By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
The Eagleview Town Center “Concerts on the Square” (570 Wellington Square, Exton, www.ineagleview.com) began in 2001.The series has established itself as an area summertime tradition where families gather on the lawn to hear live music under the stars.
The series, held every Tuesday evening from June through August, has become a beloved local tradition, transforming the town center into a vibrant outdoor stage for live music.
The program features a mix of national touring artists, rising stars, and community favorites.
On August 11, Eagleview Town Center will host Fruition with special guest Max Davey.
Fruition is a band from Portland, Oregon that features Jeff Leonard (Bass, Piano), Jay Cobb Anderson (Guitar, Keyboards), Kellen Asebroek (Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals), Mimi Naja (Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar) and Tyler Thompson (Drums)
“I really like shows like this – in an outdoor setting and free,” said Asebroek, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from a tour stop in Burlington, Vermont.
“They are fun to play and fun for the audience. It’s a good way to get introduced to new fans.”
Fruition has been introducing itself to music fans for the last 16 years. The band has released seven albums and has logged numerous coast-to-coast tours.
“We just started touring in support of our new album, so we have a lot of shows,” said Asebroek. “Although, there have been years when we did over 200 shows. This year, it’s about 100.
“Today, we’ve been driving in the van all day from Buffalo, where we played last night, to Burlington, where we have a show on Thursday.”
Fruition’s new album is “Something More.” The 11-song LP is being released later this month on Bloodshot Records.
“It’s being released on August 28,” said Asebroek. “It’s our eighth album.
From Americana to blues, gospel to folk, Fruition finds a way to deliver the goods.
“Something More,” which was produced by Grammy-winning Tucker Martine, centers on the band’s nearly 20-year journey from Portland buskers to “one of Americana’s most compelling roots acts” (Billboard), reflecting themes of growth, trust, and creative evolution.
The album explores what the band has learned over the years and also what they’ve had to unlearn — letting go of control, embracing differences, and learning to grow together as people as much as musicians.
“We explored what we were alive to do,” said Asebroek. “Themes started showing themselves — reflection and honesty and sincerity. It’s a good encapsulation of where we are as humans.”
“Something More” pushes into indie-leaning territory through analog experimentation and Tucker Martine’s studio approach, all complemented by the band’s signature expansive, harmony-driven Americana.
“We made this album a couple years ago,” said Asebroek. “We used Tucker Martine’s studio in Portland – Flora Recording and Playback. Tucker is a great producer to work with.”
In 2010, Paste Magazine included Martine in their list of the 10 Best Producers of the Decade.
“Flora is one of the best studios. It’s a great place to record. It’s the second time we’ve worked with Tucker there. The first time was with ‘Watching It All Fall Apart’ in 2018. It was nice to come back.”
Fruition’s other albums were “Fruition” (2010), “It Won’t Be Long” (2011), “Just One Of Them Nights” (2013), “Labor Of Love” (2016), “Wild As The Night / Broken At The Break Of Day” (2020) and “How To Make Mistakes” (2024).
“Our last album – ‘How To Make Mistakes’ – was self-produced in 2024,” said Asebroek, a native of San Diego who now lives in Brooklyn.
“We recorded it at e-Town Studios in Boulder. We were there for a week. We recorded it live in the studio with everyone in one room.”
For a band that got its start in Oregon busking on the streets of Portland, Fruition has come a long way.
Video link for Fruition — https://youtu.be/xwGcnRAxURE.
The free show at Eagleview, which has Max Davey as the opening act, will start at 7 p.m.
Admission to the concert is free.
Upcoming shows in the series are Rhett Miller with special guest The MAKs on August 18 and “An American Classic – Bruce vs Petty featuring Born to Run Down the Dream” on August 25.
The Toadies
The Toadies, who will be headlining a show at The Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 202-730-3331, www.thequeenwilmington.com) on August 9, released their new album, “The Charmer,” three months ago via Spaceflight Records.
The Toadies are Vaden Todd Lewis (vocals), Clark Vogeler (guitar), Mark Reznicek (drums) and Doni Blair (bass).
“The album came out May 1 and we did seven weeks solid touring in support of the new release,” said Vogeler, during a phone interview Wednesday evening from a tour stop in Charleston, South Carolina.
“We pretty much went all over the country. Now, we’re on a three-week tour with shows in the South and the East. Then, we’ll be touring again in September and October.”
For a band that formed in 1989, the Toadies are still drawing a very diverse audience – not just an older crowd that has been following the band since its debut more than three-and-one-half decades ago.
And that makes Vogeler and his mates very happy.
According to Vogeler, “The big story on this Charmer tour is the youngsters. We’ve been seeing a whole lot of teenagers and twenty-somethings at the shows.
“They’re coming out every night. They’re always the most excited people in the room. And they like the new material. For a band that’s been around way longer than these fans, that rules!”
On January 8, 2024, The Toadies announced that their eighth studio album, “The Charmer,” which was recorded with Steve Albini, was scheduled to be released later in the year.
However, following Albini’s death in May of that year, the album was delayed multiple times before its release a few weeks ago.
The album was done with Albini at his Electrical Audio in Chicago and is among the few projects Albini recorded before his unfortunate passing that have not yet been released.
Albini was a highly acclaimed musician and audio engineer.
He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989), and Shellac (1992–2024).
