People say you get what you pay for. But in today’s economy, it can feel like you’re paying more and getting less. Riverfront Nights turns that equation on its head.
Instead of asking audiences to settle for second-rate entertainment, Riverfront Nights delivers far more bang for your buck than you’d expect from many ticketed shows – let alone a free concert.
Yes, free. Thanks to the generous support of Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union, the series brings top-notch tribute bands from beyond Chattanooga to Ross’s Landing every Saturday night through the summer.
The result? Big sing-alongs and all the Tennessee summer heat you can handle. But for a night of live music that costs nothing, it’s a trade-off most concertgoers are willing to make.
I call TVFCU’s support of Riverfront Nights “generous” because bringing in bands of the caliber of Toledo, Ohio-based JUMP: America’s Van Halen Experience can’t be cheap. Yet there they were on June 27, whipping a crowd that filled Ross’s Landing into a chorus-shouting frenzy while tearing through the hits that defined Van Halen’s David Lee Roth era. (Sorry, Van Hagar fans.)
By crowd, I mean about 12,000 people, according to TVFCU. Some things are better with several thousand people, and an outdoor hard-rock show featuring Van Halen staples like “Panama” and “Jump” is one of them.
Fortunately, Ross’s Landing is built for events like this. As the sun dipped over the Tennessee River, the crowd stretched from Riverside Drive to the river’s edge, where the stage stood, and from the stairway on the right to the pier on the left, spilling beneath the pier and lining its length.
When JUMP launched into its set and the opening chords of “Panama” rang out, thousands of fists shot into the air. As the audience shouted every word back at the stage, it felt like the crowd was carrying as much of the show as the band.
One of the remarkable things about Riverfront Nights is how easy it is to attend. There’s no gate, no fencing and no funneling people through a makeshift entrance. You simply wander over from wherever you parked downtown, descend the stairs and claim a spot.
With a crowd of roughly 12,000 people, you might expect a fight for space. Oddly enough, it wasn’t. Other than the area immediately in front of the stage, finding room for our chairs was easy, and moving through the crowd for food and drinks never became a battle of elbows.
Arriving well before the opening act certainly helped, as there was plenty of open ground. As I settled into a shady spot beneath the pier, I couldn’t help thinking of Tom Cruise in “Far and Away,” staking his claim during the Oklahoma Land Run and declaring, “I claim this land by birthright!”
The shade was coveted for good reason. The humidity made it feel far hotter than the thermometer suggested, and even after sunset, the air remained heavy. Lead singer Michael Stephen Neumann joked that the weather reminded the band of a show they played in Thailand, where the humidity was “one million.”
Thankfully, relief wasn’t hard to find. Kona Ice sold shaved ice throughout the evening, while TVFCU handed out branded hand fans to anyone who wanted one. (I worked up a sweat using mine, which seemed counterproductive.)
You might be wondering how good the band really was. After all, it was a free concert featuring a tribute act, not the real Van Halen.
I never saw Van Halen during its heyday – a decision I blame on a regrettably timed classical music phase – but I’ve spent plenty of time listening to the band’s catalog over the years. While The Van Halen Experience didn’t replicate the blistering intensity of the originals, no one should reasonably expect them to.
What they did deliver was a tight, energetic and thoroughly entertaining set performed by skilled musicians who clearly understood what made Van Halen such a force. Standouts included “Panama,” “Jump” and “Runnin’ with the Devil.”
Van Halen’s signature stage antics were part of the show, too. Neumann pulled off a convincing approximation of Roth’s gravity-defying midair leg splits, drummer Eric Sutherland delivered several thunderous drum solos, and guitarist Cody Alexander had the unenviable task of filling Eddie Van Halen’s shoes.
While no one could replace Eddie, Alexander captured enough of the guitarist’s flair and technical wizardry that the audience never seemed to mind.
In short, the band delivered exactly what the crowd came to hear: loud guitars, familiar hits and two hours of unabashed fun.
At this point, you might be wondering how TVFCU squares a family-friendly concert series with a Van Halen tribute band. It’s a fair question. Van Halen built its reputation as hard rock’s ultimate party band, complete with a “booze-and-babes” image. Yet the show was about as family-friendly as four guys in tight spandex singing “Hot for Teacher” could reasonably be.
Neumann even acknowledged the irony.
“They mentioned when we got here that this show needed to be PG,” he said. “And I said, ‘You wanted a family-friendly show, and you invited a Van Halen tribute band?’”
For the most part, though, Neumann and company behaved themselves. If they could keep it PG, chances are upcoming acts like Slippery When Wet: The Ultimate Bon Jovi Experience, Kings of Queen: The Nation’s Top Queen Tribute and Skynfolks: A Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd can do the same.
(By the way, is there an unwritten rule that every tribute band name has to come with a tagline?)
So yes, JUMP was a hit, but Riverfront Nights is about more than hard rock. The series spans a wide range of musical tastes, with upcoming tribute acts celebrating everyone from Johnny Cash and Alabama to Earth, Wind & Fire (a show my wife has already informed me we’re attending).
Classic rock fans needn’t worry, though. They still get the lion’s share of the lineup, with tributes to Fleetwood Mac, Journey and the Grateful Dead still to come. (View the remaining lineup at riverfrontnights.com/schedule.)
Despite having a great time at Riverfront Nights, I did leave with one disappointment. While scanning the schedule before the show, I spotted “Sloppy Street Tacos” and assumed it was one of the food trucks. I’d already decided what I was ordering.
Alas, Sloppy Street Tacos turned out to be the opening band.
Fortunately, El Taco Boss was on hand to soften the blow, serving some of the best nachos I’ve had in ages. And as consolation prizes go, watching a local band warm up the crowd before the main act took the stage wasn’t bad either.
After one night at Riverfront Nights, it’s easy to understand why so many Chattanoogans make it part of their summer routine. Good music, delicious food and a couple thousand neighbors singing along on the riverfront isn’t a bad way to spend a Saturday evening.
These days, it can feel like everything costs more than it should. Riverfront Nights is a rare exception – a Chattanooga tradition that delivers far more than it asks in return.