Friday Night Live Returns This July
It’s a sure sign of summer in Rutland when crowds gather downtown on Center Street for fun, food and entertainment. The popular Friday Night Live summer music series will return for three weeks this July, featuring 8084 on the 13th, Kat Wright on the 20th and John Waite on the 27th. In addition to music, families and friends can come out to enjoy the variety of local and traveling food vendors and activities that will pack the street between Merchants Row and Wales Street.
The Downtown Rutland Partnership, who organizes the series each summer, took input from the community to continue growing the attendance of the events and ensure they appeal not just to music lovers, but also families who are looking for activities and affordable food options.
Each of the evenings will kick off at 5pm with the main musical acts starting about 8pm. Concert attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs for viewing the shows and this year there will be a strict no smoking policy throughout the event.
Attendees can also partake in activities such as a sneak peek of the RAVE Car Show on the 13th, a story walk and Rutland Youth Theatre mini performance on the 20th, a live street art demonstration and performance from Peak Cheerleading on the 27th, as well as a photo booth, bouncy house, henna tattoos, live art demos, craft making, acoustic music, a smoothie bike, pottery demos, giant-sized games, open art galleries and more. For food, there will be wood-fired pizza, barbecue, tacos, Chinese, frozen treats, sandwiches, fresh organic juice, salads, fried dough, as well as a number of downtown restaurants that will be open for business as usual.
8084, who will take the stage on July 13th, has excited audiences for more than a decade. Sharing the stage with such acts as Aldo Nova, Toto, April Wine, Warrant, Edgar Winter, Blue Oyster Cult, Henry Lee Summer, the group has performed throughout all of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southern States, as well as Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. Whether in an intimate club in Columbus, Georgia or before 10,000 people at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada, 8084 demonstrates the ability to please a crowd.
July 20th will feature Kat Wright, whose voice is both sultry and dynamic, delicate yet powerful; gritty but highly emotive and nuanced, has been described as “a young Bonnie Raitt meets Amy Winehouse”. There’s soul flowing in and out of her rock ‘n’ roll with a serpentine seduction. Kat is an up and coming Vermont artist with an impressive repertoire gracing festivals all over the United States such as Summer Camp, Riverfront Music Revival, ARISE Music Festival, Friendly Gathering, Waking Windows, and Rooster Walk.
John Waite will wrap up the series on July 27th, the British born rock star who has been successfully writing, recording and performing some of the most listenable, enduring and appreciated popular music for more than 35 years. The ride began when Waite was tapped as bassist and lead vocalist for the Babys who rocketed to Top 20 chart positions with a pair of infections hits, “Isn’t it Time,” “Broken Heart” and “Every Time I Think of You” John’s solo effort, 1984’s No Brakes, did exactly what the title inferred, barreling at runaway train speed to international acclaim and U.S. platinum success thanks to the smash hit, “Missing You,” which did not stop until it reached Number 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles, Album Rock Tracks and Adult Contemporary charts. John Waite continues to forge his own singularly personal path, celebrating the present and engaged by the promise of the future.
For more information, visit downtownrutland.com/fridaynightlive or follow Downtown Rutland on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for event updates.
The Friday Night Live series is made possible thanks to the generosity of Downtown Rutland event sponsors, including Heritage Family Credit Union, Price Chopper, Farrell Distributing, Best Western Inn and Suites of Rutland-Killington, VELCO, Kinney Pike and People’s Bank.