Quad City Symphony Orchestra’s Riverfront Pops Puts Emphasis on Horns With Classic ‘70s Songs
If you really want to know what time it is, it’s time to rock out with the annual Quad City Symphony Orchestra’s Riverfront Pops at LeClaire Park, Davenport. The party of the summer will be Saturday, Aug. 16, with “The Music of Blood Sweat & Tears, Earth Wind & Fire…and a little Chicago,” featuring guest stars Jeans ‘n Classics – which has a 30-year history performing with symphony orchestras across North America, including the last three in the QC.
The 7:30 p.m. concert at the LeClaire Park bandshell will be their fourth time performing in the QCSO Riverfront Pops. The previous appearances were the last three summers: 2024 with music of Led Zeppelin, 2023 with the music of Journey, and 2022’s music of Elton John. The new concert will feature a five-member band, lead singers Jean Meilleur and Gavin Hope, with trumpet player Paul Stevenson, and other two vocalists, Stephanie Martin and Andrea Koziol.
The standard set list for the new show is 18 total songs, plus an encore – representing seven numbers from Earth, Wind & Fire, six from Chicago, and five from Blood, Sweat & Tears. You can rock out as the QCSO celebrates the unforgettable hits of the iconic ’70s horn bands featuring show-stopping classics like “Spinning Wheel,” “Boogie Wonderland,” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”
eans ‘n Classics (which specializes in doing a variety of concerts with orchestras throughout North America) in their music of Led Zeppelin with the QCSO in August 2024, LeClaire Park in Davenport (photo by Evan Sammons).
This spectacular event closes with the QCSO’s traditional renditions of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever set to a brilliant fireworks display.
“It’s a privilege to share the stage with a symphony orchestra, Peter Brennan’s superb arrangements and a flawless band,” said Meilleur, a 64-year-old native of Madison, Wis., who recently sang a Pink Floyd pops concert with Jeans ‘n Classics at the Wisconsin State Capitol grounds in his hometown, before 35,000 people. “To have the opportunity to sing some of the greatest popular music of our time, in my own voice, is a rush beyond compare.”
Meilleur will be lead singer for the Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears songs at the Aug. 16 Riverfront Pops.
He loves singing at LeClaire Park, right on the Mississippi River, even though they won’t be doing a fitting Chicago classic, “Saturday in the Park,” on this Saturday night in the Davenport park.
“Most of the artists have a massive catalog — we sort of focus on things that we feel are most suited to an orchestra, some tunes we don’t do,” Meilleur said recently. “Jeans ‘n Classics has talked about adding it back. We have an interesting Chicago connection. Our member Neil Donell in the past, he’s now the lead singer for Chicago. He was with us about 10 years, and he always talked about how much he loved Chicago, and at one point, they heard him, they hired him.”
Riverfront Pops always closes with the orchestra doing “Stars and Stripes Forever” and the “1812 Overture” set to a brilliant fireworks display (photo by Evan Sammons).
A Canadian 69-year-old, Donell has been lead tenor vocalist for the rock band Chicago since 2018, succeeding Peter Cetera, Jason Scheff and Jeff Coffey.
At Riverfront Pops, Meilleur also takes over in the Blood, Sweat & Tears numbers, for their iconic lead singer David Clayton-Thomas. “We both have similar tone,” he said. “So I’m able to get in his shoes, and do his sort of growly singing. It’s a ball.”
Jeans ‘n Classics emphasizes that they are NOT a tribute act, in their wide variety of pop and rock repertoire, performed with orchestras.
Hope will be lead singer for one Chicago ballad and the Earth, Wind & Fire numbers.
“I think a tribute act tries to do more of an imitation, to convince you they’re the Beatles or whoever. Because we have the symphony, we celebrate the music more — it’s the same songs, the same music. But I think we have more freedom to interpret, which is nice as an artist, to make it more our own,” Meilleur said. “It puts less pressure on us to have to look at every detail.”
“All the shows are well suited to orchestra — our orchestrator, Peter Brennan, makes sure of that,” he said. “This is definitely the most brass heavy show, lots of horns, lots of brass. The strings get their time and woodwinds.”
Jeans ‘n’ Classics has been doing this show before the actual bands Chicago and Earth, Wind, & Fire did their many joint live tours together, Meilleur said.
Jean Meilleur has been a lead singer for Jeans ‘n Classics for over 20 years.
“What we wanted to do is keep it varied, some folks — even if you like all three of those bands — this gives people a chance hear to the same genre of music with more variety,” he said, noting Jeans ‘n Classics have several varied shows (not centering on one artist or band), including a Woodstock theme show, disco and Motown, current and classic country, an Elton John and Billy Joel show, among a slew of different artists.
