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Local bands rock the common on Saturday night

By
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Around Town
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August 19, 2025
Porsha Funches delivered stunning covers of Whitney Houston, Gloria Gaynor and Ella Fitzgerald. Photo by Maureen King.
Classic Groove band leader Steven Tashjian on sax, Mark Michaels on guitar and vocals, Hector Then on drums and Lee Lundy on bass guitar. Photo by The Waltham Times.
Guest singer Tony Funches and a music-loving audience member. Photo by The Waltham Times.
Classic Groove guitarist Mark Michaels and band leader Steven Tashjian on sax. Photo by The Waltham Times.
The music got the kids dancing! Photo by The Waltham Times.
The Waltham Fire Department was on hand. Photo by The Waltham Times.

Waltham residents toting lawn chairs, blankets and food hampers spread out on the grass on Waltham Common on Saturday evening for the mayor’s annual summer concert. Waltham’s own Classic Groove along with Downtown Rhythm and OTA Creek entertained the crowd. Tony Funches, former lead singer of The Platters, and his daughter Porsha Funches joined Classic Groove as guest vocalists. Porsha delivered stunning covers of Whitney Houston, Ella FitzGerald and Gloria Gaynor.

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Author
June Kinoshita

A Waltham resident since 2003, June has been a writer and editor for Scientific American, Science, The New York Times Magazine, among others. She co-founded the Alzheimer Research Forum and N-of-One. She recently retired from a 13-year career as a leader at the FSHD Society, a rare disease patient advocacy organization.

Comments (3)
  1. David Rosen
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    August 20, 2025 at 9:19 am

    Nice job June.

  2. Jan
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    August 20, 2025 at 8:33 am

    What time Saturday???

    • June Kinoshita
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      August 20, 2025 at 8:34 am

      This concert took place last Saturday, 5 – 9 p.m.

Comments are closed.

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