The City of Rahway’s concert series continues every Thursday night in August. Come out to enjoy these free outdoor concerts starting at 7:30pm in front of the Union County Performing Art Center (1601 Irving St, Rahway). In the event of rain the concert will be moved inside the UCPAC. Parking available at: Rahway Parking Authority Parking Deck (67 Lewis St, Rahway), Hamilton Stage (360 Hamilton St), and Rahway City Hall (1 City Hall Plaza).
On Thursday, Aug 11, Peace of Woodstock and The Family Stone will help spread the spirit of the sixties to the citizens of Rahway. Peace of Woodstock pays tribute to Woodstock, the famous three day festival of peace, music, love, and fun, that helped define an entire generation. The show will take you on a musical journey from the acoustic opening act of the Woodstock experience, Richie Havens, all through the closing moments of the festival with the explosive, electric sounds of Jimi Hendrix. During an era of injustice and inequality, living legends the Family Stone broke down barriers with their psychedelic funk and powerful lyrics. With original founding members Cynthia Robinson, Gregg Errico, and Jerry Martini as part of the lineup, the band performs Sly and the Family Stone hits like “Everyday People” and “Dance To The Music” with the same enthusiasm as they did in the ’60s and ’70s. The Family Stone and friends always have fans coming out in droves to their thrilling performances.
The series continues on Thursday, Aug. 18 with multiple award nominated artist and composer Steven Dorff. His many top hit songs have been sung by some of the greatest artists of our time-Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Aaron Neville, Vanessa Williams and countless others. The X Factor season 1 finalist Stacy Francis, The X Factor season 3 finalist Rachel Potter, and Nashville superstar Becky Pine will Join Steven on stage to help sing some of his timeless songs with each of the women representing the genres of music R&B, Rock, and Country.
The Series will conclude on Thursday, August 25th with a double bill performance from the 10,000 Maniacs and The Smithereens. One of the most critically acclaimed bands of the last three decades, 10,000 Maniacs were founded by Robert Buck, Dennis Drew, Steven Gustafson, John Lombardo, Jerry Augustyniak, and Natalie Merchant. Together with artists like R.E.M. they defined college rock and created the first wave of alternative rock bands and what became known as the alternative rock format on FM radio.Writing and performing powerful, danceable and socially conscious original material ,the group tours extensively and have produced two independently released records, Human Conflict Number Five and Secrets of the I Ching on their own Christian Burial Music label. Local New Jersey legends, The Smithereens, are known for writing and playing catchy 1960s-influenced power pop that inspired countless alternative rockers including Kurt Cobain. The Smithereens gained popularity with “11” the album that spawned radio favorites “A Girl Like You”, “Blood and Roses”, and “Blue Period”. The band continues to record and tour aggressively including a recent extensive tour opening for Tom Petty, and co-headlining Rock of the 80’s with The Romantics and Berlin.
(above) The Smithereens
(above) Peace of Woodstock and The Family Stone
(above) The Company Men
(above) 10,000 Maniacs
