Rockers take stage for ALS support group
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/13/06
BY KELLY-JANE COTTER


RED BANK — Southside Johnny Lyon was the first local hero to join Bobby Bandiera on the stage Tuesday night at the Count Basie Theater in a sold-out benefit concert for the disease ALS.

His voice hoarse but expressive, Lyon crooned "Spanish Harlem" backed by a band of the Shore's most established musicians.

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi were expected to perform later in the show.

The concert was a fund-raiser for Joan Dancy & PALS, a support group for people with ALS in Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a degenerative fatal disease that strikes nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. It affects 30,000 people in the United States at any given time, and 5,600 are diagnosed with it each year.

Dancy, a mother of two from Middletown, died of the disease. She was engaged to Terry Magovern, who has long been a right-hand man to Springsteen and much respected in the local music scene.

Magovern thanked the audience for its support, saying PALS currently serves 47 patients in Monmouth and Ocean counties. He founded the organization at Dancy's request.

Last night's concert opened with a set by Holiday Express, the spirited band led by local restaurateur Tim McLoone.

Holiday Express played Christmas songs, while Bandiera's band played a set of '60s rock and soul covers.

Gary U.S. Bonds also performed.
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