Charlie Puth kicks off 2023 PNC Bank Arts Center season with 'cool crowd participation'

The PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel is kicking off its 2023 summer season with a homegrown star.

Ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Puth of Rumson takes the stage Saturday, June 3. It's his Arts Center debut and part of his Charlie Live Experience tour.

“It's really going to be quite interactive, like it is online,” said Puth of the show.

Puth has a mega social media presence.

“There's going to be a lot of cool crowd participation," he added. "There's not a moment where you're going to get bored at a show like this.”

Puth's hits include “See You Again,” “How Long,” “We Don't Talk Anymore,” “Marvin Gaye,” “The Way I Am,” “One Call Away,” “Light Switch” “Left and Right” and more. His latest album, “Charlie,” was a Top 10 hit.

Upcoming, Puth is working on a new album, which will tap an R&B sound, he said.

As for the Arts Center, Puth knows his way around. He saw his first live concert there — James Taylor in 1997.

“Listening to James on tape, because that's what we did at the time, the greatest hits on side A and B, and then hearing those songs in my first live setting as a kid, it was pretty profound. ... I do attribute the experience to me wanting to be be a performer,” said Puth, who keeps it old school and refers to the center by its former name, the Garden State Arts Center.

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In related news, the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank is marking Puth's Holmdel show with new scholarship opportunities. The Charlie Puth Performance Scholarships will award two annual $1,500 scholarships for students to study music at the Basie, just as Puth did.

Puth played the Basie in October.

“Charlie’s support of this campaign and the fondness he’s expressed for his time here as a student demonstrate the enriching and rewarding power of arts education,” said Adam Philipson, President and CEO, Count Basie Center for the Arts, in a statement. “His trajectory to stardom, and the confidence and poise he’s demonstrated as a performer, producer — and quite frankly as a person — are ideals that align with a life steeped in the performing arts.”

The Puth scholarships will be awarded in August. Visit www.thebasie.org/academy for more information.

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Also, look for Puth's name on the PNC Bank Arts Center's electric marquee on the Garden State Parkway. Puth did when he was recently driving on the parkway.

“I didn't see mine but I did see (Taylor's name), who's playing there in September,” Puth said. “That was good enough for me.”

Go: Charlie Puth Presents The “Charlie” Live Experience, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 3, PNC Bank Arts Center, Garden State Parkway, Holmdel. Starting at $35; livenation.com.

PNC Arts Center schedule

• Charlie Puth: The Charlie Live Experience, June 3

• TLC, Shaggy, En Vogue and Sean Kingston, June 10

• Luke Bryan, June 24

• 3 Doors Down, June 28

• Big Time Rush, June 30

• Counting Crows with Dashboard Confessional, July 6

• Sam Hunt, July 8

• Sad Summer Festival with Taking Back Sunday, July 14

• Matchbox Twenty, July 15

• Bret Michaels Parti Gras Tour, July 16

• Dave Matthews Band, July 18

• Kidz Bop, July 21

• Dierks Bentley, July 27

• Godsmack and Staind, July 29

• Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Too Short and more, Aug. 2

• Fall Out Boy, Aug. 5

• Outlaw Music Festival with Willie Neslon and Family, Aug. 6

• Disturbed, Aug. 11

• Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R., Aug. 12

• All-American Rejects, Aug. 15

• Slightly Stoopid and Sublime with Rome, Aug. 17

• Thunderfest with Dan and Shay, Aug. 18

• Gov't Mule with Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin show, Aug. 19

• Pentaonix, Aug. 20

• Smashing Pumpkins, Aug. 24

• Eric Church, Aug. 25

• Foreigner Historic Farewell Tour, Sept. 3

• James Taylor, Sept. 4

• ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour, Sept. 10

• 59 Cent: The Final Lap. Sept. 20

• Zac Brown Band, Oct 7

Adjacent Fest in Atlantic City

“Atlantic City” by Bruce Springsteen was the song du jour Saturday, May 27, at the inaugural Adjacent Festival on the beach in Atlantic City.

Jack Antonoff of Bleachers flipped the script by performing Tom Waits “Jersey Girl.”

“This is a Tom Waits song, who's from California and was so compelled that he had to write a song about New Jersey being the (blank)!” Antonoff said

Antonoff then performed his own song about New Jersey, “Chinatown.”

No, Springsteen did not join in, although he does sing on the recorded version.

“Bruce is in Europe (blank),” Antonoff said. “I know you know that.”

The Jersey rhubard between Antonoff and the crowd lent a little extra local flavor to the pop-punk and emo heavy fest, headlined by Paramore on Saturday and Blink-182 on Sunday.

There was a strong Jersey presence on the three stages as state bands Thursday, Front Bottoms Midtown, Folly, Wellwisher, and the L.S. Dunes featuring Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance played.

About 20,000 attended on Saturday, including Olivia Junco and Nick Brennan from Albany, New York, who enjoyed the set by Pup, a Toronto punk band.

“You can really get it throughout your body,” said Junco of Pup.

Junco and Brennan enjoyed the Adjacent experience as the sun was going down on over the boardwalk casinos on Saturday.

“It's been really awesome,” Junco said. “It was really easy to get in and we had some pizza and some drinks. It's a good combination.”

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: PNC Holmdel NJ: Charlie Puth kicks off summer concerts