LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — After an unexpected cancellation, Lakeside Live will make a sudden return to Lexington Green this Friday night. Back in May, the cancellation of Lakeside Live came as a surprise to many in the Lexington music industry.
“When it was cancelled, we were kind of shocked,” said Mike Huff, frontman for the band NVRMIND. “They had a great lineup.”
Huff had another, better, surprise a few weeks ago when Lexington Green began working on a plan to reinstate Lakeside Live.
“You know, last I had heard it was shut down,” Huff said. “Then all of a sudden, we get a call, or I get an email, asking if we were interested in getting in Lakeside Live.”
Scott Davidson, president of Langley Properties that manages Lexington Green, gave this statement in a phone call:
“In a short amount of time we have regrouped, revived, and revitalized Lakeside Live. Lexington Green originally started and managed Lakeside Live for the past seven years. However, this year, we granted the rights to a third party, and unfortunately what was planned didn’t work out. The abrupt cancellation by that party came as a surprise to us. We hope you’ll give us another shot. We’re excited to have it come back. Come out and visit us at Lakeside Live.”
Huff and NVRMND will kick off the return concert this weekend.
“Well obviously it’s rewarding for us being able to be the first band back on the stage there,” said Huff. “Anytime we’re able to open a stage like that, it means a lot to us because we’re able to get up there and do our thing.”
NVRMND has performed twice before at Lakeside Live in 2018 and 2019. The band is set to perform at 7 p.m. this Friday night.
“Lakeside Live is a, it’s a great venue man,” Huff said. “The vibe there is really cool because you’ve got the, of course, the little pond there, the lake. As the musicians, we have a great view of the crowd. It’s a really neat venue.”
The schedule and the lineup have changed, leading to some lingering frustrations in the Facebook post from July 8 announcing the Lakeside Live return. However, Huff hopes to see the local music community come together.
“I know a lot of people are a little upset or maybe disappointed that their bands that they follow weren’t on the new schedule, but we’re all a big community and we try to support each other, so I would just encourage everybody to come out and give the new bands on the new schedule a chance and let us entertain.”
Over the next nine weeks, nine bands will perform in the Lexington Green Lakeside Live summer concert series. To see the lineup, you can visit the Lexington Green Lakeside Facebook page here.
