Levitt Pavilion Dayton announces big 2024 season
A wonderfully eclectic array of artists will be pre- sented during Levitt Pavilion Dayton’s 2024 Eichelberger concert season.
Announced Thursday, the lineup contains 44 free con- certs ranging from Gram- my-nominated perform- ers such as The War and Treaty and E.U. to diverse acts locally and nationally stemming from the land- scapes of country, blues, pop, funk, R&B, soul, reg- gae, Americana and more. The season launches Thurs- day, May 30 with Monophonics and concludes Saturday, Sept. 14 with a concert salut- ing veterans.
“We are all really excited about this season,” said Lisa Wagner, executive direc- tor. “We have many return- ing audience favorites and many new-to-us artists that we can’t wait to share with you. The team has also been working so hard with our community to craft this new season, I’m extremely proud of what we have accomplished together.”
In particular, Wagner is excited to present the annual Juneteenth concert, which will be headlined by E.U. on June 15 and is spearheaded by Sierra Leone of Signature Educational Solutions and Oral Funk Poetry Productions. She also hopes to grow Levitt Dayton’s World Indigenous Day Celebration, slated Aug. 10 and headlined by Digging Roots, in the vein of Juneteenth.
“I’m most proud of the partnerships and the ways we are working within the community,” Wagner said. “Our Juneteenth concerts are amazing, not only for our community in terms of coming together and cele- brating but in the way Sierra Leone and her team curates that concert for us. But we also felt a calling to do the same thing with our Indig- enous and Native Ameri- can community. So, we’re excited about presenting Digging Roots and trying to start working on some- thing for World Indigenous Day that is educationally and culturally similar to June- teenth for our Indigenous community.”
Levitt Dayton has also added the Amplified Series sponsored by the City of Dayton (formerly known as the City of Dayton sum- mer music festivals). Lev- itt organizers have taken over the programming and curation of these events, adding them to their sum- mer concert season. The three Amplified concerts will be held on three Sat- urdays and begin at 5:30 p.m. instead of the normal 7 p.m. concert start time and feature a D J, two open- ers and a headliner, ampli- fying blues, funk and Reg- gae genres of music.
All concerts are open to the public. Levitt Dayton, 134 S. Main St., is in Dave Hall Plaza in downtown Dayton and features lawn seating. Audience mem- bers can bring their own lawn chairs and food and beverage, including alcohol, although glass is prohibited. There are also food and beverage vendors on site and lawn chair rental is available for a $5 donation.
“We need connection now more than ever,” Wagner added. “I love that this space affords people the opportunity to connect. You broaden your social network by meeting new people. And diverse voices coming together and learning from each other is good for everybody. And all this is happening under the vibration of music. And when you’re dancing together, people tend to see beyond the things that divide us.”
For more information about the concerts and the Levitt Pavilion, visit LevittDayton.org.