By Michael P. Walsh
Special to the Voice
The Doobie Brothers tribute concert performed by What a Fool Believes is now scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday in Old Grove Park.
The concert was postponed by rain on Sept. 5 and again on Sept. 9.
Billed as “a Doobie Brothers experience,” the two-hour show will cap the Centennial Concert Series as part of West Haven’s 100th anniversary festivities.
The concert, presented by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee, is part of a six-month series of free events commemorating the community’s 1921 birth and its incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest municipality, said Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman.
The tribute band will celebrate the Doobies’ 50th anniversary, performing such timeless hits as “Listen to the Music,” “Long Train Runnin’,” “China Grove,” “Black Water,” “Takin’ It to the Streets,” “What a Fool Believes” and “Minute by Minute.”
“Six of the Northeast’s top professional musicians have pooled their talents, years of performance experience and their love of The Doobie Brothers to become the very best Doobies tribute show in the country today,” the band said in a statement. “Inspired by the Brothers’ superior songwriting, What a Fool Believes delivers powerful harmonies and a fun-filled, high-energy performance covering a catalog of Doobies hits spanning both the Tom Johnston and Michael McDonald eras.”
The show is co-sponsored by the West Haven Veterans Council and West Haven Vietnam Veterans.
A row of food trucks will serve up eats and sweets on Palace Street.
The concert will join a long list of special events observing West Haven’s secession from Orange a century ago, including the Centennial Boat Parade in June, the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in July and the Centennial Fireworks on Sept. 3. The rural and residential sections of Orange separated in 1921 when the residential part, West Haven, became the state’s youngest town.
In the spirit of West Haven’s birthday, committee Chairwoman Beth A. Sabo will sell centennial coins and lapel pins at the hospitality tent.
All merchandise proceeds generated by the committee will offset expenses and support the $50,000 centennial budget approved by the City Council, said Sabo, the city’s commissioner of human resources.
Milford vendor JOD Designs, a veteran-owned screen printing company, will sell centennial and Savin Rock T-shirts.
For other centennial merchandise, visit the official online store at https://merchwebstores.com/West-Haven-Centennial/shop/home.
The store, hosted by West Haven vendor West Shore Associates, sells such centennial-branded merchandise as long- and short-sleeved T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, stainless steel tumblers, stemless wine glasses, insulated beverage bottles, ceramic mugs, retro sunglasses, canvas and cotton tote bags, eco-performance face masks, and pigment-dyed twill and mesh trucker caps.
A portion of the vendors’ merchandise proceeds will support the centennial account, Sabo said.
For a complete list of centennial events, see the schedule at https://www.cityofwesthaven.com/343/Centennial-Events.