City music department announces drive-in concert series
It’s not Down by the Riverside, but on Thursday, Rochester’s music department announced its ‘Plan B’ — confirming there will be live, outdoor music in the Med City this summer.
The new “Car Park Concerts” series, presented by Riverside Concerts, starts July 15 and runs through August 26, with seven different regional acts taking the stage outside the 125 Live building each Wednesday. To ensure social distancing, the show takes place almost entirely inside your car — drive to the show, turn your radio to a predetermined FM station, and watch the performers from afar while the music plays through your stereo.
All of the scheduled shows are free to attend, but it’s not as simple as showing up to the 125 parking lot on Wednesday evenings. Hopeful attendees will be required to call the Riverside Concerts office and request an email reservation, which will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis. The reservation period will go live the Thursday before the show (for example: reservations for the July 15 show will go live on Thursday, July 9). The music won’t be limited to the parking lot, though — all seven events will be live-streamed on Riverside Concerts’ Facebook and YouTube pages.
"We at Riverside Concerts were deeply saddened when we got the news that we would have to cancel ‘Down by the Riverside’ and the ‘forWARD’ park concerts due to the city's suspension of large-scale events on city grounds through August 16th,” said Riverside Concerts general manager Steve Schmidt. “But when the governor asked the state to get creative and innovate, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.”
The Lineup
All seven acts scheduled to play are from Minnesota or Wisconsin, with a majority of acts actively based in Rochester or featuring members with roots in the region.
Winona indie-jam band favorites Karate Chop, Silence will kick off the weekly series on July 15. While they are known best across southeast Minnesota for frequently dominating the stage at Ed’s No Name Bar in Winona, they’ve also made a few stops in the Med City beforehand — most recently at Thesis Beer Project in October 2019.
The following week, Rochester indie rockers Under the Pavilion will take the 125 Live stage. They were a band on the rise in 2019, finishing their year with an opening slot for Bad Bad Hats at Thesis in November. July wraps up with a set from Good Morning Bedlam, a folk/bluegrass three-piece born in Rochester that’s since toured the country and relocated to Minneapolis, on July 29.
In August, the shows start with Rochester-based country artist Debbie Anthony on the 5th of the month. Anthony was scheduled to open for Lindsay Ell during last year’s Down by the Riverside series — until bad weather canceled the show. General B and the Wiz, a Minneapolis-based ensemble of jazz-rock enthusiasts who headlined the first Rochester Thaw, are slated for the August 12 show. The series finishes out with Rochester rock six-piece Hair of the Dog (pictured above) on August 19 and Milwaukee-based folk duo Dead Horses on August 26.
All concerts are scheduled to start at 7 PM, with gates opening at 6:30 for attendees. To enter the parking lot, any car must have a printed reservation confirmation.
To reserve your spot once tickets become available, call Riverside Concerts at (507) 328-2200.
Isaac Jahns is a Rochester native and a 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism. He reports on politics, business and music for Med City Beat.
Cover photo: Hair of the Dog / William Forsman for Med City Beat
