Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul turned in a genuinely rare and historically significant performance this week at ParkStage in Freehold, headlining the MonmouthNJ 250 celebration with a set that may stand as the band’s only performance of the entire year. The 14 piece band delivered a genuinely expansive two hour plus show that functioned as much as a full soul revue as a traditional rock concert, giving several individual band members their own moment at the microphone throughout the night. The evening’s most historically notable moment arrived early, when the band performed “Voice of America” live for the first time since 1987, giving longtime fans in attendance a genuinely rare chance to hear a track that had sat dormant in the band’s catalog for nearly four decades.
The night’s musical lineup built steadily toward that headlining set across a carefully sequenced afternoon and evening. The Weeklings opened the show at 4:30 p.m. with a classic rock set that set an energetic tone for the rest of the day. Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers took over the stage at 5:25 p.m., joined by a special appearance from legendary singer Gary U.S. Bonds, giving the early evening its own genuine dose of Jersey Shore rock history. The Jake Clemons Band kept the momentum rolling at 6:25 p.m., setting the stage directly for Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, who took over at 7:40 p.m. for their full headlining performance.
Once the Disciples of Soul took the stage, the set unfolded as a genuinely sprawling, career spanning revue. Following the historic opening performance of “Voice of America,” the band moved into “Lyin’ in a Bed of Fire,” itself receiving its first live performance since 2019, before working through “Inside of Me” and a cover of The Breakers’ “Soulfire.” The set continued through “Love on the Wrong Side of Town” and a cover of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes’ “Trapped Again,” before shifting into “Party Mambo!” and a cover of The Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It.”
What followed was a genuinely distinctive stretch of the show built specifically around showcasing individual band members. During this solo album features segment, guitarist Marc Ribler stepped up to lead vocals on “Armageddon,” before Little Steven stepped aside entirely to hand the microphone to backup singer Jessie Wagner for her own track, “Wicked Cool.” Wagner has built a genuinely substantial career of her own well beyond her role in the Disciples of Soul, known for a powerful stage presence and status as a highly sought after vocalist across the industry. Beyond her work with Little Steven, she regularly fronts her own bands and has toured with a genuinely impressive roster of rock and pop legends, including Lenny Kravitz, Chic, and Kid Rock, giving her own moment at center stage in Freehold real weight given just how much experience she brings to a live audience. Percussionist Anthony Almonte then led the band through “Caminando” sung entirely in Spanish, and keyboardist Lowell “Banana” Levinger handled vocal duties on “Hippie Song.” That stretch gave the audience a genuine sense of just how much individual talent exists within the Disciples of Soul’s lineup beyond Little Steven himself, turning a portion of the headlining set into something closer to a full band showcase.
Little Steven then returned to the forefront for “I Am a Patriot” and “Love Again,” before the set continued through “Bitter Fruit,” “Soul Power Twist,” and “Forever.” The night built toward its conclusion with another Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes cover, “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” which featured additional guest performers joining the stage for a genuinely celebratory closing stretch, before the band brought the entire evening to a close with “Out of the Darkness.”
Taken together, the night’s setlist and structure reflected a genuinely thoughtful, career spanning performance rather than a standard greatest hits run through. Between the historic return of “Voice of America,” the individual band member showcase segment, and a run of guest appearances from Jersey Shore rock royalty including Gary U.S. Bonds, this MonmouthNJ 250 concert at ParkStage stood out as a genuinely significant musical event, one that gave Freehold audiences a rare, full length look at Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul at what may be their only performance of the entire year.
