JOLIET, IL — Tim Placher is Joliet’s Renaissance man. He’s choir and music teacher at the city’s far west side in the Plainfield School District. Years back, he served as an attorney of seven years for the city of Joliet. At another point, Placher was a regular newspaper columnist for The Daily Southtown and The Herald-News.
Joliet’s man of many talents is now two weeks away from assembling his huge showcase of Joliet’s finest local musicians. The second annual Tim Placher’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Songbook, Plus! will feature more than 30 high-caliber local musicians. It’s inside downtown Joliet’s crown jewel, the Rialto Square Theatre.
For this year, Placher pushed for the event to be on a weekend. The Rialto agreed.
“It’s not a moneymaking proposition for me,” Placher said. “It’s what I do to be supportive of the many extremely talented music people I’m lucky enough to know around the Joliet area.
“If I’ve got any gift, it’s being able to coordinate all the pieces into an entertaining whole that keeps growing in community support, and provides the kind of grassroots programming that people always say the Rialto should be doing.”
This is a one-night-only Rialto rock concert.
Tickets are just $20 for adults and teenagers.
Children 12 and younger are free. It’s a family-friendly, all-ages concert.
At the bottom of this article, Joliet Patch has posted a YouTube video of Joliet Central senior Noah Riley playing his piano rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
If you like Queen, it’s a must watch.
Riley will be attending Yale University next fall where he plans to major in economics and mathematics.
In a Patch article published Jan. 16, Riley said, “It’s definitely not a show you’re going to want to miss. I encourage everyone to see not only myself but all of the other talented local musicians to celebrate one of the greatest musical eras to ever happen on February 8th at 7 p.m.”
Rock ‘n’ Roll Songbook, Plus! features an impressive lineup, Placher stressed.
Placher has been working overdrive to promote the Rialto concert. He wants to get at least 1,000 people in the seats.
He wants to prove to everybody that the Rialto made the right decision by letting him move his second-ever concert to a weekend show.
Last year’s inaugural event, he said, nearly filled the Rialto’s entire first floor seating even though it was on a Monday night in April.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, students from Drauden Point Middle School will also perform as will the house organist for the Rialto, Placher said.
will be selling its craft beers at the Rialto for those who are 21 and older, Placher notified Joliet Patch this week.
The featured Saturday night performers will include:
John Condron
Phoebe Hunt
Makena Hartlin
Brian Motyll
Ava Suppelsa
Stacy Sienko
Alex Hoffer
Allison Flood
Colleen Wild
Robyn Castle
Gavin Coyle
Chloe Briese
Anne Hatfield-Martin
Tom Maslowski
Katie Bern-Gordon
JRoss Green
Will Cooper
Ellis Wright
Patrick Wright
Noah Riley
Kevin McCammon
Doneco Nudi
Ted Slowik
Mark Christensen
David Drilling
Larry Huff
Tim Placher
Scott Kinsella
Glenn Tallar
Emily Kowalski
Drauden Point Choir
The $20 tickets are available at the Rialto box office, the Chicago Street Pub, 75 N. Chicago St., Joliet, or on the