| FESTIVALS Takin’ it to the streets Schenectady County’s SummerNight returns to downtown on Friday BY KRISTINA HANDY
SCHENECTADY The “Capital Region’s biggest summer block party” will take over downtown Schenectady on Friday as Schenectady County SummerNight makes its annual return. The event will feature live music, food trucks and even a large sand sculpture. There will also be games and activities at the MVP/Best Fitness Kids Zone located around City Hall. Several downtown restaurants will open their doors and offer outside food service for the evening. “It probably should be called a multiple-block party. There’s just so much going on,” said Cathy Gatta, chair of the city’s Tourism, Arts & Special Events Committee. The night’s musical lineup will be headlined by two-time Grammy winner Arrested Development, a hip-hop group that rose to fame during the 1990s. The evening of music will be opened by the Stockade Kids, a six-man band that fuses hip-hop, rock and jazz. It will be a reunion show of sorts for the band, which hasn’t performed together for the past six years. “The idea that I can come back and perform back home, and at such a staple for the community for so many years — especially after COVID and the time of it not being as big of an event for those few years — it’s just really exciting,” said Joshua Mlodzianowski, the band’s saxophonist and one of its vocalists. Mlodzianowski had moved to Ohio and Maryland during the past few years. All members of the Stockade Kids, who first played together in 2006, grew up in Schenectady and have played at SummerNight in years past. Justin Friello, the group’s guitarist and another vocalist, believes their reunion on the SummerNight stage reflects the larger spirit of Schenectady. “We all have different experiences growing up in Schenectady and I think the six of us together represent Schenectady in a very unique way, and I think we represent Schenectady music in a very unique way,” Friello said. “I hope that’s what people take away from our show — that we stand for what Schenectady is, what it can be, what it used to be.” SummerNight will also feature performances by Grand Central Station, Girl Blue, Whits End, and DJ HollyW8D and DJ Ketchup, who will help pay homage to this year’s event theme “50 Years of Hip-Hop.” “I’m very excited,” said DJ Ketchup, otherwise known as Chaheem Priest. “Be ready to dance.” Priest, a Schenectady native, performed at last year’s SummerNight and says he’s excited to return to the stage. “I just can’t wait to have that feeling in my body from what it felt like last year. It’s unexplainable,” Priest said. “I’m most excited for my daughter to see me perform again on that stage and then to dedicate my set to my late mother.” Unlike last year, however, Priest and DJ HollyW8D will perform during the end-of-event fireworks show. Priest prefers to plan his sets on the spot — feeding off the feel of the crowd — and he intends to keep it that way even for the fireworks display. “I honestly do everything live,” Priest said, adding that he hopes people will get to see the real DJ Ketchup at SummerNight. “I definitely would hope that, after my set, people are more open-minded about who DJ Ketchup is and what DJ Ketchup offers, and how much I actually really love my community and how much I strive for it.” SummerNight will take place Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. in downtown Schenectady, including State Street, Jay Street and around City Hall. For information, visit schenectadycountyny.gov.
Arrested Development
Stockade Kids
PETER R. BARBER/FILE DJ Ketchup gets the crowd fired up on the main stage during the 2022 SummerNight in downtown Schenectady.
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