Free Utica Levitt AMP Concert On 7-29 Features Teen Guitar Prodigy

Don't miss Monday nights free Levitt AMP Utica concert! You'll be wowed with jaw-dropping entertainment.

Levitt AMP Utica is a free weekly concert series taking place at 6pm every Monday evening through August 26th at Kopernik Park, 317 Genessee Street. Featuring live music, art, performances, food trucks, and a lively atmosphere, the concerts are events where everyone is welcome to enjoy a reinvigorated space, quality entertainment and building community together in a family-friendly, alcohol-free environment.

Opener: 16-year-old Brandon “Taz” Niederauer

"Taz” is well known in the music scene for his ferocious guitar playing and raw talent, and on Monday, July 29th he’s hitting the Utica stage from 7:30 till 9 pm.

Since making his national television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at just ten years old, Brandon has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, and The View. Brandon played the principal role of guitarist “Zack Mooneyham” in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production, School of Rock the Musical.

In 2018 he performed with Sarah Brightman at The Phantom of the Opera's 30th Anniversary celebration, and alongside Sara Bareilles, Alice Cooper, and John Legend in NBC's live broadcast production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Brandon is currently featured in Spike Lee's Netflix series, She's Gotta Have It, and performs concerts for audiences across the country and around the world. Fans of Rock, Jam, Funk and Blues will not be disappointed.

Opener: Mersey Side 5

The band is named after the Mersey River in Liverpool, England, hometown of the Beatles. After winning several battles of the bands, never taking less than 1st place, the Mersey Side 5 participated in the largest Battle of the Bands at the Three Rivers Inn in Syracuse, New York along with 90 other Rock-n-Roll bands from throughout the Northeast. They competed every Sunday for a 12 week period until finally, they earned the coveted 1st place honor. This event catapulted their career and they became the most sought after Rock-n-Roll band on college campuses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England - and in many clubs in the same region. They were guest on several television shows such as Hank Brown’s Twist-A-Rama and the Bud Ballou Show. In his column in the magazine section of the New York Daily News, Alan DiPetto declared the Mersey Side 5 the most promising Rock-n-Roll band of the times. The band’s career came to a halt in late 1967 due to military and personal demands at a time when they were negotiating a major recording contract with Mercury Records. The MS5 regrouped in the 1990s and has launched Reunion Tours since then.

The band just celebrated 50 years for two original members. Those members are Gary Rigo on drums and Bruce Ward on keyboards and lead vocals, referred to many as the hardest working and most exciting frontman on stage today. To round out the group are Scott Wood formerly of Time Trooper on lead guitar and vocals, Rick Short of the Rick Short Band on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Ben Stubley on bass guitar and vocals. The group now performs songs from the Beatles and Rolling Stones to Tom Petty and Eric Clapton to ZZ Top, the Talking Heads, and Golden Earring. The band can also perform a complete Rolling Stones show.

Intermission: The Butler-Sheehan Academy of Traditional Irish Dance

Levitt AMP Utica will be showcasing the artists of Pieces of HeART, a creative art expression program of Upstate Cerebral Palsy.

Fun for kids include:

• Face painting,
• Art Circle activity,
• Utica Children’s Museum will be there with giant-sized games
• Giant checkers
• Connect 4
• Jenga
• Hula hoops
• Chalk and more.

The concert series is presented by the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties with the support of premier season sponsors including Empire Recycling Corporation, Confidata and ERL Intermodal Corporation, MVP Health Care and the M&T Bank/Partners Trust Bank Charitable Fund. The weekly sponsor for July 29th is MVP Health Care.

Tune into Cindy McMullen at 96.1 The Eagle, the official radio station of Levitt AMP Utica, for the Levitt AMP Monday Minute at 2:20 as she'll pass along any last-minute details for the show. 

Rain Date location will be at the Dorothy Smith Center for Advocacy at RCIL at 1607 Genesee Street.