The outdoor stage needed some sprucing up.
Some paint, new wood, and, of course, a bigger-than-better Generations banner.
And now that the improvements are in place, Mike Duplaga is ready to enhance his family’s live music tradition at Generations Restaurant & Pub with The Clarks returning to the Friendly City on Friday, June 21st. The show is set to begin at 9 p.m. and general admission tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. VIP seating also is limited but still available for $40 per seat.
“We haven’t had any outdoor concerts for two or three years, and of course, none during the pandemic, so it’s going to be great to have The Clarks here again to kick it off the right way,” said Duplaga, . “We’ve given the outdoor stage the facelift it needed, and we’re ready to have them here on the 21st. It’s rain or shine, and if the weather isn’t going to be good, we’ll move it inside.
“On July 19th, we’ll have a Fleetwood Mac tribute band come here to perform on the outdoor stage, and that show will begin around 7:30 p.m. It’ll be an earlier evening,” he said. “Now that we have resolved the insurance issues we were experiencing, we’re going back to what we do best, and that being one of the best music venues for live entertainment in the Wheeling area.”
There are several shows on Generations’ schedule right now, including Buckwild on July 6th, REHAB (they perform the “Bartender” song) on July 11th, and karaoke takes place on the main level every Friday.
“Right now, I’ve made several offers for a number of national country acts in addition to the Fleetwood Mac show we’ve scheduled, and we have several shows scheduled for our indoor stage, too,” Duplaga explained. “We’ve also been discussing bringing back our ‘Bike Nights’ during the month of August, and as far as comedy is concerned, we’ll have to see. Some shows did well, but it was hit and miss, and I’d prefer everything to be a hit.
“We’ve been listening to our customers, too, and this is something they wanted to see come back, and that played into the decision, too,” he said. “And we do it right and people appreciate that.”
It’s what Duplaga does because his parents did it before him, and live entertainment makes sense, too, because, frankly, it’s been a money maker since he opened the eatery more than 25 years ago. The property was once home to the Swing Club, and before that it was an IGA Foodliner grocery store and a neighborhood bar.
“My family has been involved with live entertainment for a lot of years and it’s carried over to here at Generations because the people here still really enjoy it when a show is put on the right way,” Duplaga said. “We’ve lost a lot of population since there were two big Jamboree shows in downtown (Wheeling) every Saturday night, but the folks around here really love our live music.
“That’s why we have bands and acoustic shows inside most weekends., and I know some of our shows bring people in from out of town,” he explained. “Live music is a family tradition, so I guess it’s in my blood.”
