Rotary Club Ramps Up Anticipation for 2025 Summertime by George Concert Series

(KNSI) – The Rotary Club of St. Cloud held a rally at Legends Bar Thursday to drum up hype for this year’s Summertime by George concert series.

It will once again feature eight scheduled performances, which is dependent on weather. Janelle Kendall is on the committee that sets the music lineup. She says her job is simple: Give the crowd what they want.

“When we tried some of the things that went to a little bit newer music, it didn’t necessarily fit as well. We want something that people can sing along to, songs that they know…The focus of what our crowd comes to hear is that ’70s and ’80s hit radio.”

When they do take risks, it is actually to go older. One of the headliners organizers are most excited about is Anthony Shore, whose Elvis impersonation is straight out of the 1950s.

Summertime by George remains the largest free concert series in the area by far, but its post-COVID audiences have not quite risen to the glory days when 20,000 people packed into Eastman Park to hear the Fabulous Armadillos in 2018. Kendall loves big crowds but admits mega crowds can be too much.

“At least the feedback that I get as a musician, and I think that might be different than other people on the committee are hearing, is that people were kind of intimidated, candidly, by the parking, or the crowds, or just the whole event that it became.”

This year’s theme is Tap Into Summer, a reminder that alcohol will be permitted throughout the grounds. Kendall says if the music is good and the party is going strong, she expects strong attendance for all eight scheduled shows.

The full concert lineup can be found here.

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