By Elizabeth Hulsbrink
Geneseo Current
Take a stroll through downtown Geneseo on a summer Saturday night and you will hear the sweet sounds of music everywhere! The Central Bank Pavilion 2024 Summer Concert Series is well under way and this past Saturday, June 29, Mo’s Garage took center stage. The band’s motto, “…. assaulting your ears and heart one butchered song at a time!” was beyond fabulous! With three guitars, one bass, drums and mixed vocals, this band rocked the night away. Their covers included songs from Bay City Rollers to The Cranberries, and Mötley Crüe to Lady Gaga. There was definitely a song for everyone. Huge applause to the female lead for tackling some seriously tough songs; she nailed them with her stylistic perfection.
Since the city of Geneseo blocked off a portion of State Street from north of Orange Street to Exchange Street, people were able to dance in the streets or bring lawn chairs to just sit and enjoy. Also, La Roma’s Pizza, Leman’s, and Raelyn’s were all serving up specials of one kind or another.
But if dancing in the streets wasn’t your thing, just around the corner at Geneseo Brewing Company (GBC) Frankie Joe & Kinfolk played outside. As per their website, Kinfolk “is a little string band with big roots, honest American roots.” The majority of their lineup for the evening were original songs, written primarily by Frankie Joe Willderman. Their sound was a mixture of country-meets-rock-meets-bluegrass folk, which they proudly call “a Midwest blend with Ozark Mountain accent.” This easy-listening band kept the audience entertained with it’s acoustic guitar, mandolin, modified upright bass, drums, and a slew of percussion instruments, including a rubber chicken. Yes, you read that right! “We feel a kinship to create music together and a sense of duty to keep it alive for out clan,” (from website).
If you would like to check out either of these two great bands, Mo’s Garage will be playing at Orion Fireworks Festival on Wednesday, July 3, starting at 5:30, while Frankie Joe & Kinfolk will be at Geneseo’s Central Bank Pavilion, Wednesday, July 3 from 7-9pm. For more details, both bands have their own Facebook pages.