They’ll soon be doing the B-Street Shuffle in The Lions’ Den.
The original Bruce Springsteen cover band – The B-Street Band – will perform a benefit concert at Roselle Catholic High School on April 7. Proceeds from the show will benefit the RC girls’ basketball program and the Write on Sports summer camp program at Roselle Catholic.
“We’re excited about playing in the Roselle Catholic gym,” said B-Street Band originator Will Forte, who plays keyboards. “We really like coming to high school gymnasiums because of the enthusiasm these gyms generate … We’re all sports guys in the band, probably baseball and basketball more than football.”
Roselle Catholic’s Lions’ Den is the home court of the No. 1 boys’ basketball team in New Jersey, the 2018 Tournament of Champions winner.
The RC girls’ basketball team won the Union County Tournament title, edging the Patrick School, 55-52, at Kean University on Feb. 24. It was the program’s sixth UCT title, including five in the last 10 seasons.
“If people think that basketball games in the Lions’ Den are exciting, they will be blown away by a concert in the Lions’ Den,” said Roselle Catholic assistant coach Allison Skrec (RC ’10), the girls’ program’s all-time leading scorer. “It’s a night that won’t disappoint.”
It’s also a night that won’t break a basketball or Bruce fan’s budget, as the B-Street Band leader pointed out.
“A fan can pay $2,000 to see Bruce on Broadway,” Forte said, “Or a fan can pay a reasonably priced admission to see the longest-running tribute band in the world, here great Springsteen and shore music and support a great cause.”
The B-Street Band debuted as “Backstreets” on May 19, 1980 in Asbury Park for an audience of 2,000 Bruce Springsteen fans. These days, the B-Street Band plays approximately 175 shows a year, near and far from the Jersey Shore, and has been hired for close to 6,000 performances as it approaches its fourth decade.
“We just played a gig at Gonzaga (College) High School in D.C.,” Forte said. “They’ve had us play at Gonzaga eight out of the last nine years … We enjoy playing at high schools and I’m sure that will be the case at Roselle Catholic.”
The B-Street Band touts itself as the first band in the world to do a tribute to a live performer. The band website’s claims there are now an estimated 2000,000 tribute bands all over the world.
Forte was introduced to Bruce Springsteen’s music in 1972 by his best friend, Joe Maddon, who managed the Chicago Cubs to the World Series triumph in 2016. Forte and Maddon, still friends today, were football, basketball and baseball teammates at Hazleton (Pa.) High School.
“Joe was really ahead of his time when it came to great insights into games, even back in high school,” Forte said. “When he quit playing and started coaching in Quad Cities (Iowa) in the mid-70’s, I did think he could be a great manager, one of the best, but it would be a long haul. All these years later he’s still at the top of his game.”
The same could be said for Will Forte and his teammates in the B-Street Band, who are getting ready to rock The Lions’ Den on April 7.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the B-Street Band fundraiser at Roselle Catholic, contact RC girls’ basketball coach Joe Skrec at jskrec@rosellecatholic.org. Tickets are priced at $40 per person with a table of 10 costing $350.
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