The Alternative Press

SUMMIT, NJ – Raindrops first sprinkled, then soaked hundreds of concertgoers at downtown Summit’s third Hot Summer Nights concert Thursday night, but the crowd was too busy rocking out to Rockers Live to care about the weather.

Summit’s Village Green (across from the train station) was packed with not only audience members, but also representatives of local businesses, departments, and non-profit organizations. There was so much going on at the concert that people were too busy enjoying themselves to notice the rain.

The reason why more tents were set up at the concert than at other Hot Summer Nights concerts was because the Department of Community hosted Community Night—a networking event for Summit area non-profit organizations and City Departments— at the same time and locations as the concert. Before and during the concert, Summit
residents and visitors could walk around to different tents, learn about the non-profits and departments, and receive gifts or enter into raffles.

The tents bordered the entire Village Green and blocked the concert from passersby, thus this the concert feel more intimate. Some tents had appeared at the two previous Summit concerts, for instance Equinox and Investor’s Bank—major concert sponsors—along with Pizza Vida’s well-known oven-truck and the Summit Fire Department’s tent.

There was an overwhelming number of non-profit and department representatives at the rock concert as well. A major hit with the concertgoers was Home For Good (a dog-rescue non-profit) which brought in puppies for people to play with, Share NJ ( a non-profit responsible for organ donation, transplantation), and Nissan which parked one of their
newest car models on the concert lawn.

Organizations such as The League of Women Voters, The Summit Republicans, The Summit Democrats, The Summit Y, Overlook Hospital, and The American Association of University Women also had tents/tables where they passed out pamphlets and answered questions.

At a little after 7, Judith Josephs, director of the Summit Department of Community Program, came to the stage. She thanked everyone for coming to another Hot Summer Night’s concert series concert, and acknowledged all of the sponsors, particularly Investor’s Bank and Equinox, who helped make the concert a reality. She also talked about
Summit’s movies series, which takes place every Thursday in the Village Green, and introduced the Continuing Arts Foundation whose members sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

A downpour began right in the middle of the Continuing Art’s Foundation’s performance. Concertgoers ran for cover underneath the non-profits/organizations’ tents. The rain, however, did not stop the performer, Rockers Live, from continuing with the show. Before jumping into the act, the lead vocalist pumped up the crowd by asking, “Are you ready for a tropical hurricane?” The band followed with a performance of various famous rock songs such
as “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” and “Volcano.”

Downtown Summit’s Hot Summer Nights free concert series rocks every Tuesday night in July.