It’s Thursday! That means it’s another Levitt show out on the y-block just through the alley-way from us. This is show number 7 in the 10-part weekly free music series going on here downtown on the y-block (on 4th and Capitol) thanks to our city getting a grant through the Levitt Foundation.

Tonight is the reggae night of the series! The headlining act is Gizzae – which are a group which formed out of the ashes of Ziggy Marley’s backing band “Dallol” in the 1990’s! Neato! They are based out of the Chicago area and they have been a band for 35 years at this point. Opening things up is Loud Clouds from our area.

All of that sounds like a pretty fun time to us! That kicks off out on the lawn at 6:00 pm. Check out the schedule for the remaining shows in the Levitt series on the Levitt website right here.

Let’s boogie! It’s a Thursday and it’s latin dance night at the Levitt AMP Music Series here downtown! This is show number 6 in the 10-part weekly free music series going on here downtown on the y-block (on 4th and Capitol) thanks to our city getting a grant through the Levitt Foundation.

Tonight’s headlining act is: Tito Puedo, Jr. – a latin jazz musician and also son of legendary timbale player Tio Puedo. Before Tito goes on at 7:00 pm though – there is going to be a dance lesson on stage by Julio Barrenzuela! And before that at 6:00 pm the opening act is
Cuarteto Bendito – a newly formed trio from here in Springfield specializing in Latin Jazz.

All of that sounds like a pretty fun time to us! That kicks off out on the lawn at 6:00 pm. Check out the schedule for the remaining shows in the Levitt series on the Levitt website right here.

How about kicking off the month of July with a free concert, buncha fireworks, and a whole lotta JAZZ? Whoop! That sounds like a nice time, and that’s what’s going on tonight for the next Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series free concert happening tonight out on the y-block. This is concert number 5 in the 10 part series that goes until August 5th, so we are pretty much halfway there!

The headlining act tonight is The New Orleans Jazz Ramblers. “Famous in the Crescent City for their musicianship and performance history, the New Orleans Jazz Ramblers are “the real deal.” Then the opening act right at 6:00 pm is The Kevin Hart Trio – a group from right here in Central, Illinois.

The concert tonight kicks off at 6:00 pm, goes until 8:30 pm, and there will be a firework display to see on Capitol Avenue and from the y-block directly afterwards. Continue checking the Levitt Amp Springfield site for the concert schedule for the following weeks!

The Levitt AMP Music Series continues downtown tonight, with another Thursday night free concert! Tonight it’s country and bluegrass night out on the y-block, and it is the fourth concert lined up in the ten part series that goes on throughout the summer until August 5th. The headlining act tonight is Henhouse Prowlers which can be described as a Chicago bluegrass “powerhouse.” Opening up is Appleton, Wisconson’s DUSK bringing the country. Dusk features members of the band Tenement, who have performed two of our Dumb Fests in the past (2013 and 2015). Stream some of their music on the player below.

All of this kicks off tonight right at 6:00 pm on the Y-block downtown right in-between the governorn’s mansion and our alleyway and is scheduled to go until 8:30pm. We’ll even be closing our store a tad bit early at 5:55pm for this event. If it is raining too hard then this event will be canceled, but lordy heavens lets hope that doesn’t happen. You can find a facebook event for this one right here. Also check out a full schedule of other upcoming Levitt concerts, which were made possible by our city receiving a grant through the Levitt foundation plus other local sponsors, right here on levittampspringfield.org.

We are here, we are ready to post on our site the first thing related to live music happening again in right here in this city. Today is the day. We still aren’t ready to have shows in our own space, but some nice outdoor events in a great big open field starting in June sounds pretty good to us. Especially if all of us are vaccinated.

Today, Levitt AMP Springfield (presented by PNC Bank) announced their big schedule for 2021 – including 10 outdoor concerts every Thursday night from June 3rd to August 5th. These concerts will be taking place out on the “Y-block” next to the Illinois governor’s mansion as they did in the 2019 season, just through the alleyway from our store. Most of these concerts feature two acts – the first one going on at 6:00 pm and the second going on at 7:00 pm and until 8:30 pm. Oh, by the way all of these shows are FREE. This series was made possible by Springfield applying for and getting a grand through the Levitt Foundation, as well as other local sponsors teaming together.

Check out the full announced schedule online right here.

Although the Levitt AMP Music Series that was supposed to be taking place once again this summer out on the Y-block here downtown has been post-poned until 2021, the Levitt AMP site remains active and the foundation has also been active hosting online concerts. Springfield’s very own group, The Deep Hollow was featured as part of the online series late last month, and along with that the Levitt AMP site blog had a nice write-up spotlighting Springfield. You can check that all out right here. From the post:

Nearly 8,000 people attended the inaugural Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series last summer, and lawn surveys conducted by volunteers show an enthusiastic response from the community. Over 80 percent of respondents said that they would like to see a permanent concert venue in the space, and would regularly attend concerts if a permanent band shell was constructed. Other suggestions from the community include a dog park, tennis courts, food truck plaza, and more. “No one was using this block before Levitt AMP,” says (Lisa) Stott, “and now people see the possibilities.”

