War replaces Loverboy on Elk Grove summer concert bill
Elk Grove Village has made another change to its summer concert series bill, replacing 1980s Canadian rockers Loverboy with the 1970s California funk rock group War.
The change to the Tuesday, July 20 concert date was necessitated by Loverboy's cancellation of concert tour dates in the U.S. because of COVID-19 travel quarantine protocols, Mayor Craig Johnson said.
In their place, Johnson announced that concert promoter Entertainment Management Group was able to secure War, featuring original founding member Lonnie Jordan.
The funk. rock and soul fusion group charted hits like "Spill the Wine," "Low Rider," "The Cisco Kid," "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and "The World Is a Ghetto."
It marks the second lineup change for this year's Mid-Summer Classics Concert Series, after officials announced in April that George Thorogood & The Destroyers would replace KC and The Sunshine Band on July 13, once the disco group canceled its 2021 tour.
Still on the slate is rock group Daughtry to open the free concert series July 4. The iconic surf rockers The Beach Boys, with co-founder Mike Love, close out the series July 27.
The last three concerts will be held on consecutive Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. next to village hall, 901 Wellington Ave., with the Fourth of July concert starting at 8 p.m. at Rotary Green, 164 Lions Drive.
Johnson grabbed headlines in March when he announced the shows would go on, and then a month later added that the village wouldn't require masks or impose other restrictions, amid improving COVID-19 metrics.
"We're getting the community back together. We're getting back to the summer celebration here in Elk Grove," Johnson said at a village board meeting Tuesday night. "We're out of the pandemic, we're getting vaccinated, we're moving on, and we're coming back together as a community. Remember, just a few months ago we were considered the crazy ones for having our events, and now everyone is trying to play catch up to us."
"I think we'll see crowds like we've never seen before," Johnson added.
Also Tuesday, the mayor announced Paul Revere's Raiders would perform during the village's tree lighting ceremony Nov. 26.