If you’ve ever been in your car and starting crooning along to “Groovin,’” or bopping to “Good Lovin,’” you’re going to love Friday night’s lineup at the 70th Maine Lobster Festival. On Friday, August 4, singer-songwriter Felix Cavaliere, keyboardist and vocalist for the original 1960s band, Young Rascals, is bringing his signature “blue-eyed soul” to the stage with his band, The Rascals.
When Bruce Springsteen’s guitarist Steven Van Zandt inducted The Rascals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, it was obvious that he was a super fan. In a 2013 article in The New Yorker, he said, “Some people may not realize it, but the Rascals were the first rock band in the world… in the real world, in the center of the universe—New Jersey.”
For more than 50 years, Cavaliere has been kicking out a string of hits such as “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “Groovin’” (No. 1 in 1967), “How Can I Be Sure,” “A Girl Like You,” “A Beautiful Morning,” and “People Got to Be Free” (No. 1 in 1968) before moving on to a solo career in the 1970s. With four number-one hits, 10 top 20 singles and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, Cavaliere is making a special stop in Maine on his tour with The Rascals.
That should get you primed for Saturday’s headlining act, The Outlaws, known for their triple-guitar Southern Rock and three-part country harmonies. The Outlaws formed in 1972 and soon began pumping out rock radio favorites like “There Goes Another Love Song,” “Green Grass & High Tides,” “Knoxville Girl,” and “Freeborn Man.”
They toured with The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniels Band as well as The Doobie Brothers, The Who, Eagles and The Rolling Stones before classic band problems struck and the band – disbanded. Now, with new personnel, The Outlaws are burning hotter than ever.
Cranking through more than 150 live shows a year, The Outlaws are coming to Rockland, Maine, to perform a blazing 2+ hour show with classic songs and fan favorites. Their 2016 release Legacy Live contains many of the group’s best-known tunes, mentioned above, and spotlights several tracks from their most recent studio album, 2012’s It’s About Pride. As singer and guitarist Henry Paul said in an interview on the website ultimateclassicrock.com, “Outlaw fans are very invested in the band’s career and they put themselves fully into everything we do. It gives me a personal sense of pride to be a part of providing them something that I knew they would appreciate.”
Both shows are sure to be high energy and the crowd is bound to be enthusiastic as we hit our 70th celebration to all things lobster! Learn more about the Maine Lobster Festival.
