Great Weather, Johnny Trash’s Farewell Define Summer’s Last Blast 2023

Great weather, close friends, and terrific live music defined Summer's Last Blast 2023, which celebrated 24 years of rocking the Tri-States this weekend as a couple thousand people showed over the two-day concert event.

Summer's Last Blast is an annual free concert event that takes place at Q Casino's Back Waters Stage over the course of two days. It commemorates the end of another fun summer season by giving casino and concertgoers a marathon of talented local acts from the Tri-States. This year was no exception, but it was underscored by a degree of poignancy when it came to Johnny Trash.

Johnny Trash and his incredibly talented band have been staples of Summer's Last Blast since the beginning. Trash and company have been rocking the Tri-States since 1993, but after a 30-year run, Trash will be hanging it up very soon. His performance Saturday marked his last for Summer's Last Blast, and the curtain will be falling one of the most popular Dubuque-area acts very soon.

Per usual, Trash stormed on stage with energy and exuberance. He performed covers of AC/DC, Judas Priest, and more over the course of his hour-long set. Following his performance, Trash and his band were presented with plaques by Summer's Last Blast leaders Scott Thomas and Ken Peiffer, which honored him for a truly fantastic career.

This was the schedule for Summer's Last Blast 2023:

Friday, August 25th:

• Not Quite Brothers
• Dirt Road Rockers
• RatchetJaw

Saturday, August 26th:

• The Spazmatics
• Johnny Trash
• JabberBox
• Mars By Morning

Food and beverages were also available for purchase, with Sugar Ray's BBQ being one of the food trucks serving up delicious eats on site.

Take a look below at several photos from Summer's Last Blast 2023, and thanks to sponsors Verlo Mattress, Envision/1-800 T-SHIRTS, Spahn & Rose, Express Employment Professionals, 365ink Magazine, and Townsquare Media, all of whom provided their support to make sure this event could be free to the general public!