Downs Park Presents Last Two Summer Shows

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Are you ready to rock? The Friends of Downs Park will count down the end of summer with two September concerts, The Back Pages Band on September 22 and Sub-Radio on September 29, both from 4:30pm to 6:30pm.

Back Pages Band is a golden decade of rock (1963-1973) cover band that has been performing since those songs were originally recorded. The band is made up of Henry Smith on guitar and keyboards, Roger Owens on guitar and guitar synthesizer, Ron Campbell on drums, and Joe Stanisha on bass, with all four members adding vocals.

Stanisha said the set list has not been determined yet, but he claimed that The Back Pages Band’s choices will be “classic tunes from our extensive repertoire of songs that often aren’t attempted by other bands.” A demo tape can be heard at www.thebackpagesband.com.

“The band loves to play at Downs Park in Pasadena because it boasts one of the greatest concert views in America,” Stanisha said. “The bandstand is bumped up against the Chesapeake Bay. The crowd gets to hear the music, watch a sunset, and see sailboats passing quietly by from their seats on their blankets, or in their lawn chairs.”

Sub-Radio is made up of Adam Bradley on lead vocals, Matt Prodanovich on guitar and vocals, Michael Pereira on drums, Barry Siford on bass, and John Fengya and Kyle Cochran sharing guitar and keyboard duties. Sub-Radio could not be reached for comment, but can be found online at www.sub-radio.com and on Spotify and Apple Music.

Cheryl Schwabline, a volunteer with Friends of Downs Park, described the close of this year’s series as bittersweet. “After this year is over,” she said, “we’ll be tearing down the old amphitheater and building a new one. It’s the end of an era.”

Schwabline and the rest of the Downs Park staff are committed to not allowing the construction to halt next year’s summer series, but they admit there are variables that could lead to delays.

“We hope next year, with the new amphitheater, will be our best year yet,” Schwabline said. “We’re going to book the bands, and we’re going to have shows from June through September, not just in June and September. But you know how it goes with permits and other issues.”

No alcohol is permitted at Downs Park and smoking is prohibited within 100 yards of the concert venue. The free concerts are sponsored by Ace Hardware of Lake Shore, Cookie’s Kitchen, Kurtz Beach, Lauer’s Supermarket and Bakery, Huff Insurance, McDonald’s of Lake Shore, the Pasadena Business Association, and the UPS Store of Lake Shore. Even pets are welcome, though they must remain in designated areas.


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