Community minded
You’re never far from a free concert series
The phenomenon of the free concert series has us in its grip, but the major ones around town aren’t always family-friendly. So for all the moms and dads out there, we’ve compiled a list of free community concert series throughout Western New York. There’s not enough room to cover them all, and some schedules weren’t set in stone when we went to press, but we’ve done our best to give you a good sampling. Throughout the summer, you can always check the Gusto calendar for a complete list of community concerts happening that week. (If you organize a series, feel free to submit details to gustocal@buffnews.com.)
Each event has been rated from 1 to 5 (5 being the best) in two key categories: variety (diversity of the acts) and “Cover-age” (amount of cover bands).
Amherst Recreation Concert Series
July 4 to Aug. 20 at Bassett Park in Amherst; most shows are on Tuesdays or Thursdays and begin at 7:30 p. m.
Variety: 5 (everything from steel drums and swing to bluegrass and Lance Diamond)
Cover-age: 4 (Big Wheelie and the Hubcaps rule!)
Angola Wednesday Summer Lawn Chair Series
From 7 to 9 p. m. every Wednesday from June 24 to Sept. 2 at Centennial Park in Angola.
Variety: 4 (a Euro-friendly schedule, featuring Irish, Italian and German shows)
Cover-age: 4 (there’s an Elvis impersonator on July 1)
Batavia’s Friday Night in the Square
From 7 to 9 p. m. on Fridays from June 19 to Aug. 28 in Batavia’s Jackson Square.
Variety: 3 (you’ve got your country, your rock and your country/rock)
Cover-age: 5 (Jack Civiletto, a Sinatra tribute artist, performs on Aug. 28)
Blue Mondays From 7 to 9 p. m. on Monday nights from July 13 to Aug. 17 at Hennepin Park Gazebo in Lewiston (there’s also a special “cross border” edition at 6 p. m. June 8).
Variety: 3 (a fantastic event if you like blues)
Cover-age: 3
Boston Summer Concert Series
From 7 to 9 p. m. Tuesdays from next Tuesday to Aug. 4 at Boston Town Park, under the Lions’ Shelter.
Variety: 3 (mostly rock and country)
Cover-age: 5 (I’m counting on you, N. Y. Rockin’ Revue)
Burchfield Nature and Art Center Series
From 6:30 to 8 p. m. Tuesdays in July and August at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca.
Variety: 3 (solid jazz and rock acts)
Cover-age: 2
Elma Village on the Green Concert Series
Starting at 7 p. m. on Wednesdays from July 8 to Aug. 26 at Village Green Park (“Elma’s Night Out” with the J. C. Thompson Band will be on Aug. 4).
Variety: 4 (oldies, German music and Terry Buchwald)
Cover-age: 5 (uh, Terry Buchwald)
Elmwood Village Summer Concert Series
From 7 to 9 p. m Tuesdays from June 30 to Aug. 11 at Bidwell Parkway and Elmwood Avenue. Variety: 5 (rock, zydeco, Latin and Babik’s gypsy-jazz stylings on Aug. 11) Cover-age: 1
Fisherman’s Park Concert Series
Starting at 7 p. m. Mondays and Thursdays at Fisherman’s Park in North Tonawanda.
Variety: 4 (a polka night, along with lots of jazz and Great American Songbook interpreters)
Cover-age: 4
Friday at the Falls Concert Series
From 7:30 to 9:30 p. m. every Friday in July and August at the corner of First and Old Falls streets.
Variety: 4
Cover-age: 3 Gateway Harbor Concert Series
Wednesdays and Fridays from June 17 to Aug. 26 (no show on July 17). Wednesday shows are in the Tonawanda section of Gateway Park and start at 6 p. m.; Friday shows are in the North Tonawanda section and start at 7 p. m.
Variety: 3 (lots of classic rock)
Cover-age: 5 (the mother lode: the Beatles, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buddy Holly and Zeppelin tribute bands)
The GreenFields Summer Concert Series
Every other Wednesday from June 24 to Aug. 19 at the GreenFields Gazebo in Lancaster.
Variety: 4 (only five concerts, but you’ve got steel drums, big band, rock and country)
Cover-age: 5
Lancaster Town Band Summer Concert Series
Starting at 7:30 p. m. on Tuesdays from June 16 to Aug. 11 at the Lancaster Youth Bureau.
Variety: 2
Cover-age: 5 (every event is a theme night, sure to be packed with rousing classical themes that we all know and love)
M&T Bank’s Plaza Event Series
You’ve got to hand it to M&T Bank for putting this together every year: 60 lunchtime shows, one for every weekday from June 8 to Aug. 28. All of them are at M&T Plaza in downtown Buffalo, and run from noon to 1 p. m.
Variety: 5 (you’ve got Bobby Militello, a saxophone quartet, a choral ensemble, LeeRon Zydeco, the BPO, ballet, a kids week, etc.)
Cover-age: 5
Mayville’s Entertainment in the Park
From 6:30 to 8:30 p. m. on Thursday nights from July 9 to Aug. 27 at Village Green Park in Mayville (the July 30 edition will be held at Lakeside Park).
Variety: 3 (singer/songwriters rule the roost)
Cover-age: 5 (local favorite Randy Graham, performing on Aug. 27, is known for passing out a song list and taking requests from it)
Newfane Wednesday Nights at the Gazebo
From 7 to 9 p. m. every Wednesday from July 8 to Aug. 19 at the Main Street Gazebo in Newfane.
Variety: 4 (folk, ’50s rock, swing and “hot country-line dancing”)
Cover-age: 4 (two of the artists are classified as “old-time rock ’n’ roll,” which when done well is about as universal as it gets)
Niagara’s Music Mania Mondays
Music Mania Mondays is so maniacal, its first show is on a Wednesday (July 1, with fireworks). After that, it’s every other Monday from July 13 to Aug. 10 at Veteran’s Memorial Park in the Town of Niagara.
Variety: 3 (four shows: three rock, one country)
Cover-age: 5 (The BBC Band’s set on Aug. 10 will have you missing Oldies 104)
Springville Concerts in the Park
Starting at 6:30 p. m. on Thursdays from June 11 to Aug. 20 at Fiddlers Green Park in Springville.
Variety: 3 (a lot of country and big band)
Cover-age: 4 (the Yester-Year Country Band should help out here)
Town of Tonawanda Summer Concert Series
Starting at 7:30 p. m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 14 to Aug. 20. July shows will be held at Brighton Arena; August shows will be at Lincoln Arena.
Variety: 3 (a little big-band heavy)
Cover-age: 3
Waterfront Park Concert Series
From 7 to 8:30 p. m. every other Sunday from July 5 to Aug. 30 at Waterfront Park in Crystal Beach, Ont.
Variety: 4 (blues, soul, jazz and big-band styles are jammed into these five shows)
Cover-age: 3•
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