MoBand ready to return with new features for summer concerts. What, when and where

Pull out your blankets, line your picnic baskets and get ready to listen to the music at Modesto’s Mancini Bowl.

MoBand returns with fresh features on June 8. The Thursday night concerts run through July 13 on the stage in Graceada Park. Concerts begin at 8 p.m. and are free.

Conductor George Gardner, now in his 45th year leading MoBand, said he’s “really looking forward to this summer.”

“I think the music is going to be exciting, a lot of music that people will recognize,” he said.

Traditionally, people hold their spots on the lawn surrounding the bowl by putting down blankets early in the day. There also is some bleacher seating (more on that below). Many take along picnic dinners to enjoy during the shows.

Each concert usually draws an audience of 2,500 to 3,000, Gardner said.

While the concerts have been going on for more than 100 years, there are some new things this season.

The first concert, which marks Modesto’s monthlong Graffiti Summer celebration, will feature an appearance by “American Graffiti” actress MacKenzie Phillips. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the movie’s 1973 release.

And then there are improvements to the above-mentioned bleacher seating.

The bowl once could seat about 1,270 people. But because of vandalism and wear and tear, about 270 of the seats were removed over the years, according to an April story in The Bee. The project replaced the individual seats in the three center sections with benches. The two outside sections were already bench seating. The new layout can accommodate about 1,325 people.

“This will allow more people to come and sit in the bleacher section at the bowl,” Gardner said. “I think some didn’t come because they didn’t think they’d have a good seat.”

Finally, a new band manager and assistant conductor, Brad Hart, joins the team, according to a press release.

Hart has been teaching for more than 10 years at Johansen High School, including guitar, band, jazz band, orchestra, marching band and music theory, the release said.

Gardner said the assistant conductor always leads two pieces at each concert.

Because MoBand is an all-volunteer group, the number of musicians who take part can vary by week, but a total of 200 to 225 play over the summer, he said.

“Rock On” is this season’s theme for MoBand, officially called The Modesto Band of Stanislaus County.

There will be some variance from the rock theme, with the June 29 concert featuring patriotic music to celebrate Independence Day and a concert July 6 that highlights a mixture of “American Gems.”

This season’s MoBand concerts

June 8: “Rockin’ and Rollin’”

June 15: “Musical G.O.A.T.s (greatest of all time)”

June 22: “Hippy Dippy”

June 29: “Patriotic Fury”

July 6: “American Gems”

July 13: A selection of the season’s musical highlights

“I hope that people will come out and support the band and, more importantly, that they will come out and get together with their fellow Modestans and enjoy what we have to offer,” Gardner said. “And I hope they check out the new seating. It’s really spectacular.”

For more on MoBand, see www.moband.org.