OPINION: Luzerne County made concert an embarrassing political fiasco, not Low Cut Connie
In a misguided attempt to avoid a manufactured “controversy,” Luzerne County officials found themselves embroiled in it this week as they stumbled from one bad decision into another.
Rockin’ the River isn’t typically a hot topic of debate. For seven years, the annual summer concert series has entertained thousands of people of all ages with live music perfectly staged at the Wilkes-Barre River Common alongside the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River. As the sun sets behind the trees and reflects off the water running under the nearby Market Street Bridge, some of the region’s best local musicians open for headlining tribute acts and, occasionally, a popular or up-and-coming original band. With food and drinks also readily available, it is easily one of the best free music events that Northeastern Pennsylvania has to offer, and this year would have been no different as they were set to close out the 2025 edition with Low Cut Connie.
The reputation of the Philadelphia band precedes them, passionately delivering piano-driven rock ‘n’ roll with lively showmanship and genuine soul that hasn’t just caught the attention of music lovers and critics across the country. Sir Elton John said he loved them as he dedicated a song to the group on his farewell tour, even meeting them in person and continuing to praise their work in an interview he conducted with vocalist Adam Weiner on his Rocket Hour radio show.
There is little doubt that they would have lived up to that in their Wilkes-Barre debut, but some Luzerne County officials think they know better than the legendary Rocket Man himself. A few weeks before Low Cut Connie’s performance, the county quietly updated the Rockin’ the River schedule and social media posts to reflect a new headliner on July 25, a local AC/DC cover act, without making any kind of official announcement. On Monday, July 21, Weiner uploaded his own video to explain that, “For the first time ever, my show has been canceled for ‘political’ reasons.”
These reasons, however, were never directly stated to him, leaving him just as confused as those who are familiar with his music. Most of his songs aren’t inherently political, and when he addresses live audiences, he says he talks about love and bringing people from all walks of life together to enjoy the music, which sounds like a pretty standard message that nearly every band in existence has expressed from every stage at one point in time. He speculated that using words like “diversity” and “inclusion,” though, may have set off alarm bells for certain Luzerne County conservatives, and while those officials seem to have done little research, they may have caught wind that Low Cut Connie released a new single, “Livin’ in the USA,” that is critical of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids ordered by President Donald Trump.
At first, the only statement that Luzerne County would make on the matter was from county manager Romilda Crocamo: “Our goal is to have a place where we can enjoy music, food, promote our community, have fun, be safe and free of politics and propaganda.” Throwing around “politics and propaganda” as insults is funny coming from a government official, especially one who was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania for taking it upon herself to remove the county’s ballot drop boxes for mail-in voters during the 2024 election. When the Low Cut Connie story was quickly picked up by every major news outlet in NEPA, which then drew national attention, she wildly elaborated in an interview on WILK’s “Morning News with Nancy and Jason” that she “cannot guarantee the safety and security of not only my staff, not only the musicians, but the residents if the music becomes political. I think we’re tired. We’re tired of this yelling and screaming at each other. No one’s listening to each other. You go to Rockin’ the River and you’re listening to music and that is three hours… where that doesn’t exist.”
Residents may also be tired of ignorant politicians sticking their noses where they don’t belong, like in a concert series that has been running smoothly for nearly a decade because some members of the committee actually know something about live rock music, which she admitted she doesn’t listen to, but she didn’t seem quite as concerned about that issue. Instead, she claimed she “received varied messages” regarding Low Cut Connie while acknowledging that none were violent threats.
“I am not saying that Low Cut Connie is trying to ignite anything. I use the words ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion.’ I like to believe that I, as an individual, exemplify ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion,'” Crocamo continued.
“I see the children in the crowd. They don’t need to see adults screaming and yelling at each other. … And I certainly don’t want them to see people getting violent with each other.”
She also conceded to never even hearing of this band before this incident, so it’s good to know that an unbiased, well-informed decision was made to protect everyone, especially the children. More on that later.
If this completely made-up violent scenario was an actual possibility, why hasn’t this happened at any previous Low Cut Connie shows? With years of touring and at least 1,000 live performances under their belts, Weiner estimated, they just came home from another national run that included plenty of red states such as Texas, all without incident. It’s almost as if music has this uncanny ability to transcend all our petty differences and unite crowds of individuals who may have little in common except for an appreciation of that extraordinary feeling that only a song can create.
“I come out on stage and I say, ‘I love everybody here tonight,'” Weiner said in an interview with WNEP. “I do speak on stage about diversity. I look at the crowd and I say, ‘You’re like a big, beautiful salad bowl. Each and every one of you is a little bit different, but you’re all delicious together.”
