Who: James Mastro, Richard Barone
What: Nuts & Bolts Revisited Tour
Where: The Loft at City Winery, 25 Eleventh Ave. at Fifteenth St.
When: Sunday, May 3, $30-$42, 7:30
Why: Forty-three years ago, Hoboken legends the Bongos went on the road in support of their EP Numbers with Wings, the follow-up to their breakthrough debut LP, Drums Along the Hudson. The tour included a memorable gig at Columbia University that you can listen to here. During that time, guitarist and vocalist Richard Barone and multi-instrumentalist James Mastro wrote songs that they recorded with Mitch Easter of Let’s Active in North Carolina; the result was the folk/power pop album Nuts & Bolts, with one side comprising songs by Barone, the other by Mastro. Among the tunes were the former’s “I’ve Got a Secret” and “Flew a Falcon” and the latter’s “Time Will Tell” and “Angel in My Pocket.”
Mastro is one of the hardest-working musicians in the business; he just can’t put down his guitar. He has played with Ian Hunter, Alejandro Escovedo, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Megan Reilly, the Health & Happiness Show, Rachael Sage, and countless others in addition to opening Guitar Bar and art gallery/performance venue 503 Social Club in Hoboken. In February 2024, the consummate sideman released his debut solo record, Dawn of a New Error, to widespread acclaim. Meanwhile, Barone made such highly regarded albums as Cool Blue Halo, Primal Dream, and Glow, produced numerous tribute and benefit concerts, and wrote the memoir Frontman: Surviving the Rock Star Myth.
I’ve had a long connection with both of them; I’ve known Mastro since the late 1980s and have seen him play in many configurations. Around that same time, the woman who would become my wife won a signed copy of Cool Blue Halo that she presented to me, and then we went to see Barone perform a killer set at the Bottom Line, a seminal moment in our courtship.
Mastro and Barone, who have gotten together for Bongos reunions, are back on the road for a brief tour celebrating the rerelease of Nuts & Bolts on Iconoclassic Records, fully remastered and complete with such bonus tracks as a live version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” from a United Nations gig. The tour started in Philly, Rhode Island, and Woodstock and comes to City Winery on May 3 before concluding in Freehold. The first set focuses on Nuts & Bolts, while the second features solo tunes from throughout their individual careers.
They’re both wonderful storytellers, so this is a terrific opportunity to catch what should be a very special show.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer; you can follow him on Substack here.]