'Twilight' Concert Series to Start Saturday

This Saturday at 7 p.m., the Bryn Mawr Twilight Concert Series will kick off its fifth year with a performance by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. The series, which will run every Saturday through August 6 at the Bryn Mawr Gazebo, is presented by the Lower Merion Parks and Recreation Department. Tickets are $10 per person and free for those 16 and younger.

The series is the brain child of former Upper Merion Parks and Recreation director David Broida. Broida not only recruits the performers, but secures the event's sponsors as well.

"In 1985, I went to an outdoor concert in Chester County with my wife, and I thought, 'This is something we could bring to Upper Merion,' So I did. I started Concerts Under the Stars and ran it for 23 years," explained Broida. "When I retired in 2007, I wanted to keep doing concerts because it was so much fun, so I went to Lower Merion and asked if I could do it here."

The Township approved the idea—"I do all the legwork anyway," Broida said—and the rest, as they say, is history.

Broida says the atmosphere at the shows is festive but family-friendly.

"It's outdoors, you can bring picnics. Lots of families come, and there's a playground at the park for kids who get restless."

Broida says that he also hopes to see more of a teen turnout this year.

"It's free to kids 16 and under, and we encourage kids to come. If somebody's 17 or 18 and they want to sneak in as 16, that's fine too," the founder joked.

The series strives for diversity in its performers as well as its attendees.

Atzilut: Concerts for Peace will headline the July 16 show. The 10-man ensemble, the only extant outfit of its kind, has been playing a high-energy fusion of Arab and Jewish music for the last 20 years.

The group is not overtly political, but member Jack Kessler acknowledges that the very fact of their existence is something of a political statement.

"When you can change the way people feel by making a clear statement, by doing something beautiful by working together, that makes a very deep impression," said Kessler, whose group was once denied a gig because the promoter was worried about alienating the audience.

It's not all about changing hearts and minds though for Atzilut. First and foremost, it's about rocking.

"Not only are we doing something that we really care about, but it's a hot, slamming band with three drummers," said Kassler.

On most nights, the series' headliners are opened up for by local bands. Seve, a folk-blues hybrid fronted by Radnor investment banker Mike Balitsaris, will open for David Wilcox on June 11.

"This is my fourth or fifth year [performing at the Twilight Series], and it's been such a wonderful experience," said Balitsaris, who started the band with one of his college roommates. "To have it this close and get to open up for Wilcox--that's a dream come true for me."

Balitsaris, who plays locations across the Main Line, said he relishes the opportunity to bring his family to a show.

"It's an all-ages kind of thing, which is kind of neat," Balitsaris said. "I have four little kids from four to 12, and they all come and have a great time."

And that, said Broida, is the point.

"One of my goals in setting up the concert is that it would be like the old-time days, when people would come down to the community center on Saturday night," said Broida.

"I hope that I've created the kind of venue where the outfit playing is incidental," Broida said. "People will come down and see old friends, make new friends—catching up, hanging out on Saturday night. That's still my hope."

Tickets are available online, or by phone at (866) 468-7619.