Finally, the silence will be broken.
The first live concert at Centre Market since September 2019 is set for Friday evening from 8-11 p.m. “Severn South,” a band featuring musicians from the Upper Ohio Valley, will be featured, and a beer tent will be available at the outdoor venue. The concert will be staged on Lane B, the same side where Casa de Vino, Market Vines, the Wheeling Brewing Company, and Brew Keepers are located.
“I know a lot fo people are very excited for the event because it will be the first one in a long time,” said Jon Banco, a local musician who worked with the City of Wheeling to schedule the outdoor concert series. “The first Centre Market show was scheduled for two weeks ago, but we were not able to move forward with it because the permits were not issued by the state soon enough. Everything is in place now.
“The Centre Market Concert Series will take place every first and third Wednesday of every month through September, and there will be a couple of other events that will take place, as well,” he explained. “The United Way’s Red, White, and Brew is scheduled for July 2, and then the United Way will hold its Octoberfest in late September.”
That’s a Highway, Right?
“Seven South” is a group that plays a variety of songs from the 1990s, and the lead vocalist is excited for her and her band mates to be the first outdoor show in more than a year.
“It is something we have been looking forward to since we scheduled the show with Jon more than a month ago,” said Franni Schiffer. “It was a very long year for everyone, but the pandemic completely shut down live music, and that meant we couldn’t perform for a live audience for months.
“While two of our band members are from Wheeling, the other two are from the Weirton area, and they have to travel Ohio Route 7 south for a lot of the shows that we play. At the time we were discussing band names, that fact came up,” Schiffer said. “Plus, ‘Seven South’ has that alliteration and that’s never a bad thing. It’s makes it memorable.”
There are several live performances that are scheduled for Friday evening at a plethora of venues throughout the Wheeling area, but the Centre Market concerts consistently have drawn large crowds in the past.
“It’s going to be very heartwarming playing again and to be able to see people enjoying it again,” Schiffer said. “It’s just going to feel great that we are all back together again.
“We would never play songs that we didn’t think the audience won’t enjoy, and we don’t play songs that we don’t enjoy,” she continued. “Plus, we do our best not to play songs that have been played way too often. It’s all about allowing for the people in attendance to have a great time listening to us for those three hours.”
It’s Really Happening
We’re free.
“I literally have to keep saying that to myself,” Banco admitted. “I know we have had bands in venues for a month or so now, but this Centre Market show is a benchmark for me because I’ve been waiting to be able to schedule the series for a long time. Once the restrictions were lifted and people were getting vaccinated, it finally started to feel normal again.”
Although W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice announced in late March that fairs and festivals were permissible beginning on May 1, the City of Wheeling opted to begin events like Waterfront Wednesdays and the Centre Market concerts once the month of June arrived. Several festivals at Heritage Port will follow throughout the summer, as well.
“From what I have seen so far, local residents were anxious to get out to live music events, and the crowds we have seen at the Sunday concerts at Oglebay have been impressive,” Banco reported. “For this weekend alone, I scheduled more than 20 acts from Thursday through the Sunday concert, and we have also expanded into other days of the week, too.
“We have a lot of talents here in the Valley,” he continued. “When I was younger, a lot of the venues had gone away from having bands for whatever reasons. They had decided to depend on DJs and the juke box, but once a few of the owners took a chance on local musicians again, it caught on with the others, and now we live music almost all week long.”
The Centre Market Concert Series will continue through mid-September, and The Muddle, The Gage Joseph Band, and MSM are scheduled for July 2, and Hoard and Jones are set for July 16. To view the entire schedule for Centre Market, Waterfront Wednesdays, and Toe Tappin’ Tuesdays, click here.
“It’s going to be a great summer for live and local music,” Banco said. “And trust me; the musicians are just as excited to perform as the people in the audience because it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to get back to what we had grown used to in the Valley the past several years.
“That’s why this evening at Centre Market is going to feel good for everyone there,” he added. “I think it will allow everyone to feel like we’re finally getting back to normal.”
