Grand Funk Railroad at Foxwoods
Grand Funk Railroad at Foxwoods brings one of the defining American rock bands of the 1970s to the Great Cedar Showroom on Friday, September 4, as the band rolls into Mashantucket on its Still Shinin’ On Tour 2026.
More than 55 years after Grand Funk Railroad emerged from Flint, Michigan, founding members Don Brewer and Mel Schacher are still carrying the band onto stages around the country. The current tour arrives at Foxwoods with a catalog that includes “We’re an American Band,” “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home),” “The Loco-Motion,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” “Walk Like a Man” and “Bad Time.”
The concert begins at 8 p.m.
Three Musicians From Flint
Grand Funk Railroad began in 1969 with guitarist and singer Mark Farner, drummer and singer Don Brewer and bassist Mel Schacher.
They came from Flint, Michigan, an industrial city that provided an appropriate birthplace for a band built around volume, heavy rhythm and a stripped-down power-trio sound.
Their ascent was remarkably fast.
A performance at the Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1969 helped introduce the new band to a much larger audience. Grand Funk soon developed a reputation as a formidable live act, touring relentlessly while building an audience that didn’t necessarily wait for rock critics to tell them what to like.
The records followed.
By the early 1970s, Grand Funk had become one of America’s biggest rock bands.
When Grand Funk Filled Shea Stadium
One concert became part of Grand Funk Railroad lore.
In 1971, the band played New York’s Shea Stadium, the ballpark where The Beatles had staged their famous 1965 concert.
Grand Funk’s show demonstrated just how enormous the band’s audience had become.
It also captured something essential about Grand Funk Railroad’s success. This was a band built for the era when rock music was moving from theaters and ballrooms into arenas and stadiums.
The music had to fill those spaces.
Grand Funk could.
Heavy bass, pounding drums, loud guitars and songs constructed around riffs and choruses translated particularly well to huge crowds.
That live reputation remains a central part of the band’s identity more than half a century later.
“I’m Your Captain” Became an FM Radio Landmark
Before Grand Funk became “An American Band,” it produced one of the great extended rock songs of its era.
“I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” appeared on the band’s 1970 album Closer to Home.
The recording moves through two distinct sections, beginning with the story of a captain pleading with his crew before transitioning into the repeated “I’m getting closer to my home” finale.
At roughly 10 minutes, the album version was made for the emerging world of FM rock radio, where stations were increasingly willing to play songs that didn’t fit neatly into the traditional three-minute single.
Decades later, “I’m Your Captain” remains one of the songs most closely associated with Grand Funk Railroad.
Then came the record that changed the band’s identity altogether.
Grand Funk Becomes “An American Band”
In 1973, Grand Funk Railroad released We’re an American Band.
The title track was written and sung by Don Brewer, who also played drums on the recording.
It went to No. 1.
The song turned life on the road into a rock anthem, complete with hotel rooms, late nights, concerts and the declaration that gave Grand Funk a nickname it still uses today:
The American Band.
The album also represented an important shift for Grand Funk. Todd Rundgren produced the record, helping refine the band’s massive live sound into something that worked particularly well on radio.
The result became Grand Funk’s first No. 1 single.
It wouldn’t be the last.
A 1960s Pop Song Becomes a Grand Funk No. 1
One year later, Grand Funk Railroad did something that shouldn’t necessarily have worked.
They recorded “The Loco-Motion.”
The song had already been a No. 1 hit for Little Eva in 1962, a bright piece of early-’60s pop about a dance craze.
Grand Funk turned it into a muscular 1970s rock record.
Their version also went to No. 1.
That made “The Loco-Motion” one of the relatively rare songs to reach the top of the American charts in versions by two different artists.
Grand Funk followed with another enormously successful remake, “Some Kind of Wonderful,” originally recorded by Soul Brothers Six.
The Grand Funk version reached the Top 10 and became another enduring part of the band’s live repertoire.
By then, Grand Funk had demonstrated that it could move between hard rock, soul, pop and radio-friendly arena rock without losing the rhythmic weight that made the band recognizable.
Don Brewer and Mel Schacher Are Still There
The Grand Funk Railroad arriving at Foxwoods isn’t the original trio.
Mark Farner hasn’t been a member of the current touring band for decades.
But two musicians who stood onstage when Grand Funk began in 1969 remain in the lineup.
Don Brewer is still behind the drums and singing. In addition to writing and singing “We’re an American Band,” Brewer provided vocals on Grand Funk recordings including “Walk Like a Man” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
Mel Schacher remains on bass, preserving another essential part of the original Grand Funk sound.
The band’s current lineup also includes Tim Cashion on vocals and keyboards and guitarist Mark Chatfield, a veteran of Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band.
That makes the 2026 version of Grand Funk an unusual combination: two musicians from the original 1969 band surrounded by players with their own long histories in American rock.
A Change Behind the Microphone in 2026
This year’s tour also marks a significant transition for Grand Funk Railroad.
Longtime lead singer Max Carl retired from touring and performing in April 2026 following a medical issue.
Carl had spent 26 years with Grand Funk and was a familiar voice to generations of fans who saw the band after its return to regular touring in 2000. Outside Grand Funk, he is particularly well known for his work with .38 Special, including singing and co-writing “Second Chance.”
His retirement brought Tim Cashion into a larger vocal role in the current lineup.
Cashion isn’t new to the road. His career has included work with artists including Robert Palmer and Bob Seger.
So the Foxwoods show provides Connecticut fans with a look at a newly configured Grand Funk Railroad during a year of transition for the veteran band.
Still Shinin’ On After 57 Years
Grand Funk is calling its 2026 run the Still Shinin’ On Tour.
The title reaches back to “Shinin’ On,” the opening track from the band’s 1974 album of the same name.
The numbers behind those 57 years are substantial.
Grand Funk Railroad reports more than 25 million albums sold, 19 charting singles and eight Top 40 hits. Its recording history includes seven gold and 10 platinum certifications.
But numbers don’t entirely explain why a band formed in Flint in 1969 can still fill a concert schedule in 2026.
The songs do.
“We’re an American Band” remains instantly recognizable from its opening drumbeat. “Some Kind of Wonderful” still invites an audience response. “The Loco-Motion” crosses generations that may have first encountered the song through entirely different performers.
And “I’m Your Captain” can still transport an FM-rock listener back to an era when a 10-minute song didn’t need to apologize for taking its time.
On September 4, those songs return to a Connecticut stage.
Grand Funk Railroad is still comin’ to our town.
Event Details
Event: Grand Funk Railroad – Still Shinin’ On Tour
Date: Friday, September 4, 2026
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Great Cedar Showroom at Foxwoods Resort Casino
Address: 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket, CT 06338
Performers: Don Brewer, Mel Schacher, Tim Cashion and Mark Chatfield
Tour: Still Shinin’ On Tour 2026
Best Parking: Grand Pequot Tower
Bag Policy: No shopping bags or backpacks permitted; all bags are subject to search
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
To purchase tickets, click the Event Ticketing link below.
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.