Crowd flocks to Court Square for the opening of this year's concert series

COSHOCTON − The first show of the second annual summer concert series on the Coshocton Court Square was held Saturday with other upcoming acts being announced.

Performing was Bad Animals, a tribute to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame band Heart. The group started in 2001 and is named for Heart's ninth studio album released in 1987.

Daena D substitutes for lead singer Ann Wilson and Gina D is the double for guitarist and singer Nancy Wilson. They're also assisted by band members Tom Cavanagh on lead guitar, Chris Parrett on bass, John LaSpina on drums and Kevin Thomas on keyboards and guitar.

Heart formed in 1973 and is still performing today. They've had 20 top 40 hits and eight platinum albums. Bad Animals performs some of Heart's best known tunes such as "Crazy on You," "Barracuda," "Alone," "Never," "These Dreams" and more.

The concert series is a collaboration of Our Town Coshocton and Coshocton City Councilman Chad Johnson. Shows are free and made possible by donations from local individuals, businesses and organizations. It was inspired by a similar concert series in Zanesville.

The first concert in June 2022 was the Foreigner tribune act, Double Vision, which drew an estimated 2,000 people. The second in July was the Fleetwood Mac tribute band, Fleetwood Mac Mania, that brought in about 2,500 folks. The closer in August was rising country star ERNEST with around 5,000 people turning out. Our Town Coshocton placed the attendance for Bad Animals at about 2,500.

Next up this year at 6:30 p.m. July 15 is the AC/DC tribute band Dirty Deeds. The band performs two high-energy shows with one dedicated to original lead singer Bon Scott and the other focused on the Brian Johnson era. John Welch plays both with Freddy DeMarco as Angus Young, Mark Matthews as Cliff Williams, Bobby Stocker as Phil Rudd and Wags Wagner as Malcolm Young.

Claudia Hoyser will perform at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4 as part of First Farm Friday. Hoyser is a rising country star from Fairpoint, New York. Her video for "Small Town Motels" spent nine weeks at number one earlier this year on CMT's 12 Pack Countdown. Her latest single, "She's Smokin'" is out now.

Closing the series at 3 p.m. Sept. 17 will be 7 Bridges - The Ultimate Eagles Experience. The group features Bryan Graves as Glenn Frey, Keith Thoma as Don Henley, Brian Franklin as Don Felder, Richie Scholl as Joe Walsh, James Richardson as Randy Meisner and Timothy Schmit and Vernon Roop as Joe Vitale.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Crowd turns out for opening of this year's concert series