Nassau County welcomes Sugar Ray to the stage

On Sept. 3, Eisenhower Park’s Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre welcomed Sugar Ray to the stage for Nassau County’s free summer concert series. The band’s 90s rock hits “Fly,” “Every Morning,” and “Someday” drew a crowd of excited fans to Field 6.

The summer concert series was sponsored by NYU Langone Health.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said before a previous concert, “This is the biggest concert series we’ve had ever in Nassau County, and it’s thanks to our partnership with NYU Langone.”

Fans were eager to take photos and videos of the performance as Sugar Ray brought their West Coast pop-rock sound to the Labor Day weekend celebration.

Sugar Ray, founded by Newport Beach, California natives Mark McGrath and Rodney Sheppard, has accumulated several top 10 songs and hundreds of millions of streams over three decades of music. The band was founded as a self-proclaimed “hybrid of metal, punk, alternative, funk, pop,” and has found it’s way to a more pop-rock sound.

In the past, the band has shared the stage with major musical icons such as The Rolling Stones, KISS, and Sex Pistols as well as a collaboration with Run-DMC. Most recently, 21 years after its release, its hit “Fly” made waves once more — it was incorporated on rapper Post Malone’s song “Sugar Wraith.”

On the band’s website, McGrath says of their career “You could say we’re still performing because the music means a lot to us. However, the real reason is it means a lot to so many other people.”

Earlier in the summer, the county welcomed other hit groups like The Eli Young Band and Boyz II Men. Sugar Ray followed suit by packing the fields of Eisenhower Park once more.

On Sept. 11, classical artist Christopher Macchio will take to the stage during the county’s remembrance service. Visit NassauCountyNY.gov. for additional information on the remembrance service.