It’s a sure sign of summer.
The South Shore Music Circus is opening this week, and it won’t be long before the beloved Cohasset summer tent venue is going at full speed. This season’s Music Circus schedule includes 28 different nights of music or comedy, as well as three different dramatic presentations. The season opens Sunday, June 8, with pop songsmith Gavin DeGraw.
The Music Circus’ sister venue, the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, meanwhile, is celebrating its 75th season with a jam-packed slate of 44 concerts, plus one dramatic offering.
We caught up with Music Circus/Melody Tent general manager Vince Longo to talk about the upcoming season, as well as get his scouting report on Cohasset High girls and boys lacrosse teams.
Our quick survey of the Music Circus schedule revealed that the summer will feature seven pop or rock shows, seven country concerts, and a dozen tribute acts, along with a comedy show or two, and Irish music stalwarts The High Kings (July 5) The Cape Cod tent’s lineup includes 14 pop/rock concerts, seven country, eleven tributes, and six comedy nights, plus variety like a blues show, a jazz night or two.
Booking all these shows is a year-round task for Longo, and he noted that he is already booked into August of next summer with shows for 2026. Last season was a very successful one for both venues, enabling the non-profit Music Circus to be able to donate substantially to its several local charities. Advance ticket sales for this summer indicate another big season.
75 years of concerts on Cape Cod
“The Cape Cod tent is in its 75th year, and also has a new logo, so we are pretty proud of that,” said Longo. “I’ve been working with them since 1992, and I know they had a fine legacy before that, so it’s something we’re all proud to celebrate. And the best part of a successful season like we’ve had is that we can contribute more to the community and various arts programs.”
“Last year was a very good year for us, and our sales so far this season are very good,” Longo added. “I don’t see any drop-off at all. I think when things get hard, people need relief, and entertainment and music will be doing very well everywhere. We also applaud the recent laws that require more clarity in ticket pricing, so that now fans can see the total cost of their tickets.”
Cohasset has had three sellouts so far and expects more. The Melody Tent had nine sellouts last season and looks to be on track to match or exceed that this year. (Both tent venues can accommodate 2,300 fans.) For local fans the ease of getting to both tents is a factor, and no doubt the free parking is a big bonus. Both venues have themselves as appealing alternatives to the pricier city music venues.
The July 17 Blues Traveler show at the Cape Cod Melody Tent is already sold out.
“Right now, our shows at Cohasset for Train (Aug. 17) and Foreigner (Aug. 5) are both approaching sellout status, and we expect they will,” said Longo. “As soon as the weather warms up we normally get a real surge of ticket-buying, so we expect several more shows will sell out. On the Cape, the Blues Traveler show (July 17) and Trombone Shorty (July 19) are already sold out, and our opening night (June 1) blues show with Taj Mahal and Keb Mo’ is within a few tickets of being a sellout. The Melody Tent also has two shows with comedian Bob Marley sold out (July 26) – his popularity continues to surge. And the best part is that having some sold out shows like enables us to go after more of ‘the heavy hitters’ such as acclaimed country star Cole Swindell (Music Circus, June 14), who’ll be making his first appearance at our venues. That is kind of the formula we use, such as booking some of those best tribute acts, which are proven successes, which allow us to take some chances on other shows.”
Cole Swindell, left, and Jo Dee Messina perform during the 58th annual ACM Awards show at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco Texas, on May 11, 2023. Swindell will make his South Shore Music Circus debut on June 14,
Tribute acts are popular throughout the music industry, offering fans familiar music they love at prices far below hearing the actual original artists. And many tribute acts are first-class musicians who really deliver topnotch versions of those songs.
Some of the most popular tribute acts coming to Cohasset include Let’s Sing Taylor (June 13), Voyage – the tribute to Journey (July 11), The Fab Four (July 12), Rumours – tribute to Fleetwood Mac (July 19) and Dark Desert Eagles (July 20).
A wide array of musical options
There are some other shows that don’t qualify as tributes, exactly, but also deliver beloved older music. Yachtley Crew (Cape Cod July 20 and 25, Cohasset July 26-27) is a seven-piece band that plays all your favorite “yacht rock” or beach-themed party music, but they are not a tribute to any one act in particular. Pop 2000 (June 21) is a gathering of some of the best “boy bands” from the early aughts, including NSync, O-Town, and BBMAK. Al Jardine’s Pet Sounds (July 18) is helmed by an original Beach Boy and offers perhaps a new slant on those classic tunes. The actual Beach Boys touring troupe, led as always by original member Mike Love, hits the Melody Tent for two shows on June 28.
The Music Circus country music menu is especially rich this season, with Swindell’s June 14 show kicking off a series of concerts that includes the Brothers Osborne (June 28), Parmalee (July 13), Lee Brice (Aug. 15), Tyler Hubbard (Aug. 23), and Brett Eldredge (Aug. 29). The Cape Cod Melody Tent offers most of those plus some others, including Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (July 30), Flatland Cavalry (Aug. 3), the Marshall Tucker Band (Aug. 8), and Chase Rice (Aug. 15). The Boston Comedy Blowout on Aug. 22 includes local legends Tony V and Christine Hurley.
Parmalee, performing July 13, is one of several country music acts on the South Shore Music Circus menu in 2025.
“Parmalee is one of those bands whose name is not immediately familiar to casual fans,” Longo noted, “but then you hear their songs and realize how many hits they’ve had.”
