SEPTEMBER 22, 2007: BRONX, NY

"PEACE, UNITY & HOPE"

Below are some photos and videos from Bernie Williams' show at the Utopia Paradise Theater in the Bronx from September 22, 2007.  The concert was part of the Peace, Unity and Hope concert and also featured Jose Feliciano as the co-headliner.  Comedian Joey Vega hosted the event.  The night kicked off with a performance of "The Boy of Steel," based on a book of the same name by Ray Negron (Yankee Advisor and Agent for Darryl Strawberry).  The play starred actress April Lee Hernandez (from the Movie, The Freedom Writers) and featured special appearnces by Darryl Strawberry (former Met/Yankee), Jim Leyritz (former Yankee and current ESPN Radio Analyst), Michael Kay (YES Broadcaster), Joey Gian (Actor/Singer), Luiz Guzman (Actor/Comedian) and Scott Clark (ABC- Channel 7- Eyewitness News).  Bernie performed six songs in all.  He was backed by a new group of musicians, led by saxophonist/musical dircetor Richie Cannata, formerly of Billy Joel's band.  The musicians were great, as every song really had some force behind it.  The crowd was really into it as well, and chanted how much they missed the Yankee legend at several points during the show.  Bernie opened the show with a bang with "Desvelado" and then went into a new, laid back song entitled "Antonio."  Bernie's brother Hiram then joined him on cello for the touching "Para Don Berna," a tribute to their late father who passed away in 2003.  Next up was another new song entitled "Go for It."  This piece was very catchy and featured a guitar riff that was quite heavier than any of Bernie's previous material.  This was followed by The Journey Within's opening track, "La Salsa en Mi," which featured an extra touch with dancers as Bernie jammed away.  Finally, Jose Feliciano joined Bernie for his encore piece, "Stranded on the Bridge."  This one really jolted the audience thanks to a blistering guitar solo by Jose.  I must say I really enjoyed the new songs and how well this band performed with Bernie.  I am not sure if this is the band he will take to the studio with him, but I am REALLY looking forward to the next CD.

The video clips are below on the left and are in the follwing order going down:

"Desvelado"

"Antonio"

"Go for It"

"La Salsa en Mi"

"Stranded on the Bridge"

To view all of my videos from this show, please log onto my YouTube page by clicking here.