(July 28, 2016) After a few days in more than 90-degree heat, an outdoor concert might be enough to stave off the inevitable cabin fever.
Tonight beginning at 6:30 p.m., local classic rock band Front Page News will take the stage for a free performance in the town’s summer concert series. Though the temperatures are still expected to be high throughout the week, this Thursday is one of the days those highs are expected to fall off faster after the sun sets over Cypress Park in downtown Pocomoke City.
Bleacher seating, picnic tables and pavilions are available, and the Bayside Community Search will sell light refreshments during the event. Outside food and soft drinks are allowed, and Downtown Coordinator Karah Lacey recommends bringing lawn chairs as well.
Front Page News has been performing around the area as a group since 2009, but the musicians involved, Gary Collier, Mark Ridgeway, Aaron Taylor and Leroy Brewington have been playing for much longer than that. Collier said several group members have played together before in different groups.
“It’s kind of exciting to get back there — I live on the outskirts of Pocomoke City and would like to get something going down there, especially on the family-oriented end,” Collier said. “We started off doing modern and classic rock, but we tend to do more classic now, because the newer rock is too heavy for the audience.”
For every five songs the group learns, as they practice each Wednesday night, only one might make it to the set list, Collier said.
“We’re not really into heavy rock — we want to make you dance: Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, Jimmy Buffett. We want to get the crowd participating with sing-a-longs and medleys,” he said.
Audience response is what the band is looking for, and hopes to achieve, Collier said.
“There are songs, like Mustang Sally, that a lot of bands quit doing, but we got so many requests we’re still playing it. People like what they hear,” Collier said. “But we’re not a 1980s band or a tribute band – we don’t want to limit ourselves in that way.”