Faze4 back to headline Sept. 19 concert at Lions Club Park
By Sherry Lucas
Music-hungry Clinton residents can welcome back crowd favorite Faze4 at the opening show in the fall edition of the Lions Club Park Concert Series, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, September 19.
The family-friendly concert is free and open to the public, with attendees asked to bring a lawn chair or blanket for seating. Food and beverage will be available onsite during the concert from Copeland’s BBQ food truck and The Big Sip beverage truck.
This marks the third time Faze4 has taken the stage at the park, and the band’s four decades-spanning playlist is bound to hit upon hits that resonate with every sector. In fact, “Always a hit” is just how Main Street Clinton Assistant Director Ashley Hammack described Faze4.
With guitarist and longtime Clinton resident Andy Joyce in the band, it’s a particularly warm welcome back to the park’s concert roster. Drummer David Cummings, also from Clinton and a fellow Clinton High grad with Joyce, will be subbing in on this show, giving the Clinton crowd another familiar face to cheer on.
“It’s just a blast playing for hometown people,” Joyce said. Filling out Faze4 are bass player Reed Barnard and keyboardist Anthony Knights.
In the band’s twenty years together, it has nabbed the Jackson Music Awards’ Top Pop Group honor five times — a sure sign of its appeal in these parts.
The concert caps a fun day in Clinton, with the Cruzin’ Clinton Car Show and Big Truck Experience drawing car and truck enthusiasts and families with children to Olde Towne that morning and early afternoon.
“We try to schedule these concerts on days with other large events to encourage visitors to stick around town for both,” said Hammack.
Faze4’s sweet spot is hits from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and a little bit of the ’90s for a cross-generational appeal.
“We just play all the classic hits,” Joyce said, chuckling as he added, “at least from my generation.”
While the Concert in the Park setting may be more conducive to a sit-and-listen concert vibe with folks in lawn chairs and on blankets, some might be tempted to get up and shake a leg or tail to something like Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” Feel free.
Listen up for hits made famous by the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Prince, Rick James, KC and the Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, Def Leppard and Tommy Tutone, too.
Joyce embraces the description of Faze4 as a “crowd favorite” for the Clinton concerts.
“That’s awesome. It just shows that we work hard and we try hard, and we’re glad that people appreciate it,” he said. “That’s pretty cool.
“I hope everybody comes out and has a great time.”
