Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul at the Beacon Theatre

Peter Wolf joined Steven Van Zandt on stage

Steven Van Zandt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and at age seven moved with his family to Middletown Township, New Jersey. He learned to play guitar at an early age and formed his first band, the short-lived Whirlwinds, around 1964. He later formed the Mates in 1965 and joined the Shadows in 1966. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Van Zandt played in many Jersey Shore bands, including Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band. Van Zandt left the local club circuit in the early 1970s and worked in road construction for two years, then returned to tour with the Dovells in 1973. Van Zandt co-founded Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes in 1975, about the same time he joined Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. Van Zandt left the E Street Band in 1984 and returned in 1999, the same year he began a television career acting in The Sopranos. Since 2002, Van Zandt has hosted Little Steven's Underground Garage, a weekly syndicated radio show and is the program director for two satellite radio channels. Since 1981, however, Van Zandt has led a sporadic side project, Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul; the band released its seventh studio album, Summer of Sorcery, on May 3, 2019.

Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul scheduled an extensive fall tour, but then cancelled most of the dates due to Van Zandt's bout with sinusitis; what became a two-city tour ended tonight at the Beacon Theatre. From the onset, the stage was ablaze with color. The 15-member band, dressed in floral shirts and matching two-toned striped pants, assumed position and began playing; the three background singers danced with radiantly-feathered umbrellas; Van Zandt entering wearing a cape along with his trademark head scarf. The party started at peak levels. Van Zandt's soulful vocals framed the songs, while the arrangements allowed for numerous extended jams, as the solo focus alternated rapidly between the two guitarists, two keyboardists, two percussionists, and five horn players. The set featured the entire Summer of Sorcery album, songs from Van Zandt's solo work and his catalogue with Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, and several cover songs, including Springsteen’s new "Tucson Train." Peter Wolf, who opened the evening with his band, Peter Wolf & the Midnight Travelers, joined the Disciples of Soul for the encore to sing "Freeze Frame," a song he originally sang while in the J. Geils Band. The audience was blessed to have experienced this show; according to a cryptic interview Van Zandt gave last month, this might be the last-ever concert by Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul.

Setlist:

1. Communion
2. Camouflage of Righteousness (Little Steven song)
3. Party Mambo!
4. Love Again
5. Education
6. On Sir Francis Drake (The Youngbloods cover)
7. I Visit the Blues
8. Gravity
9. Los Desaparecidos (Little Steven song)
10. Little Girl So Fine (Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes cover)
11. Trapped Again (Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes cover)
12. Love on the Wrong Side of Town (Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes cover)
13. A World of Our Own
14. Suddenly You
15. Vortex
16. I Am a Patriot (Little Steven song)
17. Superfly Terraplane
18. Bitter Fruit (Little Steven song)
19. Forever

Encore:

1. Summer of Sorcery
2. Tucson Train (Bruce Springsteen cover)
3. Freeze-Frame (The J. Geils Band cover, with Peter Wolf)
4. Sun City (Artists United Against Apartheid cover, with Peter Wolf)
5. Soul Power Twist
6. Out of the Darkness (Little Steven song)