saving us time.

There were a few benefits to being one of the youngest people there by a stretch. (Besides the whole "being one of the youngest people" which is a rarity.)

1) Several people complimented Bela Lugosi on my shirt, by name.

2) A much lower percentage of the audience than usual were watching the concert through their phones. (Granted, a much higher percentage of that small subset didn't know how to turn off the flash or video light.)

3) We all got to sit down for almost the whole show. Everyone stood up at the end of "Runaround Sue" and stayed up and dancing for "The Wanderer," but it was very nice to enjoy my seat (while clapping and tapping along of course) for nearly the whole ninety minutes.

Overall, it was an amazing night. I got to see my favorite performer of that era, learn he's still been producing new music for decades, and be inspired by how making others happy can keep you young.

Mom got to relive her teenage years going to dances a couple blocks from where Dion grew up.

I gotta look for those blues albums now...

For posterity, (Or more accurately, for me and Mom's occasionally dubious memories) here is the setlist I found online.

(Dion on Electric Guitar, with Band and Back Up Singers)

Ride With You

Drip Drop

Hug My Radiator

Ruby Baby

I'm Your Gangster of Love

Donna the Prima Donna

Always in the Rain

A Teenager in Love

I Wonder Why

(Acoustic solo set, Dion owning the room by himself)

The Dolphins

Lovers Who Wander

Where or When

Behind Susan's Eyes

(Band comes back)

Abraham, Martin and John

(Electric Guitar and Back Up Singers Return)

King of the New York Streets

Dancing Girl

Sweet Surrender

Runaround Sue

The Wanderer