The Lowell Summer Music Series continues its rolling announcements for the 2018 season with another wonderful first-timer to the Series! Appearing on Friday, August 17th is Postmodern Jukebox! I have been dying to see this band, and now you can see them!

“The only drawback to a Postmodern Jukebox concert is that, like all good things, it must come to an end. Not to worry, though – PMJ has become a traveling band of throwback minstrels, so by the time your high has worn off from one show it’ll be time to start getting excited for our next visit! And as any PMJ fan can tell you, the experience is never the same twice, with new songs, new sounds, and new members added to the ever-growing family each time around.

“Sure, PMJ originally blew up online, with new videos added weekly that keep finding creative new ways to put creator Scott Bradlee’s trademark vintage twist on modern pop hits. But it’s onstage that the project has really come to shine, playing hundreds of shows to sold-out houses across the globe, from intimate standing-room gigs to large-scale, theatrical extravaganzas.

Post Modern Jukebox (Official Photo)

“Each time around, PMJ looks forward to bringing their unique spin on modern pop hits and retro pop stylings to new cities for the first time while revisiting favorite haunts that welcome them back with eagerly open arms. Missed them the last time around? Don’t make that mistake again – just be sure you’re part of the “in crowd” next time around.

“As the Houston Press proclaimed, “Scott Bradlee’s project has turned into a worldwide phenomenon in quite a small amount of time, having sold out shows in more than 60 countries around the world – and rightly so.”

“Since Bradlee created the project in 2009, PMJ has amassed more than 915 million YouTube views and 3.2 million subscribers, chalked up more than 1.3 million likes on Facebook, performed on “Good Morning America,” topped iTunes and Billboard charts, caught the attention of NPR Music and NBC News, and played hundreds of shows to sold-out houses around the world.

“That seemingly exhausting pace hasn’t stopped Bradlee from arranging and recording new arrangements every week for PMJ’s legion of fans.  The multi-talented collective reimagines contemporary pop, rock and R&B hits in the style of various yesteryears, from swing to doo-wop, ragtime to Motown – or, as Bradlee himself puts it, “pop music in a time machine.”

“Imagine marrying the 21st century party vibe of Miley Cyrus or the minimalist angst of Radiohead with the crackly warmth of a vintage 78 or the plunger-muted barrelhouse howl of a forgotten Kansas City jazzman. Bradlee’s choice of material ranges from the ‘80s hard rock of Guns N’ Roses to hits as recent as 2015’s Justin Bieber plea “Sorry.” They’re rendered by a rotating cast of musicians and singers in fashions that date back to a time when Axl, Slash and Bieber’s parents had yet to be born – a time of street corner harmonies and torch singers, blues belters and golden-voiced crooners.

“Last year, PMJ collected 18 favorites from among the hundreds of songs that Bradlee has arranged to compile The Essentials for Concord Records. The album featured the songs that Bradlee has called “most essential to the PMJ universe,” including hits by Beyoncé, the White Stripes, Lorde, Outkast and Maroon 5 – along with the song that put the band on the map, a vaudevillian distressing of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” fronted by Robyn Adele Anderson that garnered more than a million views within a week of being posted. The pin-up styled singer returned for the album’s opener, their ‘50s doo-wop version of Miley Cyrus’ celebration of an inhibition-shedding spree, “We Can’t Stop,” which garnered more than 19.5 million views and was named one of the “9 Best Viral Cover Videos of 2015” by People magazine.

“PMJ has long since outgrown the cramped confines of Bradlee’s small apartment in Queens, NY, where the original videos were shot at a time when he was one of countless struggling musicians in the city, to play some of the most heralded stages in the world. The spirit, though, has remained the same – a collective of musicians dedicated to the timelessness of music, performing songs vibrantly and without a trace of irony. And the media has taken notice: Entertainment Weekly wrote, “Scott Bradlee’s group is known for retro-fying modern hit songs into viral success,” while Yahoo! Music added, “if you’ve been on YouTube in the last couple of years, then you’re familiar with the everything-new-is-old-again brilliance of the viral phenomenon known as Postmodern Jukebox.”

“‘I take pride in putting together the right powers and personalities to create a unique and amazing experience for our fans,” Bradlee says. “We want them to escape reality and join us for the most sensational 1920s party this side of The Great Gatsby. We want them to experience what it was like to be at the New Years’ Eve show that Sinatra would have hosted in the 1940s. We want them to feel the excitement of hearing the greats of Motown live and up close. Our goal is to give our audiences their favorite show again and again and still have it feel like the very first time.'”

Tickets for the Postmodern Jukebox show are priced at $49 in advance (fee-free!). There are also premium seats – beach chairs are provided by the Series – set in two rows directly in front of the stage for $149. Tickets for this show went on sale on Thursday, February 8th at 9 a.m. through Lowell Summer Music Series.

For those of you who are unaware of the Series, or if you are aware of it but have never attended a show there, it is an outdoor (weather permitting) concert series held on National Park Service grounds in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Series is not-for-profit, which helps keep the ticket prices reasonable.

Surrounding Boarding House Park are old mill buildings, part of the Lowell National Historical Park, which you can tour if you arrive early enough. They provide an unusual setting for an evening of great music and ambiance.

The Series generally runs from mid-June to early September.

This Series is dear to my heart. I have been a season pass holder since 2007 and it is one of the highlights of the year (and of summer in particular) for me. Many lasting friendships have been made there. I expect this will be another excellent year!

I will post additional announcements for the Series as they are made.

So far, the  lineup is:

June 15 (Friday) – Rhiannon Giddens

August 17 (Friday) – Postmodern Jukebox

August 18 (Saturday) – Blues Traveler