In Mentor, Ohio, the city has been doing a fun community activity for families or civilians of Mentor for a while. Since 2017, The Mentor Civic Amphitheater has been hosting a fun, family friendly series called Mentor Rocks. Anyone is allowed to attend for free. They have a plethora of food trucks and drink stands for children and adults. Mentor Rocks is very popular in the community, especially with teenagers.

These Mentor Rocks concerts are held during the summer and usually on Tuesdays. 

“There were 17 total concerts,” says Mentor’s event manager, Kevin Cindric. “I think last year there were 15 including City Fest. So, we added a couple more shows this summer. It’s a huge asset to the community.”

This summer there were lots of favorites including tributes to Queen, P!nk, and Taylor Swift. People from towns all over Ohio come by to see Mentor Rocks in action. In 2019, Mentor rocks broke a record in attendance for the Queen tribute and the Journey tribute. In an article written by The News-Herald states,

“Total number of attendance at the Amp is estimated at more than 100,000 people,” according to an article in The News-Herald. “The biggest draws were Queen Nation and Escape, tribute bands attracting roughly 11,000 people each.” 

As Mentor Rocks came to a wrap, we enjoyed two of the most anticipated guests this year. Hit duo Maddie and Tae stopped by on August 20th and performed an incredible show. Of course, Mentor Rocks ended off with a bang with a tribute to Journey by E5C4P3 (ESCAPE) on August 27th.

Maddie and Tae

Maddie and Tae, best known for their hit “Die From A Broken Heart”, were extremely popular this year. The two stopped in Mentor in the middle of their tour to play for us. The crowd filled the whole amphitheater with some people even listening from the concessions. Fans began arriving an hour and a half in advance to get the perfect spot to sit in the grass and sing with the duo.  Tae was first to come on stage with Maddie right behind her. Tae was wearing a sequin skirt and rodeo style crop top. Maddie wore an outfit following a similar path wearing a sequin dress and red accents with a Southern fashion. Particularly eye-catching were her red boots which many fans pointed out.

They opened with their newest release “Free Like” and much of the crowd already memorized the words to the song. After starting their set they took a break to have a chat with the crowd. Tae informed everyone that this performance in Cleveland was a different one for her as she was performing 6 months pregnant with her second baby boy. They also finally ended the Mentor pronunciation debate and decided it should be [Men-er]. They then finished the rest of their set-list which included songs like “Woman you Got”, “Fly”, and “My man”. They then of course ended off an amazing show with “Die From A Broken Heart.” They always end with this song because as they said it changed their lives. This song was made when they didn’t know if they’d ever get to release music ever again. However it was to their surprise that the song was taken very well and it has allowed them to release music for the rest of their career. Still to this day fans know every word. This was proven through their performance at Mentor Rocks as the crowd sang with them, full of emotion.  So with their show coming to an end the final words “Thank Mentor, we love you” filled the amphitheater.

If you’re interested in hearing more from Maddie and Tae check out their new EP What A Woman Can Do, their music video for “Free Like”, and “Gonna Be You” featuring Dolly Parton!

The Journey tribute Band, Escape

At Mentor Rocks on August 24, the Journey tribute band Escape performed. The concert was easily the biggest attendance this year. The band was amazing and the vocals were on point, as well as the instruments. They played many hits like ‘Separate ways’ and ‘Lights’ and many other hits. 

Bassist Paul Soos volunteered to be interviewed about the band and performing in general. We asked about how long they’ve been performing, why they formed the tribute band, what it’s like to perform, and why they come to Mentor Rocks.

“We started this band in 1993,” Soos told us. ” We are actually one of the first tribute bands around. We were all journey fans growing up, it was music that we liked. We were in a bunch of different cover bands and we decided that we have a guy who sounds like Steve Perry (lead singer of Journey). Let’s do the journey thing and it’s been very successful. Because Journey has such a big following it doesn’t matter if you’re 6 or 86, just going out and seeing the crowd and how happy the music makes them is the most fun for me. Our lead singer Jason Kelty lives in Mentor so it’s always nice to play at the Amphitheater.”

Even though summer’s over the amphitheater doesn’t just do Mentor Rocks, they also host a ‘chill out’ every winter. According to Mentor’s event manager Kevin Cindric, he says,

“We’ve hosted a chill out every winter,” Kevin Cindric says. “Except we call it the ‘Mentor Chill Out’, and we have ice sculptures come out. So, it’s kind of a way to break up the winter blues you know? You’re inside all winter, so we get people outside with ice sculptures and food trucks. We do a whiskey and bourbon tasting, so that really showcases the amphitheater.” 

It’s definitely a nice thing for him to organize this for the people of Mentor to enjoy. Cindric also runs the summer camps, the Christmas light displays, and other community events that take place in Mentor.

If your interested in learning more about Mentor Rocks be sure to attend a concert this upcoming summer in 2025!