Collaborating with over 100 orchestras across North America, Jeans ‘n Classics has curated an extensive repertoire showcased in diverse venues, according to its bio. With nearly 1,000 original orchestrations tailored to rock and pop classics, spanning 45 distinctive and captivating productions, Jeans ‘n Classics continues to shape the contemporary landscape of symphonic performances.
Gavin Hope, who has sung with the a cappella group The Nylons and starred in Canadian Broadway productions, has performed for Jeans ‘n Classics since 2007.
Which band is Meilleur’s favorite to perform?
“Honestly, this isn’t just a cliché, I love them all,” he said. “It’s really a ball to sing, it’s a privilege to sing not only with a band, but with orchestra.
“I think it all comes together given quality of the charts we bring in, Peter Brennan writes, the talent of the musicians in our band, world-class players, the orchestras we play with,” he said. “They pick it up in no time, literally. After set up, two and a half hours, they’ve got it down pat. It’s a testament to our symphony musicians. The guest singers and players come in the day before, try out the community, and rehearse with the orchestra the following morning.
“It makes it really special, people expect a certain level of entertainment. It actually ends up putting a bit of enjoyable pressure on us, to live up to that, especially the symphony,” Meilleur added. “They’re great, everyone is so welcoming, people come with their lawn chairs. In the summer, it’s a great time.”
Jean Meilleur has been a headliner with Jeans ‘n Classics for over 20 years. In that time, he’s performed with scores of major North American orchestras, lending his distinctive voice to some of the greatest popular music of our time. He moved to Detroit at a young age. Living in the Motor City helped shape his penchant for the Motown, Soul and R&B sounds of the early ’70s.
Hisham Bravo Groover leading the Quad City Symphony Orchestra for the 2024 Riverfront Pops concert (photo by Evan Sammons).
A good dose of Hope
The other lead singer, 52-year-old Canadian Gavin Hope, will take the lead on the Chicago ballad “Colour My World,” as well as the Earth, Wind & Fire hits. Meilleur praised his dancing ability – “Gavin can move on stage, I can’t. He’s something to watch, had quite a career in stage, in theater as well. With him on stage, it’s a thing to behold.”
Hope is a three-time Juno Award nominee, both as a solo headlining vocalist and also as the longest running baritone member of the iconic Canadian a cappella group, The Nylons (through its farewell tour in 2017). In addition to touring globally, he has recorded six studio albums with the Nylons, as well as two more successful recordings.
Hope has performed in music festivals around the world, including the Borneo Jazz Festival twice, as well as being a featured artist in the Toronto and Kensington Jazz Festivals. A native of Calgary, Alberta, he was an original Canadian cast member of hit Broadway musicals “The Lion King” (Simba), and “RENT” (Collins), in Toronto. He’s been a headlining featured vocalist with Jeans ‘n Classics for almost two decades.
Hope has been performing Symphony Pops concerts in the U.S. and Canada, bringing the music of Earth Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Rocky Horror, Motown, Woodstock, Soulful, Music of Apollo, Rock and Pop, Woodstock, James Bond, and more, to the symphonic stage.
A view of the LeClaire Park bandshell during the 2024 QCSO Riverfront Pops (photo by Evan Sammons).
“Earth, Wind & Fire is just spectacular, they sound fantastic,” he said recently. “It’s a musicians’ band, such amazing horn arrangements.” Hope saw them live for the first time last year in Memphis. Bands like Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, “with incredible horn arrangements, are just funky,” Hope said.
“Like the Nylons, when music is that good, it connects with that many people,” he said. “It brings them back to a time. Great music always takes you to a place. It’s just infectious joy when you hear it. It’s gonna be a party, I love to dance.”
“This is one of my favorites, I’ve always been a fan of Earth, Wind & Fire,” Hope said. “We could have an entire concert of just them,” Hope said. “There are so many other songs we could put in.”
He also loves being able to perform with an orchestra.
“Every single time – I’ve been doing it 18 years — it’s just a thrill,” he said. “It’s like having your own movie soundtrack right behind you, a great big, gorgeous sound.”
Each orchestra is different, and Hope and Meilleur love it when audiences sing along and dance.
“When I see people with big smiles on their faces and see people dancing, it just gives me life,” Hope said.
On Aug. 16, the Riverfront Pops gates open at 4 p.m. at the park. At 6:30 p.m., conductor Hisham Bravo Groover will lead the Youth Symphony Orchestra in a pre-show, before the main concert starts at 7:30 p.m.
General admission tickets are $23 for adults in advance* and $6 for children ages 3-13. Adult prices increase $8 on Friday, August 15. For tickets and more information, click HERE.
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