Franklin Park Band

As a seasonal band, Franklin Park is always eager to again reunite each Spring to start its new season of 60s rock 'n' roll.  The band's 2-day May rehearsal in Holland was a great success, greatly energized by the news that all COVID-19 capacity restrictions will be lifted on July 1!  Rehearsing to get ready to play the great music of the 60s in front of large, enthusiastic crowds at great places like Frederik Meijer Gardens, Holland's Kollen Park on Lake Macatawa and Lake Superior Theatre on Marquette's harbor is very energizing.

Musically, after a long winter of working on it in personal practice, performing together the final 3 songs from Abbey Road was great fun.  Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight and The End all somehow run together into 5+ minutes of great music--fun to play, fun to listen to.

We were very pleased to get together in both October and December for garage band socially-distanced open air rehearsals.  (December rehearsal was a relatively "balmy", for December, 40 degrees).  

We are very, very pleased that both Frederik Meijer Gardens and the City of Holland have again asked us to do a Franklin Park show this coming summer.  Hopefully by the July 13 and August 13 dates live summer music shows will again be in full swing. 

And in a Franklin Park first, the band will be in Michigan's wild and beautiful Upper Peninsula in the UP's queen city of Marquette on August 26-28. Franklin Park vocalist Bernie moved to Marquette 50 years ago, fell in love with it (and with wife Mary) and never left (except for Franklin Park shows, of course!).   Date and location of the Franklin Park show in Marquette will be announced at a later date. 

See you then!

COVID-19 ended up cancelling all three of Franklin Park's gigs, with yesterday's announcement from Meijer Gardens that a planned delayed Tuesday Evening Music Club series would be cancelled instead because outdoor crowd size limits in MI remain at 100 persons.

Both Meijer Gardens and the City of Holland have told us that Franklin Park will be booked for 2021!  Hope to see you then!

Fortunately, the band was able to get together in June for a great 2-day rehearsal.  We were ready, ready, ready for FP's 2020 "season" (we are a seasonal band).  The virus would not cooperate.

See you in 2021.  Stay safe, be well and rock on!

As a seasonal band, Franklin Park greatly looks forward to getting together to start its new season in April after the winter hiatus.  Musical "rust' shaken off, new songs played and perfected, and great meals and camaraderie for a bunch of guys who first got together in 1968.

But, like so many of our individual and societal collective experiences in April, 2020, couldn't happen!  Respecting the various government Stay At Home and Social Distancing orders issued, the April rehearsal was cancelled.  But, at this time, the June and July gigs (on the Shows page) are still on the schedule. 

Finally, DO NOT USE THE FP STICKER YOU RECEIVED LAST SUMMER AS A MASK !!!!!

Franklin Park is a seasonal band, playing all of its gigs in the summer.  Long distance commutes and winter weather keep drummer Tom and vocalist Bernie away from winter "string section" rehearsals and make scheduling gigs impossible.  

See you again Summer 2020.  Possible gigs (none confirmed) include Kollen Park in Holland, Meijer Gardens and Whitefish Lake.  We are looking for a gig in the UP too, so Bernie can avoid, for once, his (950-mile RT!) commute from Marquette.

Franklin Park was excited to join its HHS69 classmates at the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club in Holland for their 50-year reunion on September 7.  Adding to the excitement was the MBYC was the last gig in 1969 before the guys went off to 6 different colleges and to life.  The night was fun and a great reminder of the specialness of playing together again so many, many years later!

Tom at the drums! (and playing same great Rogers drums he played in 1969!).

L to R:  Mike R, Jim, Mike J, John, Bernie (Mike J playing 1966 Gibson Melody Maker guitar--same as in high school (same guitar!))

After some nerves in front of therecord crowd on song 1, we settled down and had a good show and a good time!  If you want to hear a couple of our several new songs this year, we recommend Get Together at about 12:45 of the video and Do Wah Diddy near the end at about 47:30.
 

Franklin Park was honored to again play at Frederik Meijer Gardens' beautiful amphitheater on July 30.  And we were further honored to play before the largest crowd ever at a Garden's Tuesday Evening Music Club show.  Gardens staff reported that a crowd of over 2,600 people were admitted to the Gardens after 500pm for this show.  Thank you Meijer Gardens and thanks to all who attended this great show!  Thanks also to 6-Pak, who brought their large following to this 60s music show.

June rehearsal was two "firsts" for this old band.  One, we became a "garage band" for the very first time ever at this rehearsal.  Second, we had a semi-public rehearsal and asked our audience of 20+ to give us input on the 10 new songs (see a hint next sentence!) that we added this year.  Thanks to all who attended and gave us input at this "Get Together".

A few days ago, Frederik Meijer Gardens announced its Tuesday Evening Music Club 2019 lineup.  Don't miss the Franklin Park / 6-Pak  60s music show on July 30 ! 

Also, FP keyboardist/guitarist Mike "Mondo" Reid says don't miss the August 6 show either (Mondo loves bands with lots of horns!)