A Northeast Ohio rock icon is coming back for a one-night stand at the Akron Civic Theatre.
Michael Stanley and the Resonators will return to the storied theater April 21 marking the band’s first appearance on the Civic stage in nearly 40 years.
Stanley’s last Civic show was in 1978.
The opening act was an up and comer by the name of Billy Joel.
Joel will be performing at Progressive Field on July 14.
Tickets for Stanley’s appearance will go on sale Friday and will range from $37.50 to $62.50.
The Civic, built in 1929, has a seating capacity of about 5,000.
Stanley is promoting his new CD In a Very Short Time that includes 13 new songs featuring members of the Resonators along with special guests including Don Dixon and his daughter Anna Sary.
Stanley has said of the songs on the new album that they “seem to have more questions than answers and makes our company motto, ‘It’s Your World, Pay Attention,’ seem more timely.”
His band the Resonators is composed of Tommy Dobeck, drums; Bob Pelander, piano/vocals; Danny Powers, guitar/vocals; Jennifer Lee, vocals/percussion; Rodney Psyka, vocals/percussion; Marc Lee Shannon, guitar; Eroc Sosinski, bass/vocals; Paul Christensen, sax; and Gary Jones, keyboards.
The Michael Stanley Band, which has appeared at several local concert sites over the years including Tangier, still holds the attendance record at Blossom Music Center, set in August 1982 at 74,404 after a run of four sold-out performances.
The Northeast Ohio band’s biggest hit was He Can’t Love You in 1981, and his homage to Cleveland — My Town — was the band’s last Top 40 hit in 1983.
Bringing Stanley to the Civic for a performance is personal for the owner of Wayside Furniture.
“I gave my girlfriend the Stage Pass album as a gift, much to her parents’ disgust because of the photo on the cover,” said John Ferrato in a statement. “But 30 years later she still likes me. I can’t wait to take her to the show!”
The concert is part of Wayside Furniture’s 80th anniversary celebration.
The Akron furniture company is also sponsoring a series of free movies at the theater. The first one, Ratatouille, will be shown Sunday and has sold out.
The next free movies in the series are Raiders of the Lost Ark and When Harry Met Sally on Feb. 11.
Craig Webb can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547.