Levitt Pavilion Dayton to present 2022 Eichelberger Concert Season
Friends of Levitt Pavilion Dayton will present more than 46 concerts this year as part of the 2022 Eichelberger Concert Season. The free, outdoor concert series will run from June through September.
“It’s more than just a concert here. Our mission is to build community through music, one free concert at a time,” says Madeline Hart, director of marketing and communications at Levitt Pavilion Dayton.
When there’s not a high-ticket price, suddenly, everybody feels welcome. Suddenly, everybody now has access to the power that live music holds, she says.
“Then, when everybody feels welcome, and is able to access this, you start to see magic happen on the lawn. You start to see people who would have never met before have conversations that they would have never had before,” Hart says.
Now, they meet, talk, dance together or communicate on social media—all because they experience live music together.
Concerts will begin at 7 p.m. and are free to the public. No tickets are needed. Guests can just show up, sit down and enjoy the music. Attendees may bring in blankets, chairs and coolers as well as their own food and beverages. Attendees can bring alcohol, but no glass containers are permitted. Food and beverages will also be available for purchase.
Local, regional, national and international acts have performed on the Levitt Pavilion Dayton stage, located at 134 S. Main St. in Dayton. This year’s line-up includes a wide range of genres from pop and rock to R&B, blues, country, jazz and more.
“We try to be very intentional about the diversity of our genres and of the representation on our stage, so that it is representative of our community. So, when we are programming, we are very cognizant of the diversity of the musicians on our stage,” Hart says, “This year, we have new, genre specific series, so that we’re sure we are getting a very diverse line-up.”
Concerts will be held every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, there will be no concerts held on the July Fourth weekend. The closing concert will be held on Sunday, Sept. 18 with Blessing Offor.
“We try to be very consistent, so that people know that our space is programmed on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. If they want to just come out and enjoy music on a Thursday night, they don’t even need to know who’s on stage, they just know that they can come downtown and enjoy live music, and they know it’s going to be high caliber and they can try it,” Hart says.
New this year, there are separate genre series with a headliner in each series, including a Funk Series, Roots/Zydeco Series and a Country/Bluegrass Series, among others, that are sponsored by different individuals, businesses and organizations.
Another new series introduced this year is the Gem Series, sponsored by Projects Unlimited, which is a local, opener series.
“We wanted to place local bands in front of our bigger, national acts, to open for them and grow their audience. This way, we can put them in front of a larger, national act, and hopefully, expose new audiences to these bands and their music,” Hart says.
Last year, more than 87,000 people attended 36 free concerts and 20-plus community gatherings at Levitt Pavilion Dayton. In addition to the 46 concerts at the venue this year, there will be eight pop-up, music events happening around the city.
