Saturday night, the word from LA was the sensational “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl. Everyone is still talking about Cynthia Erivo, Adam Lambert, and co rocking the house.
The East Coast was not to be outdone. We had jazz great Norah Jones outdoors in Montauk raising money for the south fork’s famous, historic light house.
The crowd was massive, drawing attention away from all other shenanigans in the Hamptons. Only in Montauk, kids, do you see a superstar performing up close.
Opening act was comedian, writer, and local Seth Herzog, who has a long resume that includes being the audience warm up comedian for “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
Herzog was pleased to be invited to a venue that met all of his criteria: one bathroom for hundreds, and a diverse crowd. He got to test his material on a sea of well groomed people now filling in the beach chairs perched on a slope beside the legendary lighthouse.
The part time Upper Westsider also wanted everyone to picture his NYC neighborhood: Bernie Sanders multiplied exponentially. Herzog nailed it, describing store signs in Montauk: the Fudge Shop, Sloppy Tuna—all you needed was to evoke sex, he nodded to the 110 foot phallus standing over the charity event.
And then there was Norah Jones, multiple Grammy winner, daughter of the late great Ravi Shankar.
Jones, in a green jacket, sequined tiger on her back, over dress and silver high heels, took the stage singing her signature “What Am I to You?” Accompanied by a first-rate band she introduced songs from her 2024 Grammy winning album, “Visions.” This being the very tip of Long Island, surrounded by ocean, she sang from “Queen of the Sea: “I Just Want to Dance,” slow moving and sexy, “Sunrise, Sunlight, ooh, ooh, ooh,” and “Come Away with Me.” At times on keyboards, and then on guitar, she’s a virtuoso musician, jazzy, and with Sasha Dobson providing additional vocals and guitar, the pair resonated girl power.
Dedicating her last bit to the ones leaving — there’s only one road in out of Montauk, one road baby –she sang Tom Waits’ “Long Way Home,” and saved one surprise for last: “Don’t Know Why,” complete with a shout out to Jesse Harris, its composer who waved to the crowd. The one road baby was a conga line of Norah Jones fans leading out of Montauk, or to the afterparty at Sole East.
