For the next three Friday mornings, commuters passing through Farragut Square park between 9 and 11 AM will be treated to a free concert from a local band.
The performances will be broadcast live during the WTTG’s morning show Good Day DC for a new segment called #Fox5Rocks, giving up-and-coming DC artists the chance to play for the Fox affiliate’s audience while providing people with a few minutes of music before the work day starts.
“We wanted to catch the rush hour people coming off the trains, parking, walking to their offices, maybe stopping and listening to some fun music on their way to work,” says Margie Ruttenberg, director of news projects and partnerships at WTTG.
The idea for #Fox5Rocks came from a Good Day DC segment in October 2015, when the show hosted a live performance by the Barbadian reggae group Cover Drive from a flatbed truck outside the Metro Center station. The event turned out to be a social media success, and the station decided it was worth trying again.
Whatever suits you. @WeAreCoverDrive suits your Monday! #gottahearthis #gooddaydc #fox5dc @ErinFox5DC @WisdomFOX5 pic.twitter.com/Wq26LMo49d
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) October 19, 2015
“We thought, ‘Let’s do this, but let’s do this bigger and in a better place with bigger bands that have more potential,'” says Ruttenberg. They settled on Farragut Square park in the hopes that its office building-heavy neighborhood may bring commuters.
The R&B group Sound of the City, whose drummer is also an editor at WTTG, plays this Friday. Go-go band Secret Society plays April 22, while folk-rockers The Muddy Crows follow on April 29.
The station plans to broadcast interviews with each act’s members starting as early as 7 AM, with performances beginning at 9. Good Day DC will then televise snippets of songs between 9 and 11 AM, before ending the show with an extended 15-minute set.
“We’re really excited about putting our footprint in this area,” Ruttenberg says. “We plan to continue it every spring.”
