Amphitheater Foundation Plans Concerts
During 2020, the amphitheater at Long's Park sat empty. For 2021, Dave Wauls, president of the Long's Park Amphitheater Foundation, is looking forward to filling the venue with eight different bands. "Everybody is excited, and we anticipate bigger crowds," said Wauls, who noted that the food trucks will be back for hungry concertgoers.
Concerts are planned beginning Sunday, July 11. Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. each Sunday through Aug. 29.
Brad Zuke, chair of the Long's Park Summer Music Series committee, said that each year the group endeavors to bring acts that represent a wide range of musical genres. In 2020, many of the bands that were booked to play just happened to be fronted by women. "It looked like it was going to be the year of the woman," noted Zuke. "When everything was canceled, agents and bands wrote back and said, 'Can we just move ahead to next year?' That was our starting point (in creating this year's schedule)." Indeed, only The Big Takeover, a reggae band scheduled to perform on Aug. 1, was not on the 2020 roster.
Zuke noted that contracting bands to play the venue can take several years. He listed scheduling factors for both the performer and the amphitheater, along with travel arrangements and current visas for the performers. "Several years ago, we had Old Blind Dogs from Scotland (play a concert)," he said. "It took us six years to finally have them perform here."
This year, the opening concert on July 11 will feature Bakithi Kumalo, a South African bass player who was one of the top session musicians in his country when Paul Simon went there to develop his album "Graceland" in 1985. "Simon invited him to America to finish studio sessions," said Zuke of the Grammy Award-winning Kumalo, who eventually settled in the U.S.
Both Maggie Rose, who will perform on July 18, and Thornetta Davis, who will perform on July 25, are award-winning artists. "Maggie is amazing," stated Zuke, who noted that Rose makes her home in Nashville. "You don't typically think of funk, soul, blues, and rock in terms of the Grand Ole Opry," he noted, adding that Rose has appeared there many times. Davis, a recipient of several Detroit Music Association awards, is known as that city's Queen of the Blues.
Additional August concerts will include Southern country singer Paul Thorn on Aug. 8. Vanessa Collier, who will play on Aug. 15, has received blues music awards as an instrumentalist for horn, but Zuke noted that she also plays guitar and sings. He stated that the Kenny Rogers Band, which will appear on Aug. 22, is the real deal. "(These) are the musicians that played with Kenny as opposed to being a cover band. These guys helped write the music and played the original music," he said. On Aug. 29, a Live Aid Tribute Show will celebrate one of the world's biggest concerts by featuring talented local musicians.
Readers who would like to know more about the concerts, which will follow current health protocols, may visit http://www.longspark.org.
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