Big hair was huge, MTV was born and teen flicks ruled in the 1980s.
Fox Pointe in downtown Lansing revisits the popular decade with the free Back to the 80s Fest! on Sept. 10-11 outdoors.
“It was such an experimental time in music and it’s just fun music,” said Dave Ensslin, guitarist and vocalist for Sixteen Candles, who headline the festival’s second night.
“It’s always a great vibe to play a fest. You’re outdoors. If the weather’s great, that really makes a big difference. It’s a great atmosphere to see a band because it truly does get you in the zone and you forget about life for a while.”
Sponsored by Lansing Public Library, Back to the 80s Fest! includes local food trucks and themed days.
Sept. 10’s 80s Dance Party Night features Rock Band Karaoke offering karaoke with a live band, Jessi & The Fizz and the 1980s tribute the Breakfast Club while Sept. 11’s Big Hair Band Night features Scorpions tribute Lovedrive Chicago, Bon Jovi tribute Bad Medicine and 1980s tribute Sixteen Candles.
“It’s going to be a fun lineup,” said Ensslin, who is also owner of Fox River Grove-based Double D Booking with partner Duff Rice of Naperville, and has been booking Midwest talent since 2005.
Sixteen Candles, who performed in 2019 during halftime for the Chicago Bears’ 100th season opener against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field in Chicago, have played in California, Colorado, Kentucky and throughout the Midwest, including Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
“Myself and the drummer were actually in other bands and we were playing a festival together. He was like, ‘We should start an ’80s band,’ and I was like, ‘I got a couple of guys that would be great,'” said Ensslin of Fox River Grove.
“We put an ad in the Chicago Reader for a singer and two people responded. One person showed up for the audition and it was Adam. That was in 2003.”
The lineup that started with Ensslin, Chris Hagen (drums) of Algonquin and Adam LeBlanc (lead vocals) of Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood was later rounded out by Scott Barbeau (keyboard, vocals, keytar and shaker) of Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood and Billy Furlong (bass and vocals) of Plainfield.
“They’re all incredible musicians. The magic of Sixteen Candles is we don’t use prerecorded tracks, we’re all live and just the chemistry that we have between each other. We’re all really good friends. We don’t just see each other at shows,” Ensslin said.
“The 1980s was an untapped market and it was such fun music. Nobody was playing the type of ’80s we play. We do movie hits like ‘Footloose,’ ‘Sunglasses at Night,’ Lionel Richie and that type of stuff.”
The 1980s dance party Sixteen Candles bring to the stage features both medleys and full songs.
More Top Picks Shark Matrix Plus
“I like doing a lot of Prince stuff,” said Ensslin of medleys including “Little Red Corvette” and “1999” and tunes such as “Kiss,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Purple Rain” and “Raspberry Beret.”
“We have a different set list every show so it’s never the same although there’s a handful of songs that are on every single set list.”
Staples for Sixteen Candles are medleys including Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love,” Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” and Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” and hits such as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Sixteen Candles, who bill themselves as “the nation’s premier ’80s pop experience,” drew their moniker from the 1984 movie of the same name, which was written and directed by the late John Hughes and stars Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald and Michael Schoeffling.
“It’s a classic,” said Ensslin about “Sixteen Candles,” which was the directorial debut for Hughes, whose other teen films include 1985’s “The Breakfast Club” and “Weird Science,” 1986’s “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and 1987’s “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
“There’s a ton of one-liners in ‘Sixteen Candles.’ It’s a movie you can watch over and over again and keep picking up things you missed the last time.”
Back to the 80s Fest! attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets for seating. There are also picnic tables around and under the pavilion area of Fox Pointe, which is presented by the village of Lansing.
“Everyone’s had a rough year and a half,” Ensslin said.
“It’ll be great to get out, forget about everything and just sing along and party.”
Back to the 80s Fest!
When: 5-10:30 p.m. Sept. 10-11
Where: Fox Pointe, 18138 Henry St., Lansing
Tickets: free
Information: 708-895-7204; foxpointe.org
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.