Rehoboth Beach’s bandstand concerts are underway, with a wide array of music coming to the downtown venue.
Corey Groll is the city’s bandstand director. He said his goal in booking the more than 40 shows each summer is to make sure everyone has an opportunity to hear music they love.
“A little bit of country, a little bit of blues, a little bit of military, and whatever fits,” he said. “We've got 60s, we've got 70s, we've got 80s, we've got groups that cover everything. And it just depends whenever you want to come out. Hopefully it's going to be something new and something you're going to enjoy.”
A big part of the summer concerts are tribute acts and artists, covering everything from the Beach Boys to Elton John to Styx to Elvis. Groll said those shows are usually guaranteed to draw big crowds.
“Those acts have the unique benefit of, if you're walking by and you recognize that style of music or that entire group that you've grown up listening to, and you want to hear more from them, that will pull those people in,” he said.
The concert series also features military bands, many from Washington, DC. This year’s offerings include ensembles from the U.S. Navy Band, the U.S. Army Field Band, and the Delaware National Guard. Groll added that those bands are more than just marches, and their performances reinforce the bandstand’s mission.
“Almost every major military group has some genre covered so that everybody gets the enjoyment of an absolutely professional group,” he said. “And we get to say, ‘hey, those are our soldiers.’ We're a Veterans Memorial bandstand is really what the true name of the bandstand is.”
Best of all, he said, every show is free of charge.
“That's really the purpose of why we do this for everyone, to give them something absolutely free while they're in town in Rehoboth, and it's more to enjoy,” he said.
And, he noted, the concerts benefit more than just the listeners.
“We want to bring people in so that everybody benefits, not just the audience, but the businesses and the community say, ‘hey, this is a great thing that we have,’” he explained. “And hopefully the people that are there will venture out and they'll make purchases, they'll go to restaurants and they'll enjoy their time while they're in Rehoboth.”
While the concerts happen in the summertime, putting the series on is a year-round effort. Groll said that planning for the next season begins even as the current season’s concerts are still going on. And on concert days, before the musicians hit the stage, Groll and a sound engineer show up early to turn a simple concrete structure into a stage that complements the acts who perform on it.
“It looks like a good gazebo style area,” he explained. “Then when the show happens, the goal is to make it look like an actual stage. And we do have the lights and everything set up and the amps and the sound equipment and everything else.”
Concerts at the Rehoboth Bandstand run through September 5.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
