Two of the founders of the legendary rock ‘n’ roll band, The Rascals, are once again taking to the stage to continue their legacy that started 57 years ago. The Rascals Featuring Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish Time Peace brief tour begins April 6, 2023. Tickets for many of the shows are on sale here.
Founding members Eddie Briganti is not part of this tour. Dino Danelli died on Dec. 15, 2022, at age 78.
With songs like “Good Lovin’,” “Groovin’,” “A Beautiful Morning,” “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “People Got To Be Free,” and “How Can I Be Sure,” The Rascals are considered the best “blue-eyed soul” group to come out of the 1960s. Lead singer and songwriter and organist Cavaliere and lead guitarist Cornish, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees, Grammy Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Songwriter Hall of Fame members, returned to the stage in November 2022 for the first time since 2018.
Cavaliere, who turned 78 on Nov. 29, recently published an autobiography, Memoir Of A Rascal…From Pelham, NY to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Cornish, whose own autobiography, Good Lovin’: My Life as a Rascal, was published in 2020, is especially grateful to return to the stage. Cornish collapsed on Sept. 7, 2018, while on tour with Cavaliere. He received a pacemaker and is back performing.
“This gives us another chance to play together and do it for the fans,” said Cornish, who turns 79 on May 14.
Related: Our Album Rewind of The Rascals’ Time Peace album
Starting out as The Young Rascals, they caught the attention of promoter/manager Sid Bernstein with their high-energy set at Long Island’s elite club, Barge. Signed to Atlantic Records, and soon called The Rascals, they would become a mainstay on The Ed Sullivan Show and sell over 30 million records.
Watch the Young Rascals perform “Good Lovin'” on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966
The Rascals Featuring Felix Cavaliere & Gene Cornish Time Peace 2023 Tour (Tickets are available here and here)
Apr 06 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen PAC
Apr 07 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Center
Apr 08 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre
May 25 – Jeffersonville, IN – Abbey Road on the River
Jun 24 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
Jun 25 – Lynn, MA – Lynn Auditorium
Jun 27 – Ocean City, NJ – Ocean City Music Pier
Aug 13 – Arnolds Park, IA – Roof Garden Ballroom
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
11 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationPlease come to Minneapolis. Please? We’d love to see the Rascals play live. (I saw them back in the sixties, down in Orlando, FL, and they were awesome.)
The Rascals really aren’t The Rascals without great dummer Dino Danelli.
Phoenix in November is just right. We have this cool venue with a revolving stage. The Celebrity Theater. Make it a golf weekend with Alice Cooper.
We had tickets for their Dream Tour for Baltimore when it got canceled. So glad they’re touring together again, but wish Dino was with them. Such a great litany of songs !
I’m in agreement with you all, and don’t understand why Dino does not participate, unless it’s age or medically related. I did see the “Once Upon A Dream” show, and it was incredible. It’s already been some years now, but Dino sounded pretty great then, and even Eddie rounded into tear-jerking form after coming out of decades of retirement. I’ll never understand why or how there was such a lack of interest in that show, to the point that many of their shows were canceled. For me, “Once Upon A Dream” was a dream come true. Hope they have success with this tour and see fit to expand it.
As with almost all things, being in a band, apparently even in your 70s, isn’t as simple or necessarily as easy as it might appear from the outside. After posing the question about why Dino doesn’t join Felix and Gene, I did some back research and read some pretty wide-ranging things from some of the members. While Felix talks of working with a Guru to subvert his own ego during the “Once Upon A Dream” tour, Dino flat out lets his scorn of Felix fly for his need to control everything along with his levels of self-entitlement that, evidently has not lessened over the decades. While it was never outrightly said, it was inferred that a grab of songwriting royalties by Felix had much to do with Eddie’s unwillingness to be involved further both back then and now. Whereas Dino was completely infuriated by many of Felix’s demands during “Dream,” including an uneven split of the touring proceeds among the original members. Apparently, for these reasons “Dream” was discontinued, and it is unlikely we’ll see Dino or Eddie touring with Felix again. I guess, after many attempts at staging acts with a couple of The Rascals over the years, Gene has found his peace with whatever Felix requires for them to tour together. Having seen both Felix’s “Rascals,” and the original band in “Dream,” there’s just no comparison — not even close. It’s a tragic shame that these kinds of conflicts continue to compromise something so incredible into something that’s such a pale, watered-down shadow of what had been, and could still be, great. But in reaching those later ages myself, I’ve been surprised to discover that people, and in particular musicians, don’t really change that much, as foolish as the things that often divide them may be.
Interesting as it’s never been clear to me what the cause of the break up was back in 1970 but obviously Eddie had issues. It was Dino who stayed with Felix in the early 70’s during their Columbia years. Didn’t know the “Once Upon the Dream” stuff, thanks for the research and info!
It was implied, not inferred.
The speaker implies.
The recipient (listener) infers.
No charge,
TW
Where’s Eddie Brigati? He’s 1/4 of the Rascals too.
Well, obviously life has changed the hopes of many for this situation from even August of 22, and, tragically, our dear Dino is no longer with us. On the positive side, I’d seen Felix a few times before the reformed band did the “Dream” tour, and he always seemed to be trying to make it work with a scant number of musicians, which really didn’t work for the Rascals’ music. I’m so thrilled that if “Dream” accomplished anything, it gave Felix the perspective that if he was going to continue going out and doing the Rascals’ music, he needed to have a band that could do it thrilling justice, as the “Dream” orchestra indeed did. I so look forward to seeing him again now. As for Gene, I’m thrilled that he’s recuperated from his frightening heart episode, but quite honestly, without his dancing moves while playing guitar, I just don’t know what he brings to these shows sitting in a chair. Maybe it was time for him to retire after his hospitalization. But you have to love the guy’s spirit and desire to still be performing. Speaking of spirit, Felix sounds great in this video; his voice still has that soul. After all the things I read about Felix that I wrote in earlier posts above, I’m amazed that he is essentially carrying Gene in these shows. That shows a lot of love and unselfishness, and I congratulate him as it’s more than just his voice that has soul. Now, if only Eddie could find it in his heart to come back. He seemed to love doing the “Dream” show.
Wish Eddie was with the 3023 tour! Loved seeing him in Dream! I saw the play two nights in Philly! They were FABULOUS!
Felix, bring Eddie back! You need him!