The Lead Singers of Classic Rock
A 4th of July Concert Experience
I actually was home this Independence Day (I KNOW!) so I joined my parents and we attended the Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration in our neighboring town where we saw close to four hours of classic rock music! We had:
The Lead Singers Of Classic Rock with the lineup:
August Zadra and the Dennis DeYoung Band performed hits from Styx
Jason Scheff, former lead singer of Chicago alongside the talented Patrick Lamb on saxophone
Tommy DeCarlo, the former lead singer of Boston
(You gotta love the 70s and 80s…their bands are were named after cities!)
Not to forget the talented band that backed them the ENTIRE NIGHT included:
Tommy DeCarlo Jr. (guitar) - Cool he’s playing with his dad!
Jennifer Jo Oberle (bass)
Walter Ino (keyboards/guitar)
Frankie Lindia (guitar)
I can’t for the life of me find any information on who the drummer was, but he was also fantastic! (please let me know in the comments)
Plus Rochester locals - Evan Dobbins (Trombone) and Bob Viavattine (Trumpet) joined the Chicago set
I’m so glad I got to see this performance. Now, I know what you're thinking…
An opera singer really enjoys hearing rock music?!
FUCK YEAH!
Look - my parents met in a record store and I’ve been listening to all genres of music since before I could crawl. If anything, listening to the polar opposite of what I perform onstage is the best thing I can do for my sanity.
Okay - I’m only going to break down the concert a little bit for you:
I was mad impressed with August Zadra. Dude was everywhere on stage and performed all three sets without ever missing a beat. His energy was electric and he is multitalented.
Also - How can you not love Patrick Lamb?! He’s played with everyone: Diane Schuur, Bobby Caldwell, Smokey Robinson and more! YES! Just YES!! BRAVISSIMO!
(My freshman college roommate was a jazz saxophone major who currently plays for Janelle Monáe so of course I’m going to pay close attention any sax player on stage!)
Jason Scheff took the time to share some stories with the audience and they really appreciated that. (He kept saying: “the voice of reason will tell me if I should stop”)
From start to finish, it was a great show!
The crowd was interesting to watch as these talented musicians took the stage. The majority were die-hard classic rock fans of the late Gen-X to Boomer generation. I’m a millennial myself and truthfully, we were under represented (as usual).
We don’t have many REAL rock bands currently dominating the Billboard Top 100. I believe concerts like this are extremely important. As someone who performs an art form that is over 400 years old, I do worry about what inspires the young Gen Z/Alpha generation to pick up a guitar or bass and learn the magic of rock.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox.
Here are a few short clips from where I was seated:
(They are under 17 seconds because truthfully, I prefer sitting and enjoying the music and or getting up and dancing)
“Renegade” (Styx):
Let’s just savor in Patrick Lamb’s solo on soprano saxophone:
The classic from Chicago, “25 or 6 to 4”:
Everyone’s favorite, “More Than A Feeling” (Boston):
Here is their current tour schedule. If you are able to, check them out:
I highly recommend you go out and see live music whenever you can!
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