On Sunday, August 7 (Week #5) at 7PM in Mayo Park, the world's most iconic Reggae band THE WAILERS comes to #rochmn to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary season of Think Mutual Bank's Down by the Riverside Free Concert Series! Opening Act: Mark Cameron Band. Media Sponsor: The Current.

The series title sponsor Think Mutual Bank will provide a number of fun giveaways at each concert. Giveaways will commence each week starting at 6:00 PM. Attendees will also have the opportunity to register to win a free guitar autographed by that week's headline artist (prizes subject to change). Winners will be announced at intermission.

Formed in 1969, and fronted by Bob Marley until his untimely death, The Wailers continues its worldwide campaign of promoting peace, love and equality. The world's most iconic reggae band will perform timeless classics like “Is This Love?”, “Get Up, Stand Up", "Stir It Up", "One Love", "I Shot the Sheriff", and "Jamming".

The world’s premier reggae group performing  Bob Marley’s music, The Wailers have played to an estimated 24 million people across the globe performing an average of 200 dates a year. Today’s line-up combines old school know-how with lead vocals from some of Jamaica’s most exciting new singers.   The band has consistently toured for the past several decades to  North and South America, Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

The band performs varied sets from the extensive Wailers discography including those from Legend. Legend is #46 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. Legend is also the best-selling reggae album of all-time, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide and a 2014 re-release topped Billboard’s Top 5 – proving the timeless appeal of their music spans generations.

The band also performs selections from EXODUS named by Time Magazine as the “Album of the 20th Century”, it was released in 1977.  In keeping with the band’s tradition of touring with album themes, the Wailers have been performing entire sets devoted to songs from the specific albums such as LEGEND, EXODUS, UPRISING and SURVIVAL.

The set list for a Wailers performance can also be determined by what the band feels is timely and what the audience may need to hear from the extensive Bob Marley and the Wailers’ catalog. Being mindful of what is going on in the region and in the world, the band puts together the best set of songs for each set.  It's not just entertainment, the band is here to educate and inspire the people.  Focusing on problems of poverty and separation the Wailers aim to provide a solution and ultimately to promote peace and unity across all cultures.  Fans sing along to the wise words of Bob Marley and resonate with these timeless reggae rhythms to create the demand for a vigorous tour schedule fueled by the constant, broad-based interest in the message and the music.

Reggae music has never stopped evolving but for millions of people from around the world it’s still defined by the songs of Bob Marley and the Wailers. It’s been their heartbeat rhythms that have inspired so much of what’s followed since, as evidenced by the enduring popularity of the “one-drop” reggae sound.

THE WAILERS - Sunday, August 7 (Week #5) at 7PM in Mayo Park. Formed in 1969, and fronted by Bob Marley until his untimely death, The Wailers continues its worldwide campaign of promoting peace, love and equality. The world's most iconic reggae band will perform timeless classics like “Is This Love?”, “Get Up, Stand Up", "Stir It Up", "One Love", "I Shot the Sheriff", and "Jamming". Opener: Mark Cameron Band; Media Sponsor: The Current

ROCHESTER CONCERT BAND & CHOIR - Sunday, August 14 (Week #6) at 7PM in Mayo Park. Rochester's own 50-piece symphonic wind ensemble and 50-voice concert choir under the direction of Chuck Blattner performing audience favorites from the last 25 years of Down by the Riverside  including “The Sound of Music”, “Tribute to Our Armed Forces”,  and “On the Mall Concert March”.  Media Sponsor: KROC-AM

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVISITED - Sunday, August 21 (Week #7) at 7PM in Mayo Park. Featuring founding members and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, Stu Cook and Doug “Cosmo” Clifford performing the hits that became the touchstone of a generation including "Born on the Bayou", "Green River", "Proud Mary", "Fortunate Son", "Suzie Q", and many more. Opener: Crazy On You - A Tribute to Heart; Media Sponsor: LASER 101.7

Down by the Riverside is a free concert series that takes place on Sunday nights in Mayo Park (behind the Mayo Civic Center) in Rochester, MN during the months of July and August.

It has become a Rochester tradition, that on Sunday nights in the summer, many of the citizens of Rochester and surrounding communities put the finishing touches on their weekend by gathering together in the friendly confines of Mayo Park; to laugh, dance, sing, relax, play, eat, drink, socialize with friends and family, meet new friends, soak in those steamy Minnesota summer nights; all to a soundtrack of "live" music featuring local, national and international artists from a broad range of genres and eras.

This summer will mark the 25th year the City's Music Department (Riverside Concerts) has produced the popular outdoor concert series. Please join us as we reflect and celebrate the last quarter century of Down by the Riverside concerts. But only for a short while, as new horizons are just around the corner. This year's series will run July 10 through August 21; Sunday nights at 7:00 PM in Mayo Park. 

“While we want to celebrate where we’ve been, we really want the 2016 season to be a springboard for where we’re going in the future… it is important for us to continue to be fresh and to introduce new music to the public.” - Steven J. Schmidt, General Manager-City of Rochester Music Dept./Riverside Concerts

Call to Action: Do you have a special memory or story from a Down by the Riverside concert you'd like to share? What were some of your favorite shows? Most memorable moments? What does this concert series mean to you? Do you have any photos from previous shows? We could especially use photos from some of the early shows like Asleep at the Wheel in '92, The Dixie Chicks in '95, and Kid Jonny Lang in '96. Share your stories and photos on our Facebook page and/or on Twitter at #downbytheriverside25. We'd love to hear from you!

We would like to thank Think Mutual Bank, the title sponsor of the series for nine of these last twenty-five years, who just recently signed on for an additional three years as title sponsor, taking us through the 2019 season. Without community minded businesses like Think Mutual Bank, we would be unable to produce a concert series of this magnitude, and would certainly not be able to offer it to the public for free. Thank you, Think!

We would also like to thank the dozens of friends and partners who have supported the series over these many years, including the stations at Clear Channel-Rochester (Laser 101.7 and 102.5 The Fox), the stations at Townsquare Media-Rochester (KROC, Y105, and KWWK), The stations of Minnesota Public Radio (The Current, MPR News, and Classical MPR), and KRPR. And a special thank you to the City of Rochester, the Rochester City Council, and YOU...the citizens of Southeastern Minnesota.