SOUTHWICK — While the lineup for the Rotary Club of Southwick’s seventh annual free Summer Concert Series is all set, the club continues to seek additional sponsors to help with covering entertainment costs.
“We need sponsors so we can continue to put on great shows,” Rotary Club President Bob Fox said, while also thanking those businesses and individuals who have already signed up.
“The venue provides terrific exposure for our sponsors,” Fox said about the free music series that starts Wednesday, July 9 and continues every Wednesday evening through Aug. 27 at Whalley Park.
This year’s line up includes four bands from last year, bringing back three that haven’t performed in town for several years, and a new band.
The series kicks off with General Gist on July 9.
“They’re very popular and we were lucky to get them back,” Fox said of the band, which he described as “high energy” and that plays mostly classic rock but can mix it up from blues to the ’90s.
“They play a variety of music that everybody enjoys,” he said of the band.
The next musical group to perform on July 16 is Eight To The Bar, which appeared “years ago” when the club held the series at Prifit Park, Fox said.
“It is a big show band,” Fox said, adding that he was also glad that area residents will get to see and hear one of the region’s best musical groups. In fact, it was named “Best Musical Group 2024” in “Connecticut Magazine.”
They play swing, Motown and boogie-woogie, he said.
“Their music will please any crowd,” he said.
Up on July 23 is Savage Brothers Band, which has been entertaining crowds for 41 years.
“They’ve been around for a long time and play big venues,” Fox said.
According to the band’s website, it is a six piece “funkin’, rockin’, and rhythm group featuring a two-piece horn section.”
Like Eight To The Bar, the band has won numerous awards including the “Best of Hartford” by Hartford Magazine.
A new band to the series is The Yacht Rock Band, which will perform on July 30.
Fox saw the eight-person group perform at the Shortstop Bar & Grill.
“It was a big party,” he said, adding the band has a few members from Brass Attack that performed during last year’s concert series.
Playing smooth rock, the band brings to life hits from the late ‘70s to the early ‘80s, according to its website.
The other acts scheduled through the end of August are:
- Aug. 6: 91 South, a classic rock band playing songs by the Rolling Stones, the Doors, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, AC/DC and others.
- Aug. 13: Wild Heart, a tribute to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.
- Fox said Wild Heart is, by far, the group that attracts the largest audience during the concert series
- Aug. 20: King Saison, a band that plays eclectic, jam, folk, country, jazz and rock selections.
- Aug. 27: The Piper Hopkins Band, which is well known in the area for is rhythm and groove music, which is a fusion of blues, rocks reggae, rhythm and blues, country, jazz and soul.
This year’s sponsors are Lakewood Village, the Southwick Florist, Advance Manufacturing Company Inc., Arrow Fuel, Additional Attic Public Storage, Springfield attorney Linda Molta-Tetreault, Ellen Cook Miles and Sons, Environment First Pest Management, Craig and Vanessa Filiault, Robert Solek Masonry, Tucker’s Restaurant, State Line Propane & Oil, Westfield Bank, Southwick Lions Club, Paul Tsatsos CPA, Coward Farms, Dori Neuwirth, Southwick Insurance, Southwoods Magazine, and American Legion Post 338.
Fox hopes that additional sponsors will commit to help by the time the series kicks off.
“Each sponsor is important to the success of the series,” he said, adding that during the shows two large-screen television scrolls the names of each.
He singled out the Southwick Cultural Council as a major sponsor of the series and the American Legion Post 338 for thanks.
“The legion provided us additional stage space for the bands, saving us thousands of dollars,” he said.
The additional stage space is needed because most of the bands performing are larger and need room for their show.
The club is also looking for any additional sponsors and volunteers to help with parking at the park.
The nights out at Whalley Park also include food trucks at the park, including: Chappy’s Mobile Culinary Experience on July 9 and 30; Westfield’s 7B’s Bar & Grill on July 16 and Aug. 13; The Thai Place on July 23; Southwick’s Macken’s Special Sliders on Aug. 6; The Saucy Mama on Aug. 20, and Westfield’s North End Butcher Block on Aug. 27.
Fox said attendees are also welcome to bring snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.
However, “there is absolutely no alcohol allowed to be brought in,” he said. “If we see it, we will ask them to put it away or leave.”
There will be wine and beer available for sale at the park, he said.
While the performances are free to attend, Fox said the club does accept donations during each concert.
For more information or to become a sponsor, visit facebook.com/southwickrotaryclub or call Fox at 413-579-4585.
