Local community leader Mike Raies is excited to welcome the performing talents of two major musical legends: Kenny Aronoff and Mark Rivera. These musicians will join local musicians and friends for what the Friends of Portsmouth is calling Bad Habits with Good Friends.
The concert is the Sunday night entertainment for Portsmouth’s River Days festival, with many other entertainment options throughout the weekend.
According to co-chair Meridith Brankamp, “I am really looking forward to the musical acts this year. First of all, we have the first ever Final Friday takeover, which is going to be an amazing combination of combining both forces working together. Saturday, we have a national act called Majesty, which is a Queen tribute band. I’m a huge Queen fan, so I am really, really looking forward to that. Sunday is being called Bad Habits with Good Friends and is composed of hometown stars and friends. We have Bad Habits with Jacob Tolliver coming back and gracing the stage with Million Dollar Quartet. We also have drummer Kenny Aronoff and Billy Joel’s Saxophonist Mark Rivera. It is a totally killer lineup with no lineup and only four solid hours of solid acts.”
Bad Habits, known as being the EyeDocs of Rock, is well-known not only to the area but on a national stage, where they regularly travel to perform. They took the River Days stage a few years ago to perform with Jacob Tolliver and members of the Million Dollar Quartet. Raies is excited to do this again, but with additional talent.
“We’re back. We played River Days about three or four years ago. We’re back with some good friends, which include Jacob Tolliver and some of the stars of the Million Dollar Quartet,” Raies explained. “With them is legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff, who was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 100 drummers. He has played in Portsmouth before and is returning due to popular demand. Our new and exciting guest will be featured celebrity Mark Rivera, who is Billy Joel’s longtime saxophone player of 40-some years.”
These types of concerts are important to Raies, who was radiating with excitement for the talent being brought to the festival.
“Rivera was also Ringo Star’s musical director and just has an amazing resume,” Raies continued. “He was involved in Foreigner’s albums in the 80’s, he also arranged all the
horns for Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer. When you find out all that this guy has done, it is just amazing that he will be playing with us.”
Raies was able to perform with Rivera not long ago, during a conference where the EyeDocs of Rock Bad Habits took the stage.
“He is so much fun on stage and great to watch,” Raies said. “He has always been a sideman to Billy Joel, but he is a multi-talented instrumentalist with good vocals and he will wow a lot of people.”
The concert begins Sunday at 7 p.m. at Fourth and Washington Streets.
“I know, from past history, that our music and Jacob’s music is so popular because it crosses so many genres,” Raies stated. “I like to say if you stick around long enough, you’ll find something you like because we play such a wide variety of music across genres. We always have a great crowd reaction. I think, when people find out these legendary performers are coming to Portsmouth, it will make things even better.”
Brankamp said they are still looking for volunteers, especially for the parade and fireworks. Anyone wishing to volunteer for any element of the event may email [email protected] or reach out to Brankamp on Facebook.
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