Keep following that Levitt AMP Springfield facebook page for more Levitt related going-ons and news on the 2021 season to be announced later on.

It comes as no surprise that major outdoor music events and festivals that were going to be taking place this summer are impacted by COVID-19 and limits on social gatherings even as restrictions are lifted and we move to different phases of re-opening. Shows at our space still aren’t happening, and we still aren’t anywhere near being able to plan for them happening again.

Last week the Levitt AMP Music Series, which our city received a grant for for the second year in a row, announced that the series is going to be postponed until 2021. The concert series was going to be taking place every Thursday this summer out on the Y-block once again, just through the alleyway from our downtown location. The Springfield Levitt AMP page made a full stagement last week. Here is some of that:

Given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the status of large public gatherings in Illinois due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and out of concern for the health, safety and well-being of our community — the organizers of the Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series, in consultation with the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, have made the difficult decision to postpone the second season of the popular ten-week music series to 2021.

“This concert series is about bringing all of Springfield together, and we’ll put on an amazing series at the Y Block when we can once again gather in large groups safely,” said Lisa Clemmons Stott, Executive Director of Downtown Springfield Inc., one of the partner organizations.

Added Scott Troehler, President of the Board of Directors of the Downtown Springfield Heritage Foundation, “This decision did not come easily, as it impacts many people in our community, including our dedicated volunteers and crew, artists, presenting partners, community partners, vendors and sponsors, in addition to the thousands of friends, families and neighbors who were looking forward to free Levitt AMP concerts on the Y Block this summer.”

Wow, we did it! Thanks to all who voted for Springfield once again this year to receive a second Levitt Amp Music Grant! Winners were just announced this past Friday, which includes 20 cities selected by a panel based on crowd voting in Levitt’s ongoing poll. This means that once again, there will be 10 free concerts happening out on the Y-Block downtown right by the governor’s mansion, and near our downtown location featuring diverse lineups of national acts featuring different genres throughout the summer. The dates have yet to be officially announced, but it is looking likely to be from the end of May through the end of July that concerts take place.

This time around Levitt AMP Springfield is opening their email up to taking suggestions on national acts that you want to see play the Levitt stage!! That’s right, you can email levittamp@downtownspringfield.org with your suggestions. Also be sure to follow Levitt AMP Springfield on facebook

This past summer’s bands included The Skatalites from Jamaica, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans, John Moreland from Oklahoma, and more.

Yes, you heard that correctly! You know that getting to have free outdoor concerts every Thursday night downtown on the Y-Block was a cool thing, even if you didn’t attend them all, so why not vote to make it happen again for our city?? This time our city is once again in the running for another $25,000 grant to bring free live music downtown this summer. Let’s vote!

Go register on the Levitt site and then vote for Springfield right here!

Springfield’s page on the Levitt site has a description that is more in-depth on how the grant next time around could potentially be used, and also how things went for us this past summer. Here is a piece from that:

No one was using this block before the first year of Levitt AMP. Now people see the possibilities. Yet the block is still in its infancy, as it does not yet have full infrastructure required to become a community gathering site. The city laid AstroTurf and a concrete pad for our first year as a necessary improvement over the dirt and weeds. Success after a second-year grant would include a long-term funding plan and RFP for design that can pass muster with all of our elected officials, from alderman to Governor.

The page on the Levitt site also currently shows that we are 7th place! (The top 25 cities make it on to the next round where the Levitt Foundation selects final recipients).

With the final of ten concerts happening just last night, here is an article in today’s newspaper The State Journal-Register about the overall success of the series and what might be next for the “Y-Block” downtown not too far from our store. From the article:

One of the goals of the concert series was to test the possibilities of the block. While a building is eventually expected to rise on the end of the block along Capitol Avenue, the half closest to the Governor’s Mansion will have to remain open due to the presence of sewer pipes underneath.

The bustling scene – people armed with their lawn chairs and blankets as they mingled in lines for beer, food, and activities for kids while taking in another unique musical guest – is an example of what can be in the vacant block, according to event organizers and community leaders.

You can check out that full article on the SJ-R site online right here, or pick up your local paper at various places around town for two dollars like we did.

From our understanding our city is likely to apply for this same grant and concert series to take place next summer as well (something that doesn’t look like it has been officially announced just yet). We’ll be sure to keep you all updated with any updates or advancements in upcoming concert series or with the Y-Block. You can also follow the Levitt AMP Springfield Music Series facebook page for more updates.