If the Factory wasn’t sold out, it was awfully close to it. The crowd felt like they were going to a play, not a two-plus-hour show by a 5th generation musician about his rock n’ roll folk singer father. The show opened with an old video of Jim Croce calling his little boy into the room, “Here comes A.J.”
A.J. Croce started the night off with “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim.” He spun his chair between a piano and an organ, and was clearly a master of each instrument he touched. The band, made of musicians that you’ve heard before, guaranteed. The drummer Gary Mallaber, for example, was the inspiration for Animal from the Muppets. You know these musicians.
Croce gave us a rundown of his famous band in our recent conversation previewing the show. Their years of seamless shifting between bands and backup singers gave them the ability to keep up with Croce’s almost dizzying shift in genres, moods, and energies. He played jazz, rock, the blues, folk music, and classical in one show. The band kept up beautifully. The crowd did too, for that matter. He was so dynamic and charming that I’m convinced most of the audience got a crush on him. He just looks like a nice guy who smells really good all the time? Like sandalwood.
The show had intermittent stories about the Croce family, and followed his father’s life from his early influences such as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. We learned about Jim’s early years, the time leading up to his all too brief career. Elder Croce’s hits were at the beginning, middle and end of the show, and each had enthusiastic crowd participation. “Photographs and Memories,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” and others peppered in the mix with both Croce’s influences and some of A.J.’s own excellent recordings—“Rollin’ On” and “Judgement Day”—followed up by Billy Preston’s “Nothin’ from Nothin’,” which in itself was a wild ride.
We then learned about A.J.’s incredible career in music and the similarities between the two of them is so evident. This is a family story—a family event. The crowd left feeling like they got to learn about an old friend while making a new one. | Melissa Cynova
“Croce Plays Croce” tour dates:
01.26.24 – Anna Maria, FL – The Center of Anna Maria Island
01.27.24 – Avon Park, FL – Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts
01.28.24 – Immokalee, FL – Seminole Casino
01.30.24 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theatre
01.31.24 – Durham, NC – Fletcher Hall The Carolina Theatre
02.01.24 – Atlanta, GA – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
02.03.24 – Greenville, SC – Peace Concert Hall
02.04.24 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall
02.06.24 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
02.08.24 – Washington, D.C. – Warner Theatre
02.09.24 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
02.10.24 – Troy, NY – Troy Savings Bank Music Hall
02.13.24 – Norwalk, CT – Wall Street Theater
02.14.24 – Buffalo, NY – Kleinhans Music Hall
02.15.24 – Concord, NH – Chubb Theatre at CCA
02.17.24 – Providence, RI – Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium
03.23.24 – Memphis, TN – Soundstage at Graceland
03.24.24 – New Orleans, LA – Joy Theater
03.26.24 – Fort Smith, AR – TempleLive
03.28.24 – Lexington, KY – Lexington Opera House
03.29.24 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
03.30.24 – Carmel, IN – The Palladium
04.03.24 – Holland, MI – Holland Civic Center Place
04.05.24 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
04.06.24 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre
04.09.24 – Champaign, IL – Virginia Theatre
04.10.24 – Eau Claire, WI – Pablo Center
04.12.24 – Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre
04.13.24 – Kansas City, MO – Kauffman Center
*Additional tour dates to be announced (check www.ajcrocemusic.com).
