2025 concerts at the bandstand
in the public square
For more information: [email protected], Suzanne at 816-853-2442, and Facebook Table Rock Community Club.
These concerts are entirely funded by private donations! They are always free. Sit on our benches or bring your own chairs and sit out under the trees. Great music in a historic setting -- the Public Square Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. The bandstand was built in 1919, the "stage" in front of it was built as a dance floor in 1948, and the seating area and dance floor were added circa 2020.
These concerts are entirely funded by private donations! They are always free. Sit on our benches or bring your own chairs and sit out under the trees. Great music in a historic setting -- the Public Square Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. The bandstand was built in 1919, the "stage" in front of it was built as a dance floor in 1948, and the seating area and dance floor were added circa 2020.
2025
concert # 1
"Am fm all 80S"
JUNE 14, 2025
IIIIIIIIIII
TABLE ROCK AT NIGHT
By Sharla Sitzman
I had hoped that it would be a good night for a concert in the Square when I heard that the reclusive Roger Freeman had decided to go. The band known as “AM FM Totally 80s” would be playing hits from the era of Roger and his wife Missy. And as evening fell and the shade under the trees of the Square deepened, the rest of the audience met them on stage as they blasted out their opening song, “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & the News. It tripped something in the heart and you wanted to hug the happy music as it rushed out to the whole of downtown Table Rock. Kim Vrtiska liked it. He had found and lined up this band, and he was a high school junior when that song came out. It brought out the high school in many others, too.
This wasn’t just a band. It was a group of six kind-hearted warm-hearted people. Learning it was the 78th birthday of sponsor Pat Stevens, and that Pat couldn’t walk as far as the bandstand, lead singer Jayden Cree Olesen said, “We can go to her.” Jayden recently finished up as a finalist on NBC’s competition “The Voice,” as Jayden Cree. And so it was that Ronnie Gilbert drove Pat downtown and parked by the water tower before the show, and the band, led by Jayden, trooped out to greet her. And to sing happy birthday. Then back to the stage, where they sang happy birthday again, to the State Bank of Table Rock, which turns 140 this year.
The band has five musicians, plus the hard-working light and sound engineer, Rick Johnson. Rick had arrived four hours early to set up the stage and his station. On stage John Lefler, Jr., sang from his perch at the drums. Jeff Chartier played a smooth driving bass guitar. Todd Seidell and Cole Moore both switched off between keyboard and guitar. And up front, Jayden, with long dark hair and a leather skirt and looking like Pam Dawber from the ABC television sitcom series Mork and Mindy, which had its last season in 1982.
As the sun set, the band played on. I had chilled backstage with them earlier and asked why they liked the 80s. “It’s happy music,” John Lefler said. “Feel good music.” Concert attendee Leona Pepper later echoed that. “It’s so refreshing and fun,” she said, and added, “And no bad words!” Well, it was, after all, the era of pop.
The band went through about 50 songs, from the light-hearted anthem, “I love rock and roll, put another song on the jukebox, baby,” to some of the silly songs of the 80s. Fabulous music but the lyrics? Oh, dang! Just silly. “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Safety Dance.” You wanted to sing with them, though. And you wanted to dance with the frothy love songs, like, “What I Like About You!” and “Walking On Sunshine,” and, as Jayden sang, “I think we’re alone now, there doesn’t seem to be any one around.” As Leona said, refreshing.
The crowd swelled to about 300, an excellent turnout for a town that the last federal census reported had 239 residents. The band says the smallest audience they’ve had is 20. It was a private party and having so few people was “weird” to say the least. The biggest they’ve had was 4,000 when they opened a country artist Jake Owen.
Multiple generations came, including kids who hadn’t been born when these songs came out, nor had their parents. It was a wholesome, ebullient, night of music that saw those who stayed to the end streaming to the stage afterward to shake hands with the band and tell them how much they liked the music. Because, of course, that’s what you do in a small town, especially with a band thoughtful enough to march across the park to sing Happy Birthday to a car-bound fan.
TABLE ROCK AT NIGHT
By Sharla Sitzman
I had hoped that it would be a good night for a concert in the Square when I heard that the reclusive Roger Freeman had decided to go. The band known as “AM FM Totally 80s” would be playing hits from the era of Roger and his wife Missy. And as evening fell and the shade under the trees of the Square deepened, the rest of the audience met them on stage as they blasted out their opening song, “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & the News. It tripped something in the heart and you wanted to hug the happy music as it rushed out to the whole of downtown Table Rock. Kim Vrtiska liked it. He had found and lined up this band, and he was a high school junior when that song came out. It brought out the high school in many others, too.
This wasn’t just a band. It was a group of six kind-hearted warm-hearted people. Learning it was the 78th birthday of sponsor Pat Stevens, and that Pat couldn’t walk as far as the bandstand, lead singer Jayden Cree Olesen said, “We can go to her.” Jayden recently finished up as a finalist on NBC’s competition “The Voice,” as Jayden Cree. And so it was that Ronnie Gilbert drove Pat downtown and parked by the water tower before the show, and the band, led by Jayden, trooped out to greet her. And to sing happy birthday. Then back to the stage, where they sang happy birthday again, to the State Bank of Table Rock, which turns 140 this year.
The band has five musicians, plus the hard-working light and sound engineer, Rick Johnson. Rick had arrived four hours early to set up the stage and his station. On stage John Lefler, Jr., sang from his perch at the drums. Jeff Chartier played a smooth driving bass guitar. Todd Seidell and Cole Moore both switched off between keyboard and guitar. And up front, Jayden, with long dark hair and a leather skirt and looking like Pam Dawber from the ABC television sitcom series Mork and Mindy, which had its last season in 1982.
As the sun set, the band played on. I had chilled backstage with them earlier and asked why they liked the 80s. “It’s happy music,” John Lefler said. “Feel good music.” Concert attendee Leona Pepper later echoed that. “It’s so refreshing and fun,” she said, and added, “And no bad words!” Well, it was, after all, the era of pop.
The band went through about 50 songs, from the light-hearted anthem, “I love rock and roll, put another song on the jukebox, baby,” to some of the silly songs of the 80s. Fabulous music but the lyrics? Oh, dang! Just silly. “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Safety Dance.” You wanted to sing with them, though. And you wanted to dance with the frothy love songs, like, “What I Like About You!” and “Walking On Sunshine,” and, as Jayden sang, “I think we’re alone now, there doesn’t seem to be any one around.” As Leona said, refreshing.
The crowd swelled to about 300, an excellent turnout for a town that the last federal census reported had 239 residents. The band says the smallest audience they’ve had is 20. It was a private party and having so few people was “weird” to say the least. The biggest they’ve had was 4,000 when they opened a country artist Jake Owen.
Multiple generations came, including kids who hadn’t been born when these songs came out, nor had their parents. It was a wholesome, ebullient, night of music that saw those who stayed to the end streaming to the stage afterward to shake hands with the band and tell them how much they liked the music. Because, of course, that’s what you do in a small town, especially with a band thoughtful enough to march across the park to sing Happy Birthday to a car-bound fan.