Lost amidst the fanfare surrounding the summer concerts in North Tonawanda and Lockport is the fact that Wheatfield has landed a pretty big show itself.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Lovin’ Spoonful — whose songs “Do You Believe in Magic?” and “Summer in the City” were top 10 hits in the 1960s — are performing at 7 p.m. Sunday in Fairmount Park as part of the town’s Concerts in the Park series. Local band A-List will open the show at 5 p.m.
The performance caps off Wheatfield’s annual town picnic, which begins at 10:30 a.m. and will feature games, a bounce house, wildlife exhibits, a car show, beer tent and chicken barbecue. “It’ll be as good as it used to be, but probably have a little more excitement, and then, to top it all off, the Lovin’ Spoonful will bring it all together,” Supervisor Tim Demler said.
Demler had been looking for the past few years to get a big-name musical act to perform at the park, so he worked with Molson Canal Concert Series promoter Kathy Paradowski to land Lovin’ Spoonful, which had a string of seven top 10 hits in the mid-1960s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Wheatfield business community pitched in to support the event, raising $10,000 in corporate sponsorships, which covers the cost of the show. Moreover, the town will receive 10 percent of all beer sales during the day. “We in the business community feel that the Town of Wheatfield deserves to have a big-name concert,” Wheatfield Business Association President Tom Stevenson said. “They’re all around us. We’re due for one.”
Snagging the Lovin’ Spoonful will accomplish two things, Demler said. “No. 1, it will bring a nostalgic, very popular Hall of Fame band to Wheatfield and, No. 2, it will probably bring more people out to the picnic to see our vendors and things.”
The group, minus original member John Sebastian, has played a number of casino and cruise shows this year, and performed at the Hamburg Fairgrounds in May, so getting them to play Wheatfield is a big deal, organizers said. “To walk into a park and see these guys for free — it’s a piece of rock and roll history,” Stevenson said. “The music is still relevant, and so many of us still remember it.”
In addition to the Lovin Spoonful’s performance, the town picnic will include the Miss Wheatfield Pageant, featuring contestants aged 2 to 22, as well as displays and demonstrations by area police and fire agencies.
Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.
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