Roof Garden to host Worthington Community Night

• Band

submitted photo Members of Sideline are (from left) Paul Larson, Bill Shoup, Cindy Anderson and Ken Clark.

Talk about it

ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — In its heyday, the Roof Garden at Arnolds Park was the place where young people from throughout the region gathered to listen and dance to rock ’n’ roll music.

Those glory days are now relived each summer with the Rock the Roof series of concerts sponsored by The Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association.

The IRRMA was formed in 1997 with this mission: To retain and honor the legacy of Rock’n Roll and preserve the history of music in the state of Iowa. The Iowa Rock ’n Roll Museum consequently opened in 2003 in the complex at Arnolds Park Amusement Park. The Rock the Roof series is now in its ninth year.

“We do 10 weeks of Rock the Roof in the summer on 10 consecutive Thursdays,” explained IRRMA Director of Operations Tom Golden. “We start in the middle of June and end in the middle of August.”

This year, the IRRMA is hosting a couple of community-themed Rock the Roof concerts. The first such event in June was Estherville, Iowa, Community Night, and this Thursday will be Worthington Community Night, featuring a local band, Sideline.

“We just wanted to expose ourselves just a little farther out than just the Lakes area,” said Golden, explaining that the Iowa Great Lakes and Arnolds Park draw people from throughout the region. “We just started talking, and we get quite a few people from Worthington, and Sideline plays down here quite a bit, so we could tie it all together.”

Sideline — composed of Worthington-area musicians Cindy Anderson, Ken Clark, Paul Larson and Bill Shoup — first formed about five years ago to perform at a fundraising benefit. Since then, the group has offered its take on classic rock hits from the 1970s and ’80s at venues throughout the region .

The Roof Garden has become one of the Sideline musicians’ favorite places to perform.

“It’s very fun, always really good crowds,” Anderson said. “They’re very enthusiastic, and they like to dance, which we always enjoy.”

Although they are all busy with other careers, the Sideline members get a kick out of the gigs they perform on evenings and weekends.

“I think for Ken and Bill and I, it’s reliving our past with the ’70s and ’80s music — those were such great times in our lives — and we throw in some ’60s stuff for Paul,” Anderson said with a laugh. “We just enjoy making music together. It’s a passion for all of us.”

For Thursday’s Worthington Community Night, Sideline will be joined by two other bands — Roadhouse and November 35th, both from Sioux City, Iowa.

“Roadhouse was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year,” said Golden, referring to the annual ceremony that recognizes Iowans’ contributions to music. “One of the members of Roadhouse has two grandsons in November 35th. They play some good ol’ rock ’n’ roll. The drummer is just 11 years old.”

For Rock the Roof, doors open at 5 p.m., the concert begins at 6 p.m. and the show is over at 8:30 p.m.

Golden encourages people to arrive early and stop in at the museum to see the current exhibit, “Famous Drummers from Iowa.”

“There were a number of drummers from Iowa who made it big, including drummers for America, the Doobie Brothers and Slipknot,” he explained. “This exhibit has a lot of appeal to the younger generation. Fifteen drummers are represented.”

The museum is generally open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The exhibit will continue through Sept. 30.

The remaining schedule for Rock the Roof is as follows: Aug. 2, 50-Year Class Reunion Night featuring Dark Knights and Traidmarx; Aug. 9, Elvis Night featuring Dave Rowley; Aug. 16, Phoenix and Uniques. There is an entrance fee for Rock the Roof.

For more information, go to www.iowarocknroll.com.

Tags: roof garden, worthington community night, news, host