Location offers more opportunities at Cape Cod Melody Tent
The Cape Cod tent’s location – not in a residential area like the Music Circus – always allows for a more adventurous schedule there, and 2025 is no exception. Longo has tried to appeal to a wider range of fans, and especially to younger rock fans. Music fans can catch Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (June 13), reggae masters The Movement (June 26), old faves Little River Band (July 5), The Disco Biscuits (July 9), and Drive-By Truckers with Deer Tick (July 27). Jazz fans can revel in the cool swing of Pink Martini (Aug. 2), or the mainstream elan of Chris Botti (Aug. 9). There’s even a classical music night, when the Cape Symphony arrives Aug. 10.
Comedian Kathleen Madigan will perform at the Cape Cod Melody Tent on Aug. 16.
The Melody Tent also has a more expanded comedy slate, with those two sold-out Marley shows, and the Boston Comedy Blowout, surrounded by Mark Normand (July 10), Adam Ray Is Dr. Phil Live (Aug. 7), and Kathleen Madigan (Aug. 16).
And as every year, both tents devote some dates to local theater, with “Cinderella” taking place at the Hyannis tent on Aug. 14, while the Music Circus hosts the Cohasset Youth Theater’s “Cinderella” on Aug. 7 in a morning show, the Cohasset Dramatic Club’s “Little Mermaid” on July 17 (morning show), and then “Footloose” on July 24.
Venues have drawn 1.2 million fans in 12 years
“Our venues have had 1.2 million fans over the past 12 years, so that’s a lot of people coming through our gates,” said Longo. “I feel like we have a good balance of acts, with a little more country this year at Cohasset, balanced with newer bands that touch upon that style in Flatland Cavalry and Brothers Osborne. We aim for 25-35% of our shows being acts new to us every year, and some work out and some don’t. We like to mix it up, and luckily the Cohasset Dramatic Club and Youth Theater give us even more variety and children’s shows.”
“The Cape Cod Melody Tent has a big mix this summer; there’s a lot of room between our opening blues show and (indie-rock/electro/jamband) Disco Biscuits, for example,” Longo noted. “Comedy is always huge on the Cape; people on vacation wanting a fun atmosphere, and shorter shows getting out early.”
“It’s a good range of shows at both tents,” Longo added. “Our goal this year is to attract younger people, who may not be at all familiar with our format. The revolving stages are very different and fun, and definitely a big part of our longevity. And both venues are pretty intimate, where every seat gets you a great perspective on the performers and their music.”
Spire Center in Plymouth has a really noteworthy show coming up Saturday, the first Plymouth visit from singer/songwriter/guitarist Carolyn Wonderland, whose latest album “Truth Is” just came out May 16 on Alligator Records, the nation’s premier blues label. But as with most Texas musicians, Wonderland’s music blends in a bevy of genres, which is what you might expect from someone who can count the late Doug Sahm, and Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson as mentors. More recently, from 2018 until he died last year, she was the lead guitarist in British blues legend John Mayall’s band. (Tickets range from $32.80-$36, check spirecenter.org or call 508-746-4488.)
Wonderland left high school to forge a music career, and along the way she’s played with Townes Van Zandt, Buddy Guy, Levon Helm and Bob Dylan. The new album is her second with Alligator, and her 13th overall, and it reunites her with Dave Alvin as producer. Wonderland wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 12 tracks, and like any Alvin record, it boasts clean and clear production, no frills but plenty of heart. Wonderland welcomes some guests on the album, including pianist Marcia Ball, multi-instrumentalist Cindy Cashdollar and singer Ruthie Foster. Wonderland herself is a stunningly evocative singer and adds lap steel guitar to her usual electric guitar to give the music added impact.
The title cut, “Truth Is,” utilizes a buoyant, fingerpicked guitar sprint to frame the subtle wisdom of Wonderland’s lyrics, which are sung with soulful passion in what is, simply, one of 2025’s best rock songs. One of the covers is “Orange Juice Blues,” by The Band’s Richard Manuel, and the singer invests that morning-after lament with nuances that make you feel for Manuel and his eventual end. “Let’s Play A Game” might be the album’s brightest gem, a midtempo reverie with exquisite guitar work, and lyrics that are topical yet not partisan, like “peace without justice is freedom denied.”
One of the album’s best cuts is close to Wonderland and Alvin, as “Blues for Gene” is a salute to their friend, the late pianist Gene Allen, who played with The Blasters, Canned Heat, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. During the Texas power failure during the February 2021 cold wave, Allen, 68, was found dead in his Austin home, apparently of hypothermia. The tune is an easy-rolling blues-rocker urging us all to appreciate the people around us while they’re here, and the guitar solos from Wonderland and Alvin are as emotionally resonant as any ever committed to disc.
Wayland rocker Laurie Geltman released a single last week of a song she wrote in 2020 in her Los Angeles home studio in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. But the tune’s path was more complex than that. Geltman, a noted Boston folk-rocker in the 1980-90s, penned and recorded a basic take on “Mama. I Can’t Breathe” right away, as the country was reacting to Floyd’s tragic death. When she posted it to Facebook, it got 3,200 views overnight.
During those pandemic months, Geltman was in an online songwriters group, and that prompted her to record a more polished version, and Albert Margolis provided B-3 organ to the track. Through an online buddy in Lagos, Nigeria, Akanni Bello, she was able to add African rhythms and a second vocal by reggae singer/rapper Jammin’.
Atlanta’s Lisa Williams added harmony vocals, San Francisco songsmith Sid Moyfa helped fine-tune some lyrics, and Massachusetts native Aaron Tap (then in L.A.) helped produce the final product. So, in a real sense the version of the song that was released last week is a genuine world-music effort, turning that 2020 tragedy into an inspiring call to our better angels. Geltman will be playing in a duo with violinist Daniel Kellar at The Village Social Club in Brookline on June 28.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Music Circus, Melody Tent will have a summer full of music and laughs