The popular summer concert series has lots of bands, playing songs from groups you’ve actually heard of.
WALT DISNEY WORLD, FL — It’s summertime! And do you know what that means? It means it’s time for the return of the EPCOT Centre (and Spa!) International Festival of the Summertime Festival! Longtime fans of this festival are familiar with its unbearably warm temperatures, rainy evenings, and the Sounds Like Summer Concert Series.
Unlike the “Garden Rocks” concert series (part of the Epcot International Pollen and Allergy Festival) and the “Eat to the Beat” series (part of the E.P.C.O.T. International Food and Drunk People Festival), Sounds Like Summer didn’t typically feature “big name” bands. And now Disney is embracing that concept, as it renames the concert series “Sounds Like ‘Sounds Like Summer'” and exclusively features bands that imitate big name bands.
Cover bands galore
Typically, Disney has announced the lineup for the Sounds Like Summer concerts in April. However, many people noticed the lack of an announcement this year and were wondering if the concerts would be back. Fear not, Uncle Walt’s Insider has the inside track [Ed.: Nice pun!], and was able to receive the schedule of what is now called “Sounds Like ‘Sounds Like Summer.'” We are proud to be the first ones to publish this year’s Sounds Like ‘Sounds Like Summer’ concert schedule:
- June 24-28: Eduardo’s Ermitaños – This Spanish-language band performs covers of Herman’s Hermits. If you’ve ever wondered what “Henry VIII” sounds like en español, this is your chance!
- June 29-31: Frying Pan – With the end of Night of Joy, fans of the popular Christian band Skillet may be disappointed. Fear not, this klezmer-style cover band has you covered. [Ed.: Ok, the first pun was good, but let’s try to tone it down, shall we?]
- July 1-5: The Gear Son-In-Laws – Fans of The Gear Daddies (or the Infinity War soundtrack) will be excited to know that there’s now a band whose sole purpose is doing covers of Gear Daddies’ hits.
- July 6-10: Re-Björn Again – ABBA fans are familiar with Björn Again, an ABBA cover band. Now, for the first time ever, there’s a cover of the cover band! Swedish Rock, here we come!
- July 11-16: The Fendertones – The Fendertones are a Beach Boys cover band. They have a very good sound, so good that even real Beach Boys sometimes wonder which is which. Sadly, no John Stamos.
- July 17-22: Matchbox 46 – With Rob Thomas getting up there in age, maybe it’s time for a Matchbox 20 cover band to hit the stage.
[Ed.: First the puns, now the rhymes. Make it stop!]
[X: I’ve got to get the rest of the concerts done. We’re not even through July, we’ve got until mid-August to announce.]
[Ed.: Fine. Whatever. Just try to tone it down] - July 22-27: Michelle Jaxon – Since Michael Jackson went from being a black man to a white woman, it’s only fitting that his cover band is fronted by a white woman.
- July 28-Aug 2: Three Cat Knight – Cats are smaller than dogs, and these three University of Central Florida graduates are nowhere near as big of a draw as Three Dog Night. But they do a pretty good cover of Joy to the World.
- Aug 3-6: Nicks to the Mac’s – We’ve always wondered why Fleetwood Mac is named for Mick Fleetwood, since he’s arguably the least important person in the band. Stevie Nicks is really the heart and soul of the group. At least the tribute band is appropriately named.
- Aug 7-11: The Congressional Subway Tunnel – It’s a glorious age we live in, when even a parody band like The Capitol Steps have their own cover bands. That being said, political satire, at Epcot? No thanks.
All of the Sounds Like Summer concerts will be held in the America Gardens Theater, which is located just steps away from the New Jersey Pavilion.
[Ed.: Phew! Made it! Finally!]
Which concerts are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!
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Cover photo of Epcot’s retooled “Sounds Like ‘Sounds Like Summer'” cover band concert series courtesy easywdw.com.