On “The Sue Henry Show” on WILK, Weiner added that he has “never had anything but positive feedback” from audiences, and he said his agent tried to assuage Luzerne County’s unfounded fears by sending them live footage from their shows, which have included plenty of free outdoor concerts.
“I have a reputation and a track record to stand on of being one of the most inclusive performers. … I just give everybody a good time. I get people to really, really come together. They put their arms around each other. There’s a part of the show where we ask people to introduce themselves to one new person, make one new friend at the show. I mean, this is like Mister Rogers-type stuff. This is, like, basic values – very family friendly show. I truly haven’t heard a legitimate explanation as to why they canceled my show.”
That’s because there isn’t one. He wasn’t going to stand up in front of a county that largely voted for Trump and start ranting about him. He told Henry that he wasn’t even planning to play “Livin’ in the USA.” What “propaganda” was Crocamo objecting to here? Messages of peace, love, and friendship? Those all sound like things a Paul McCartney tribute band would sing about, which they did when Maybe I’m Amazed played Rockin’ the River last week.
In place of Low Cut Connie, Luzerne County booked an AC/DC tribute called Halfway to Hell. It’s no secret that most of AC/DC’s biggest hits are about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll – not exactly “family friendly” fare – but the county isn’t so prudish about all that. Unfortunately, in their haste to brush any public discussion under the rug and move on with a new headliner, they didn’t seem to bother to consult anyone who knows anything about the local music scene, or even Google, for that matter. When the initial story started picking up traction online, social media posts began filling up with comments warning that Halfway to Hell founder/vocalist Forrest Kline plead guilty to a second-degree felony sex crime in Luzerne County in 2007 and only spent about a year in jail, according to WNEP. An official court summary states that the crime was incest, and a newspaper article from that time clarified that “a 45-year-old man twice raped a 17-year-old girl in his care,” police said. The judge in this case was Mark Ciavarella, who later became a convicted felon himself when his infamous “kids for cash” scheme exposed how corrupt Luzerne County can be. Was justice truly served in either case? We may never know.
Crocamo told WNEP she was not aware of this criminal history and quickly passed the buck to some unnamed person for the new booking, which they soon retracted and swapped with another AC/DC cover band, Back in Black. It can be argued that the county shouldn’t be expected to do background checks on musicians hired for a one-night-only concert, but this just means they spent more time investigating a musician that they suddenly deemed a political opponent rather than a proper replacement. This embarrassing blunder is plainly hypocritical coming from someone who, just hours before this, was on WILK making an emotional “think of the children” speech to what sounded like flabbergasted hosts, even invoking the “senseless violence” of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and pledging to “absolutely do everything in my power to prevent” further violence to help bolster her confusing arguments. Despite being on a conservative-leaning station, even they didn’t seem to understand what the big deal was with Low Cut Connie.
The deal, of course, was politics – the same old dirty politics this county is known for, except these dirty deeds weren’t done dirt cheap. WVIA confirmed that, because their contract was signed months ago, Low Cut Connie and their booking agency were still paid $10,000 by event sponsors and the visitors’ bureau, Visit Luzerne County, which comes from local hotel tax money. Even more funds were spent on a last-minute substitute. In other words, in a frivolous attempt to label someone they disagreed with philosophically a “problem” that only they could solve, they offered the public the least viable solution possible while providing Weiner with the kind of national news coverage most bands would kill for (even by Fox News) and 10 grand to stay home and laugh about the whole thing. What an impressive way to fight back against “cancel culture” and “own the woke libs,” if that’s what they were aiming for.
Speaking of people who seriously parrot idiotic catchphrases like that, some who are only reading headlines about this completely unnecessary mess have assumed that this is another case of a Trump-hating liberal opening his big mouth and making concerts political rallies when he should just “shut up and sing.” Anyone who takes a few extra minutes to assess the situation objectively and listen to both sides should know this simply isn’t true. The real story is that, in another case of government officials putting their personal feelings and beliefs before the good of their constituents, Crocamo and anyone else who conspired with her behind the scenes overstepped into the wrong department and royally screwed up so bad that they almost drowned Rockin’ the River completely while making the county a national embarrassment… again. Members of the original committee who are actual music fans chose Low Cut Connie about eight months ago simply because they’re a great band, not because of some larger plot by the left to push a political message or instigate violence. Had no one interfered, the original show would have gone off without a hitch, as it has every year.
On Friday, a crowd did show up for Black in Back and opening act Bat Out of Hell, a Meatloaf tribute who was another last-minute addition, so hopefully that means this concert series will continue for many years to come. Canceling the whole thing benefits no one. Annual events, when run well, have the opportunity to grow each year if lessons are learned, feedback is valued, and mistakes are corrected every time. The biggest takeaway here is that, while some people say musicians should stay out of politics, this case just proves that politicians should stay out of music.
2022 photo of Rockin’ the River concert by Rich Howells
