Rock out to great music at the Naper Nights Concert Series

Bring your lawn chair, comfortable shoes and vocal chords because you’ll be dancing and singing along at the Naper Nights Concert Series that will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 24-25 at Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St. in Naperville. Friday night features The Fortunate Sons, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band, and headliner Daryl Stuermer, virtuoso guitarist of Genesis and The Phil Collins Band. Saturday night is devoted to the music of Pink Floyd as performed by tribute band Think Floyd USA, complete with a choreographed light show.

Food will be provided by Maggiano’s Little Italy, Joey’s Red Hots and Culver’s; beverages are provided by Two Brothers Brewing Co. and Wente Vineyards. Bring your gently used clothing and other treasures to donate to Savers, which is the featured community partner. The social media Trivia Challenge returns with more rock music brain teasers. The Infiniti of Naperville children’s activities area features Pinot’s Palette, Lowe’s and Engineering for Kids. Tickets are $15 adults, $10 youth 4-12, members are free. More information and tickets are available at www.napernights.org.

“This is going to be a great weekend for fans of ’70s British psychedelic and prog rock,” said Chris Korsgard, co-chair of the Naper Nights committee. “We’re very excited to have Daryl Stuermer, who spent so many years as a guitarist with Genesis and Phil Collins’ band. And, of course, the return of Think Floyd with their incredible light show is going to be a highlight of our summer series once again. It’s great to hear “Dark Side of the Moon’ recreated note-for-note in its entirety.”

Kicking off the concert in high gear on Friday is opening act The Fortunate Sons. “It’s a surprise to us that we have three generations in the audience all singing along,” said Jeff Philippe, drummer and band leader. “CCR’s music is so timeless because it’s closely related to the blues and rock ’n’ roll, which is part of our national identity.”

Philippe said that the band pays special attention to accuracy and authenticity when performing the music of CCR.

“We use the same amplifiers they used, we dress like they dressed, and, most importantly, we play like they played,” he said. “If you want to hear “Suzie Q,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Proud Mary” and “Green River” the way they were meant to be heard, then come see The Fortunate Sons.”

Friday night’s headliner Daryl Stuermer will bring his five-piece band that includes Forrest “Woody” Mankowski, lead vocals and saxes, Kostia on keyboards, Eric Hervey on bass, Alan Arber on drums and Stuermer on guitar.

“We will be playing the music of Genesis from the Phil Collins’ era, such as ‘Throwing It All Away,’ ‘No Son of Mine’ and ‘I Can’t Dance,’” Stuermer said.

The band will also play instrumental Genesis, Peter Gabriel’s “Shock the Monkey” and Stuermer’s original instrumental music.

Stuermer, a Milwaukee native, began his musical career at the age of 11 when he began taking guitar lessons and eventually studied jazz guitar. In the mid-1970s, he and his brother, Duane, a bass player, were members of a popular local Milwaukee band called Sweetbottom, which is how Stuermer came to attention of George Duke, keyboardist for Frank Zappa’s band, The Mothers of Invention.

Duke recommended the 21-year-old Stuermer to groundbreaking jazz violinist Jean Luc Ponty. From 1975 to 1977, he toured and recorded two albums with Ponty’s band. In December 1977, he had an audition that would change his life. After Steve Hackett left Genesis, the search was on for a guitarist to take his place in the touring band. Thirty musicians auditioned for the spot and Stuermer was offered the job.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be auditioning for them and then playing with them for over 35 years,” Stuermer said.

When Phil Collins began his solo career after performing with Genesis, Stuermer became an integral part of The Phil Collins Band. He created the signature guitar sound of the Collins’ mega hits “In the Air Tonight” and “Easy Lover.” He was co-writer of Collins’ 1989 Grammy Award-winning Billboard No. 4 single, “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven,” along with several other hits. In addition to his busy touring schedule, Stuermer wrote music for eight solo albums of original music and founded his own independent record label, Urban Island Music.

“The only job I ever had was playing guitar. I practiced hard and enjoyed myself all the time,” Stuermer said. “You have to find something that you really enjoy doing – I’ve been able to do that.”

On Saturday night, Think Floyd USA will perform the music of Pink Floyd. The stage has been expanded to accommodate the nine members of the band, their equipment and the dazzling light show. The audience will hear “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety, in addition to other Floyd favorites like “Comfortably Numb.” It has been 42 years since “Dark Side of the Moon” was released and it was listed this year as the No. 1 greatest prog rock album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. The album has sold an estimated 50 million copies and is one of the best-selling albums worldwide.

About Naper Settlement and the Naperville Heritage Society

Naper Settlement is a nationally accredited, award-winning outdoor museum set on 12 magnificent acres in the heart of Naperville. Our grounds are where history comes to play and community comes to connect. With a commitment to the community and a focus to the future, the mission of the Naperville Heritage Society, administrator of Naper Settlement, is to collect, document, preserve and support the history of Naperville, Illinois, past and present. For more information, visit www.napersettlement.org or call (630) 420-6010.