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Press
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Summer Music Takes the Stage
Delaware Beach Life Magazine
Love Seed Mama Jump plays to the crowd on a warm summer night, singing some of their most popular songs to a group of avid fans. It resembles the scene on the Rusty Rudder deck in Dewey Beach on a Thursday night, but it’s not. The fans surrounding the local band are much older and younger than those who usually frequent the Rudder shows. The youngest fans are so little that they barely reach the musicians’ elbows when they join them on stage, which they frequently do.
The all-ages show takes place at the Rehoboth bandstand, where Love Seed has played annually since 2006.
“[Love Seed band members] really enjoy it because their kids had never seen them perform,” says Rehoboth bandstand program director Corey Groll, who has been working since 2006 to bring a varied mix of entertainment to the oceanfront venue. This year, programs range from Elvis impersonator Jesse Garron to party band Contagious and ’80s retro band Judo Chop. Love Seed will kick off the series on June 13.
“We’re trying to cover as many genres as we can. It’s all just fun music,” Groll says.
His goal to provide diverse music for all ages means scheduling local favorites like Love Seed and Vinyl Shockley. Ed Shockley greeted a crowd at the bandstand last summer by explaining how when he played there 30 years ago in another band, band members had to guard the electrical outlets so organizers wouldn’t unplug them because they were too loud.
“Welcome back,” yelled a man in the crowd.
Public entertainment has long been a tradition on the bandstands in Rehoboth and Bethany. But now, in addition to those venues, music lovers have other options for free family entertainment in coastal Delaware.
In Milton, where musicians take the stage in Memorial Park, people listen from the grass seated on chairs and blankets, from boats anchored in the nearby Broadkill River and from the outdoor seating available at Irish Eyes.
That same picnic atmosphere surrounds the concerts at Stango Park in Lewes. The city began its summer concert series with a test run in 2003 and a full schedule of about 16 concerts a season every year since 2004. Organizer Jon Woodyard says he begged the city to put on a summer concert series because he wanted to showcase the area’s great musicians on a stage accessible to people of all ages.
“I’m a Midwestern boy. I come from a little town in Iowa, where we had band concerts and I missed them,” says Woodyard, who plays the French horn. He’ll join the Lewes series and others when he performs with the Milford Community Band.
“We have great local and regional musicians and I wanted to get them on stage and let people hear them in the comfort of a beautiful park,” he says.
— Ashley Dawson
For free entertainment, visit:
• Bethany Beach — Fridays through Sundays, and occasionally on weekdays, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bethany bandstand until Labor Day. Weather dependent. For a full schedule, call 539-5484 or visit www.townofbethanybeach.com/index.asp?NID=98
• Lewes — Tuesdays and some Fridays through August at 7 p.m. at Stango Park on Kings Highway. In inclement weather, shows will be held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Second Street. For a complete schedule, visit ci.lewes.de.us/uploadedfiles/summer_music_schedule_2008.pdf or www.leweslibrary.org/Events/2008_Summer_Music.htm
• Milton — Wednesdays through Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. at Milton Memorial Park. In bad weather, shows will be held at the Milton Theatre on Union Street.
• Rehoboth — Thursdays to Sundays through Labor Day at 8 p.m. at the Rehoboth bandstand. Weather dependent. For complete details, visit www.rehobothbandstand.com
Originally published in the June 2008 issue of Delaware Beach Life magazine
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