Foreigner, Air Supply highlight Elk Grove’s record $1.1 million summer concert lineup
At a cost of $1.1 million, Elk Grove Village’s 16th summer concert series — featuring a lineup of Jake Owen, Fitz and the Tantrums, Foreigner, Smash Mouth and Air Supply — is the town’s priciest ever.
The Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series annually draws thousands to the Northwest suburb for shows that are free to attend and funded through a mix of tobacco licensee fees, hotel/motel taxes and video gambling revenues.
The popular concerts will be part of a series of events in 2026 to mark the village’s 70th anniversary and the Elk Grove Park District’s 60th anniversary.
Officials from both local governments announced the lineup Tuesday night before village trustees inked a contract with Entertainment Management Group to manage and operate the shows. The agreement with EMG, run by Elk Grove Village residents Murray and Kitty Weiner, is inclusive of artists’ fees — though it doesn’t provide the specific cost breakdown per artist — and commissions for the promoter and band managers.
“It is the biggest contract we’ve ever had for summer concerts,” said Mayor Craig Johnson.
He thanked the park district for upping its annual contribution to $200,000, and Prime Data Centers for its sponsorship donation.
Last July, when only four shows were staged, the concert series cost $685,000. In 2024, it cost $745,000 to put on five concerts.
Park board President Bill O’Malley, one of the early supporters of the intergovernmental partnership, admits some taxpayers have complained about the park district giving the village money for the shows.
“But I look at parks and recreation — it comes in all forms,” O’Malley said. “We all pay taxes. And what better way to relax and listen to some music, go out there with a Diet Coke, a beer, whatever you’d like. It’s a great idea. If the village ever stopped it, they’d get a lot of complaints right now.”
Here is a closer look at the lineup, which Johnson called “a nice cross section” of genres:
• Saturday, July 4 — Jake Owen (“Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Yee Haw”) will perform his country music hits as part of Fourth of July festivities at Rotary Green on Lions Drive near Elk Grove High School. Fireworks follow the show.
• Thursday, July 16 — Fitz and the Tantrums (“HandClap,” “Out of My League”) will perform as part of Rotary Fest at Rotary Green.
• Friday, July 17 — Foreigner (“Feels Like the First Time,” “I Want to Know What Love Is”) plays the Rotary Green stage on the 70th anniversary of the village’s incorporation. The band performed a decade ago for Elk Grove’s 60th. A fireworks display follows the concert.
• Tuesday, July 21 — Smash Mouth (“All Star,” “Walkin’ On The Sun) will play on the Village Green outside the Elk Grove municipal complex, 901 Wellington Ave.
• Tuesday, July 28 — Air Supply (“All Out of Love,” “Lost In Love”) will close out the series on the Village Green. When the Australian soft rock duo performed in Elk Grove in 2015, some 17,000 fans packed the area around village hall, the library and nearby shopping center. It was the biggest crowd in the concert series’ history until 20,000 showed up to see the Beach Boys in 2021, according to village estimates.
Most of the shows will begin at 7:30 p.m., but Jake Owen and Foreigner — who will precede fireworks — are set to take the stage at 8 p.m.