Kool & the Gang is the most sampled R&B band in history — the sound that Jay-Z, Madonna, Janet Jackson, and P. Diddy all reached for when they needed a groove that could carry the weight of a moment. On Thursday, December 10, the group brings “The Sound of the Celebration” to the LECOM Event Center in Elmira, drawing from a catalog that has now been in continuous use for more than sixty years.
About the Show
The concert is billed as a half-century of hits, and the set covers it: “Celebration,” “Cherish,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Summer Madness,” “Open Sesame,” “Get Down On It,” “Ladies’ Night,” “Joanna” — the infrastructure of R&B radio from the 1970s forward, songs that have never really left the cultural conversation. The band itself has performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history.
The group formed in 1964 in Jersey City, when brothers Robert “Kool” Bell and Ronald Bell gathered neighborhood friends to build what became a distinctive blend of jazz, soul, and funk. Their 1973 album Wild & Peaceful put them on the map. Ladies’ Night in 1979 — their first platinum record — announced their commercial arrival. “Celebration” followed, spending six weeks atop the R&B chart and reaching No. 1 on the pop chart; the song entered the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2021. The band has amassed 31 gold and platinum albums over their recording career.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted Kool & the Gang in 2024, citing them as “essential innovators in the sound of funk, soul, disco, and R&B.” They had earned a Songwriters Hall of Fame induction in 2018 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before that. Their music appears on the soundtracks for Rocky, Saturday Night Fever, and Pulp Fiction. Kool & the Gang was also the only American group to participate in Band Aid’s 1984 recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” In 2023, they released People Just Wanna Have Fun, their 34th studio album, marking their 60th anniversary; the group followed that with sold-out residencies at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino in 2023 and 2024. No support act has been announced for the Elmira date.
Venue & Logistics
The LECOM Event Center is an arena in Elmira, in New York’s Southern Tier. This December performance is part of the band’s ongoing national tour.
Tickets
No ticket price was available from sources at the time of publication. General on-sale information has not yet been announced; the venue advises signing up for early access at lecomeventcenter.com. Buy tickets