The Lovin’ Spoonful: The Lovin’ Spoonful were America’s answer to the Beatles! Led by primary songwriter  John Sebastian, Steve Boone, Joe Butler and Zal Yanovsky, the band exploded onto the charts, sending their first seven singles to Billboard’s Top 10 virtually overnight. The Spoonful formed in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1965 at the Night Owl Café and signed to Kama Sutra Records. They appeared on every major TV show of the era: The Ed Sullivan Show, Hullabaloo and Shindig! Their first single, “Do You Believe in Magic,” flew to the top of the charts and was followed by an unprecedented string of hits including “Daydream,” “Younger Girl,” “Summer in the City,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” “Darling Be Home Soon,” “Jug Band Music,” “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind,” “Lovin’ You,” “Didn’t Want to Have to Do it,” “Rain on the Roof,” “Six O’clock,” “Nashville Cats,” “Coconut Grove,” and “She’s Still a Mystery (to Me).” The band was so influential that music legends like Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson cited them as forces of inspiration, as did so many others. Paul McCartney cited  “Daydream” as his inspiration for “Good Day Sunshine” and even John Lennon called the Spoonful “tunesmiths!”

Today the Lovin’ Spoonful tours with founding member Steve Boone, Jeff Alan Ross (Badfinger, Peter Asher), Bill Cinque (Neil Diamond), longtime drummer Mike Arturi, and  Rob Bonfiglio (The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson Band, Wilson Phillips), who is Carnie Wilson’s husband and Brian Wilson’s son-in-law. Together they faithfully celebrate the rich, good-time catalog of hits that made The Lovin’ Spoonful one of the world’s most beloved groups to emerge from the ‘60s. The Lovin’ Spoonful was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the performance takes place at 8 p.m. in the Osterhout Concert Theater. Tickets cost $55-75 for indoor reserved seating and $25 for lawn tickets. On sale at 11 a.m. this Friday, May 23 at the Anderson Center Box Office, online at anderson.binghamton.edu or by calling 607-777-ARTS. This performance is sponsored in part by Wegmans, Solid Gold 100.5 FM, 99.1 The Whale, and WBNG-TV. One more summer concert announcement coming soon, with a full 2025-26 season unveiling expected later this summer.