FAIRMONT – With all those icicles growing down the bandstand roof of Palatine Park on Tuesday, it seemed hard to believe that music will be commencing there soon.
The popular music venue in the Friendly City just released its 2026 summer concert lineup, and in the most sonically fundamental of ways, you can thank Johnnie B. Goode – both the song and the hometown musician – said to have inspired it.
It was Johnnie Johnson, many local music enthusiasts say, who put Palatine Park on the map 25 years ago.
Johnson, who grew up on Pennsylvania Avenue, was the boogie-woogie piano player, in turn, who was said to be the inspiration for Chuck Berry’s “Johnnie B. Goode.”
Berry was a benefactor of Johnson, who had settled in St. Louis after his hitch in the U.S. Marines in World War II.
Johnson fronted a blues and jazz trio and gave Berry his first paid gig on New Year’s Eve 1952, after his saxophone player suddenly fell ill.
You know the rest. They collaborated 20 years after that, with Berry writing the lyrics to all those classic songs and Johnson providing the beat with his 88 piano keys.
The softspoken musician had just been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (by Rolling Stone Keith Richards) when he returned to his hometown for the first time in decades to perform a triumphant free concert at Palatine, which had been largely underused at that point.
It caught on.
A festival followed in his honor and a new bandstand rigged with professional lighting and a sound system did too.
Now, there’s Palatine’s popular concert series.
Classic-rock tribute bands. Folk troubadours. Americana up-and-comers. Blues journeymen.
“I’m glad we’re a musical destination,” said Kris Cinalli, the Marion County administrator who books all the acts for Palatine. “We’re a great place for a show, and we’re bringing in acts you don’t normally see locally.”
This year’s line-up includes nationally touring bands paying tribute to Elvis Presley, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Seger, Linkin Park and Guns & Roses.
Look for original music by Aristotle Jones, the PennSOULvanians, and Matt Mullens and the Bringdowns.
Visit Palatine Park WV on Facebook for the latest information.