He engineered acclaimed albums such as the Pixies’ “Surfer Rosa” (1988), Nirvana’s “In Utero” (both 1993), and Manic Street Preachers’ “Journal for Plague Lovers” (2009).
After Big Black’s dissolution, Albini became a sought-after recording engineer, rejecting the term “record producer.”
He recorded several thousand records, collaborating with acts such as the Breeders, the Jesus Lizard, Page and Plant, and Cheap Trick.
Albini founded the Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio in 1997, dedicated to recording a live sound at a cheap price. He refused to accept royalties, preferring to charge a fixed fee.
In 2018, Albini estimated that he had engineered more than 3,000 records.
“We recorded the album in August 2023,” said Doni Blair.
“We were one month with Steve on tour the year before. We were in Chicago in 2023, so we went to his studio to say – hi, how are you doing?
“A little while later, our manager had set up a meeting which went by really quite quick – very cordial and very business-like.
“He had his rates posted on his website. We had our budget and it worked out. We started each day at 9:30-10 a.m. and were done at 7 p.m.”
Albini’s technique of capturing bands raw and live was the perfect match for band’s energy resulting in the classic Toadies sound.
According to Blair, “Steve was as advertised. He had an acerbic wit and dark sense of humor, so we felt at home.
“His dedication to the craft of recording blew my mind. We won’t see his kind of engineer ever again and recorded music will suffer because of it.”
Albini helped the band land on specific guitar tones and piece other parts together.
“He was our sound guy,” said Blair. “There were so many things sonically that he did. He had a really good hand in it. We knew we had found our guy – and then he passed away.”
Fortunately for The Toadies, they were able to complete the album before Albini’s ticker betrayed him.
Albini died from a heart attack at his home in Chicago, on May 7, 2024, at the age of 61.
“We did ‘The Charmer’ that month in August 2023,” said Blair.
“We were all set up – the four of us in the same room – playing live to analog tape. Steve had guitars in the bigger room. Mark was in a room-within-a-room – an enclosed drum room.”
According to Vogeler, “The amps are in the room, and the soundwaves are bouncing off each other and doing weird, magical things. The sound of us playing together in the room comes through loud and clear on the album.”
The Toadies were no strangers to analog recording.
“People who know us are used to hearing our songs that way,” said Blair. “The band recorded the ‘Rubberneck’ album analog – playing together live to tape.”
In the three decades-plus musical career, The Toadies have built one of alternative rock’s most enduring legacies.
Their hometown of Fort Worth has even declared an official “Toadies Day.” December 30 is officially “Toadies Day” in Fort Worth to celebrate the band’s contributions to Dallas’ Metroplex neighbor.
Video link for The Toadies – https://youtu.be/cbPMov-mpo0.
The show at The Queen on August 9, which has Local H and Olive Fox as openers, will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $35.60.
The Toadies are also playing on August 11 at Archer Music Hall
(939 Hamilton Street, Allentown, https://www.archermusichall.com).
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) will have “Rust: Neil Young Tribute” (ROOFTOP) August 8 and “The Legendary Kennett Flash Open Mic Night” hosted by Rachel May on August 9.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) is presenting Becky Buller on August 7 and Dueling Pianos with The Philly Keys on August 12.
On July 31, Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will host Joe Becton’s Acoustic Blues on August 6, Jefferson Berry and the UAC and Stephen DiJoseph on August 7 and the Slippery Chickens on August 8.
The “Sunday Blues Brunch & Jam” will feature the Girke-Davis Project with a set from noon-1 p.m. Then, the weekly “Jamey’s Pajama Jam” will run from 1-3 p.m.
The Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com) will present “Nektar: Mo’s Farewell Tour” w/ The Twenty Committee on August 6, Rift: Phish Tribute + Shine On: Pink Floyd Tribute on August 7, Manticore: The Tribute to Emerson, Lake, & Palmer on August 8 and Ally Venable w/ Alicia Maxwell Project on August 11.
The 2026 Concerts Under the Stars series at the scenic Upper Merion Township Building Park (175 West Valley Forge Road, King of Prussia, www.concertsunderthestarskop.com) presents Joan Osborne with Jeffrey Gaines on August 7 and Watchhouse with Clover Lynn on August 8.
Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts (9 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, brynmawrtwilightconcerts.com) will present
Steve Forbert on August 8
People’s Light (People’s Light
39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, www.peopleslight.org) is presenting the hit musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’” now through August 16.
39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, www.peopleslight.org) is presenting the hit musical “Ain’t Misbehavin’” now through August 16.
The musical is a tribute to the music of Fats Waller who composed music in a time when Manhattan nightclubs such as the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom were the playgrounds of high society and Lenox Avenue dives were filled with piano players banging out the new beat known as swing.
Five performers present an evening of rowdy, raunchy, and humorous songs that encapsulate the various moods of the era and reflect Waller’s view of life as a journey meant for pleasure and play.
The Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Wilmington, Delaware, www.candlelighttheatredelware.com) is presenting one of the all-time favorite family musicals – “Annie.”
The show remains one of the biggest Broadway musical hits ever. It has been performed in 28 languages and has been running somewhere around the world for 45 years.
The beloved score for “Annie” includes “Maybe,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” and the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”
The Candlelight’s production of “Annie” is running until August 30.
