Concerts and Cuisine

NJPAC’s summer outdoor concert series hosts

EPMD, Maceo Parker, Rah Digga and food

Horizon Foundation Sounds of the City is already Newark’s go-to summer celebration—an eight-week, Thursday night series of free, open-air concerts in Chambers Plaza, the lovely multilevel park that spreads out in front of NJPAC on Center Street. It’s been the city’s hot spot for dancing, socializing and basking in the late-afternoon sunshine for years.

But the long-running event tiptoed into becoming a food festival as well as a musical soirée last year, and will up the ante this summer. Now, Sounds of the City is an event where you can catch dinner with friends or colleagues in addition to taking in the music of Jon B., Newarker Frankie Negrón, the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, and more.

At every Thursday night jam of the series—which kicks off at 5PM on July 12 with DJ Felix Hernandez’s Rhythm Revue Dance Party, an annual, highly anticipated celebration of classic soul and R&B music—food trucks will fill the courtyard in front of NJPAC’s NICO Kitchen + Bar restaurant. And NICO itself will once again host a “beer tent” and barbecue, selling not only beer but all kinds of summer beverages and classic cookout treats. Everything from hot dogs to grilled chicken sandwiches and slushies (alcoholic or not, your choice) will be available during the concerts. Food trucks on hand during most weeks of the concert series will include the beloved Jersey-born Empanada Guy truck, Newark’s familiar Steak-N-Take (which offers soul food classics like fried whiting sandwiches and sweet potato pie in addition to steak), and an old-school ice cream truck. On select dates, a carnival truck will sell funnel cakes and cotton candy.

NICO’s outdoor food offerings are simple and classic so as not to compete with the visiting food trucks. Sabrett hot dogs, quarter-pound hamburgers and grilled chicken sandwiches comprise the bulk of the food.

Feel like sitting at a table and having something a little more sophisticated? Inside NICO, the standard evening menu of globe-spanning entrées and appetizers is always available.

Here’s the Sounds of the City lineup for 2018. After the kick-off event with Felix Hernandez:

July 19: Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, aka EPMD, perform. They are one of the most durable acts in Hip-Hop since the release of their 1988 debut album, Strictly Business, Hip-Hop legends from the Universal Hip-Hop Museum will open for them, as will students from NJPAC’s Hip-Hop programs.

July 26: Of-the-moment New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas have a unique sound that blends soul and spoken word with touches of other genres, like rock, gospel, funk and folk.

August 2: Brooklyn-based Afropunk band Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra will perform. The band incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.

August 9: Funk and soul saxophonist Maceo Parker, who helped to create the sound of the genre while working alongside icons like James Brown, George Clinton and Prince, plays with his band.

August 16: Newark-born sonero Frankie Negrón weaves elements of pop, rock, gospel, R&B, HipHop and reggaetón into his distinctive salsa sound.

August 23: Another local talent, Newark rapper and actress Rah Digga will come back to her home town to perform.

August 30: Contemporary R&B singer-songwriter Jon B concludes the series with his smooth blend of classic soul and R&B, seasoned with touches of Hip-Hop, rock, reggae and jazz.