With music for everyone’s taste – from symphony orchestra; to tributes to the Eagles, RUSH, The Who, and the Grand Ole Opry; to West Afrikan Drumming and the Danbury Drum Corps; and the DJing of The Original Jazzy Jay – CityCenter Danbury’s Concerts on the Green have drawn a record summer crowd of 9,550, and CityCenter is not finished yet. With one more Concert on the Green to go, 2013 may reach the 10,000 mark. Dr. Ya Ya’s Gumbo Party & The Memphis Soul Machine take over the Bandshell with Mardi Gras and Southern Sounds on Friday, August 30 at 7:00 pm. Pack a picnic, bring a chair or blanket, and enjoy. There are multiple dining establishments surrounding the Green, and ample parking is available on the street and in the Patriot Garage, just behind the Bandshell. For additional information, visit www.citycenterdanbury.Please note: Only one concert was cancelled this summer due to inclement weather. Back to the Garden 1969, a celebration of Woodstock, has been rescheduled to appear at the Taste of Greater Danbury on Saturday, September 14 at 2:00 pm.
When Dr. Ya Ya’s Gumbo Party comes to town, shoutin’ and paradin’ wih that BIG second-line beat, tossing colored Mardi Gras beads and doubloons to everyone, you’re in for some of the best Louisiana style musical cookin’ north of Lake Pontchartrain. Everybody deserves a Mardi Gras, 400 days a year. To administer a remedy, Dr. Ya Ya dispatches his musical minions, who resemble past and present members of rootsy rockin’ bands like The Bandidos, Hot Skillet Papas, Eight to the Bar, B. Willie Smith, The Convertibles and more. Parading into every gig with feathers flying, drums pounding, and brass horns blowing – just like Rampart Street on Fat Tuesday – the revue turns up the heat with their rock ‘n roll, rhythm & blues, funk and zydeco gumbo. It’s an all-Louisiana groove riot of party music from the land where rock was born, pumping out the classic sounds of Professor Longhair, The Meters, Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Lloyd Price, Lee Dorsey, Huey Piano Smith, Shirley & Lee, “Zydeco Princess” Miss Ann Goodly, and Clarence “Frogman” Henry.
The spectacular that is Memphis Soul Machine is a stomping tribute to the Southern Soul sound of the 1960s, including greats like Sam & Dave, Al Green, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett; the dynamite vocals of Rob “Mr. Big Stuff” Jockel; and the blazing guitar of Branford native Mike Roth, a longtime local favorite. A relentless rhythm section and brass-knuckle horns from some of New England’s most seasoned bands round out the lineup to bring to life the laid-back romance, sweaty grooves, and front-pew power of the great Southern Soul era.
