By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The Decatur Chamber’s 2023 Summer Concert Series finally came to a conclusion Thursday, three weeks beyond its expected duration, and the windup was a boomer.
Unusually warm weather and a highly regarded band brought out the largest crowd of the year – perhaps, ever – to close out the 14-concert series which took 17 weeks to finish due to weather-related postponements.
The Madison Street Plaza was stuffed with people and the Cleveland-based E5C4P3 Journey tribute band didn’t disappoint.
Band members were on hand on July 9 when a storm halted the start of the performance. Chamber officials – Executive Director Craig Coshow and Assistant Executive Linda Morris – went right to work to reschedule the band and line up sponsors. Nine weeks later, those efforts paid off.
E5C4P3 is marking its 30th anniversary this year. Lead singer Jason Kelty (photo), 52, remarkably sounds exactly like Steve Perry, the Journey band’s frontman, and the huge crowd loved it.
A blown breaker on some sound equipment only brought a brief pause to the nearly two-hour performance.
Lexi Lamons, 18, opened the evening’s entertainment with a song and delighted the crowd again when E5C4P3 took a short break.