At 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday through August, crowds gather under Midway’s tallest pine trees for Music on the Square. This free weekly outdoor summer concert series is a showcase for local musicians that encourages community use of Midway’s town square grounds with a Wasatch Mountain sunset backdrop.
The early June kickoff featured Tyler Gould strumming and singing a one-man show with his acoustic guitar. The Orem-based roots/country musician played a mixture of originals and covers while 200 listeners spread blankets on the ground, opened folding chairs, or sat on complimentary bleachers.
Children rode their scooters around the court in front of the stage, played tag and practiced handstands throughout Gould’s two-hour set. Midway’s Mayor Celeste Johnson tossed a stuffed rhinoceros with a child while waiting for her burrito from Los Tacos Locos food truck.
“Is everybody here from Midway?” Gould asked the crowd between songs. Most of the audience responded with cheers.
“Lucky you,” he said. “I love coming up here.”
Midway’s Music on the Square began last summer when the city hosted outdoor concerts every other Tuesday with one rotating food truck on site. Positive feedback and fine tuning led to this year’s expanded weekly series, a scheduling shift to Wednesdays and two varying food truck options per event.
J.C. Simonsen is a Midway City Council member who was instrumental in starting Music on the Square with help from a Trails, Arts and Parks (TAP) Grant, which comes from the 10th of a percent sales tax approved by Wasatch County voters in 2022.
“We host a variety of genres, but the one thing we ask is that musicians play acoustic,” Simonson said. Sound carries on the open air and the event keeps its neighbors in mind.
“We’re not trying to be a weekend blockbuster concert series,” Simonsen said. “We want to encourage use of the beautiful venue we have on our grounds around the square, and provide a mid-week occasion for the community to gather, relax, bring a meal or visit a food truck, and hear some great local musicians in a free, casual setting.”
Gould appreciated the event’s intimate focus.
“The show was everything I wanted it to be,” Gould said. “I typically play with my four-piece band, but I’ve recently been exploring solo sets at smaller venues that can include more of my storytelling.”
To introduce his cover of Jack Johnson’s “Flake,” Gould talked about his time living in Hawaii when he would see Johnson, his neighbor, riding bicycles with his children on their way to school. Later in the show, Gould shared his six years of sobriety with the audience to supportive applause before playing his song “Tainted,” which confronts fears of past actions resonating into the present and future.
The show this past Wednesday featured Desert Mirage, a three-piece reggae group fronted by Midway resident Omar Gerardo singing songs in English and Spanish. The group was returning to Music on the Square after performing last summer, and grooved through their bilingual blend of originals and covers until a sustained torrent of wind whipped in to knock out the power and blow off the stage’s tent halfway through their set.
The crowd was in no hurry to disperse, as sunshine returned after a few raindrops came and went, but the electricity stayed out. As the musicians carried away their instruments, listeners followed suit. With no plans to reschedule the Desert Mirage show, the series will continue as scheduled next Wednesday.
Fans wanting a full Desert Mirage show will have another chance to see the band perform July 24 at the Heber Market.
Upcoming Midway Music on the Square shows include Mister Sister, an acoustic harmony trio featuring two sisters from Park City on June 18. Salt Lake City-based Michelle Moonshine will be playing songs from her album “Sad Spaghetti Westerns” on June 25. Further artists will be announced later in the season.