goodbye levitt amp utica

A familiar sight around the park during Levitt Amp Utica concerts..the cheerful bucket seats wait for audience members one last time.

Rising Ghosts opens the final Levitt Amp Utica concert.

By Jess Santacroce
Music Writer, Phoenix Radio

The last Levitt Amp Utica concert was held  Friday, August 29, 2025 in Kopernik Memorial Park at 5:30 p.m. It was the final installment in a series of 90 concerts over the event’s decade long span.

Syracuse based “Rising Ghosts” opened the show with slow, contemplative music that fit the relaxed yet wistful mood of an event that both celebrated and ended a concert series that had grown to be a vital part of Utica summer nights for so many Utica residents.


“It’s a beautiful day, thank you for spending your evening with us. We are Rising Ghosts. We have a few original songs and a few covers for you,” announced lead singer Ashley Rose before shifting the mood to pure happiness with her energetic version of Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.”

Audience members were a bit slow to get up and dance during the one-hour set, as the evening was unseasonably cold for August, but two couples and a small crowd of children took to the area between the park and the stage early. They were later joined by more people as Rising Ghosts moved into covers of the Fugee’s version of “Killing Me Softly,” Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House,” and some of their own original music, including a sample of an unreleased song and the catchy alternative rock tune “Everything You Asked For,” featuring the memorable line “You don’t want me to go, but you never planned to stay.”

The versatile band concluded their one-hour set with a tribute to rapper Mac Miller.
Before the intermission acts took the stage, Levitt Amp Utica Coordinator Michelle McCarrick greeted the crowd.
“Welcome to the last Levitt concert, don’t boo me,” she said jokingly to a chorus of good-natured boos from the audience. McCarrick went on to thank the many community members who were a part of creating the series over its ten years, all of the Levitt Amp sister cities across the country, all of the local interns, and the many vendors who have participated. After calling the rest of the Levitt Amp staff to the area in front of the stage, McCarrick again spoke to the audience, this time taking a serious tone.
“I really hope we have brought the same joy as you have brought us over the years,” she said. “Remember to always support musicians. Always support creative people. I want to personally thank you for everything all these years.”
Before the intermission act could begin, the Utica Common Council made a surprise announcement. Two days earlier, on August 27, 2025, they issued a proclamation honoring McCarrick for the service her leadership on Levitt Amp Utica provided the community over the course of the past decade.
Echoing the diversity of musical styles Levitt Amp Utica had come to be known for, intermission acts included Broadway tunes by Cassandra Dolan and Anthony Graham and a Rap performance by Leeky XIV.
Offstage, Leeky XIV is known as Malik Johnson. He served as Assistant Producer for the Levitt Amp Utica concert series. Reflecting on the final concert before the show, Johnson said, “I’ve been a part of this for four years, and I love the community this has introduced me to.”
Other members of the staff expressed similar appreciation for all that Levitt Amp has given not only to them, but to the community as a whole.
“This has been my first year,” said Marketing Assistant Jonas America. “I’ve come to really love it, the community, the team members. I’m just sad this will be the last time I will get to be a part of it. It makes me wish I had joined sooner.”
Digital Media Coordinator Grace Monaco echoed the wistfulness at the series ending and the appreciation for the community it brought together.
“It’s obviously very sad, but I think all good things must come to an end. It’s bittersweet,” she noted. “I love the way this has elevated the community.” Monaco detailed her hope that the series provided not only a positive impact during its time in Utica, but inspiration and encouragement for others to plan and coordinate other local music events in the future. “Hopefully this will have a domino effect,” she said.
This blending of sadness at the end of a beloved event with celebration and looking forward to the future was echoed in the audience throughout the rest of the evening.
Soul/R&B act Joslyn & The Sweet Compression performed as the very last headliner of the local concert series. As their energetic music drifted across the street and into the little park dotted with food trucks, lawn chairs, and brightly painted bucket seats, audience members could be seen dancing, eating, resting after a hard week at work, and of course, listening to some great music while making summer memories with the neighbors, friends, and family that make up our community.


Goodbye, Levitt Amp Utica. We will miss you….and look forward to what you inspired our community to do next.

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Members of the audience watch the final Levitt Amp Utica act.