Madison Heights kicks off first summer concert series

By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published July 4, 2025

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MADISON HEIGHTS — This summer will feature multiple concerts at Civic Center Park, part of a series curated by the Madison Heights Arts Board.

The shows will begin at 7 p.m. the second and fourth Wednesday of July and August. Performances will take place on the bandshell next to the Jaycee shelter building near the sled hill, part of Civic Center Park at 360 W. 13 Mile Road.

Parking is available nearby at Lamphere High and the Madison Heights Civic Center Plaza.

There’s no cost to attend. Performers include The Circle of Sound, playing R&B and funk July 9; Paul Parente Jazz, playing jazz and instrumental music July 23; Weekend ComeBack, playing pop and rock Aug. 13; and Dr. Smith, playing oldies and classic rock Aug. 27.

In the event of rain or severe weather, the concerts will move indoors to the cafeteria at the Active Adult Center, located between City Hall and the library in Civic Center Plaza.

Sponsors include Frank Rewold & Sons — the firm that constructed the bandshell — plus Larry Campbell of Century 21 Campbell, and Larry Sherman of Sherman & Sherman PC.

This year marks the debut of the concert series. It follows a performance by alternative/pop band Cosmic Groove at the Pre-Fourth of July Festival in the Park, which took place on June 29, hosted by Madison Heights Recreation, and it leads up to this year’s Trail Tunes, the strolling outdoor music festival hosted by the Arts Board, returning to Civic Center Park Sept. 6.

Madison Heights City Councilman Sean Fleming said he looks forward to the concerts.

“We have a great lineup. I’m very excited for the fact we have some summer programming that we haven’t had in a long time in the city. It’s also making use of the bandshell that was built,” Fleming said. “I can’t wait to experience it for myself, and to see our residents’ reactions.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mark Bliss created the Madison Heights Arts Board, the citizen-led committee that organizes events such as the concert series and Trail Tunes, and that also commissioned several outdoor murals found around the city.

One of those murals adorns the shelter building next to the bandshell at Civic Center Park: “The Power of Imagination,” by local artist Jennifer Ramirez, spanning all four walls of the structure in a dazzling display of color.

Bliss said the summer concert series harkens back to a time when such events were more common in Madison Heights.

“When I grew up here, we were fortunate to have multiple festivals throughout the summer, all of which had live music. And it has always been a goal of myself and the Arts Board members to bring more live music to the city,” Bliss said.

“You saw that with the creation of the Trail Tunes festival during the pandemic, and this is an evolution of that. We also have the brand new bandshell, so one of our top priorities going into this year as an Arts Board has been to make good use of it,” Bliss said.

He said the idea of a “summer of music,” as he calls it, came about at last fall’s Trail Tunes.

“We were talking and thought, why not have live music all throughout the summer with pop-up concerts that start with the Festival in the Park and end with Trail Tunes, putting them in the middle so that we hopefully fulfill a need, since concert tickets are so expensive these days, priced out of most people’s budgets due to rising inflation,” Bliss said.

“This provides a chance for people to still engage with live music,” he said. “There are so many genres being represented, so people can come out to hear the music they most identify with. Just bring a chair or blanket and have an excellent time at the park.”

The bandshell itself was constructed around this time last year. It cost around $287,000 and was subsidized by a $250,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation.

The difference in cost was covered by money set aside by the city each year in a special projects fund that was spearheaded by Bliss.

“It’s really opened us up to more live music and other performance art, and it’s saved groups money because we no longer need to rent a stage from Oakland County Parks. Now we can put more budget into things that make each festival better,” Bliss said. “By leveraging that quarter of a million dollars in grant funding for the bandshell, we’re already receiving benefits as a city — an immediate return on investment.”

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