Mayor: Journey Not Practical For Triple Play Concert Series

John Ferak
New Lenox residents have offered lots of suggestions for the 2019 concert series.

NEW LENOX, IL - Over the past week, several New Lenox residents began offering suggestions for this summer's enormously popular Triple Play concert series sponsored by the village of New Lenox. Last summer's concerts featured Melissa Etheridge, Bruce Hornsby and Chris Isaak.

Last weekend, in one of the more popular Facebook community groups, some New Lenox residents tagged New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann and suggested he book either Journey, Tesla, Cinderella, ZZ Top, Whitesnake, Lionel Richie, Billy Idol, Poison or Sammy Hagar.

One person responded by exclaiming: "I love this!"

Another person commented, "How about the Go-Gos, Joan Jett, B-52s, Violent Femmes, Billy Idol, Boy George, Colin Hay (Men at Work) Tears for Fears, Howard Jones, Simple Minds ..."

This past week, New Lenox Patch interviewed the voice of reason, Mayor Baldermann to get his take on the popular topic. It's a legitimate topic, after all, the Joliet Park District recently announced that they had booked Foreigner as the lead Friday night concert for late June's Taste of Joliet at Memorial Stadium.

Baldermann told Patch he is hoping to have New Lenox's lineup for the Triple Play finalized this month. Last year, the concerts were held during the months of June, July and August.

However, he said it is totally unrealistic for New Lenox to attract bands such as Journey - or another fan suggestion Depeche Mode. For starters, the New Lenox amphitheater at the village commons can only hold 5,000 spectators. Bands like Journey and Depeche Mode can make way more money playing at outdoor venues such as Tinley Park, Chicago or Alpine Valley that can draw thousands more people.

Secondly, the costs of booking a band such as Journey are not realistic, either, he said.

A band such as Journey would break the budget for the Triple Play concert series. A band like Journey would cost more than New Lenox spends to book all three bands for the Triple Play series, he explained.

But sit tight, and relax, Baldermann is optimistic that when this summer's lineup is announced, the community will be pleased and excited to buy their tickets. This year will mark the 11th year for the Triple Play concert series. Historically, the most popular bands with the crowd have been the classic rock bands from the 1970s and 1980s, he said.


Image of Steve Perry via YouTube