Soul Sound Revue brings the sound of Motown to Mohegan Sun
Soul Sound Revue brings the sound of Motown to Mohegan Sun on Friday, August 28, turning the Sun Patio into an outdoor dance floor for the next installment of the resort’s Party on the Sun Patio summer concert series.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with Soul Sound Revue taking the stage at 8 p.m. Admission is free, and the evening combines live music with food trucks, drinks and an open-air setting that has become one of Mohegan Sun’s Friday-night summer traditions.
But calling Soul Sound Revue simply a Motown tribute doesn’t quite capture what the band does.
The Connecticut-based group reaches from the classic vocal groups of the 1960s through the funk and R&B of the 1970s and ’80s, then keeps moving forward into contemporary dance music.
More Than 40 Years of Soul
Soul Sound Revue has been performing for more than four decades, building its shows around the sound, choreography and showmanship that helped make Motown a cultural phenomenon.
The group isn’t built around impersonating one particular artist.
Instead, it recreates an entire era of American popular music.
Its repertoire draws from artists including The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, moving between Motown, soul, funk and R&B. More recent material from performers such as Bruno Mars pushes the show beyond nostalgia and gives the band a songbook capable of reaching several generations in the same audience.
That makes the August 28 concert different from many of the tribute acts appearing during Party on the Sun Patio. Rather than spending the night with one artist’s catalog, Soul Sound Revue can move across decades of dance music.
Built Like the Bands That Made the Music
There’s another reason Soul Sound Revue can tackle that material.
This isn’t a small group playing Motown songs over backing tracks.
Soul Sound Revue performs with three lead vocalists backed by a rhythm section and horn section, giving the group the personnel to recreate the vocal harmonies, brass arrangements and rhythmic punch that defined much of the original music.
The singers are also performers.
The group’s stage show emphasizes coordinated movement, audience interaction and the polished presentation associated with classic Motown acts, when choreography and appearance were nearly as recognizable as the records themselves.
That’s especially important with songs associated with groups such as The Temptations and Four Tops. Those records weren’t created around a lone singer standing behind a microphone. Harmony, movement and presentation were part of the package.
Soul Sound Revue tries to bring that complete experience back to the stage.
A Band with Some History Behind It
Soul Sound Revue has spent decades performing throughout Connecticut and the Northeast at theaters, fairs, festivals, casinos and community concert series.
Over the years, the group has shared bills or stages with artists including The Temptations, The Chi-Lites, The Marvelettes and Wilson Pickett.
Mohegan Sun isn’t unfamiliar territory, either. Soul Sound Revue has a long history of appearances at the resort and returned to the Sun Patio as recently as the 2025 Party on the Sun Patio season.
The band’s 2026 calendar has kept it moving around Connecticut throughout the summer, with appearances in Southington, Bloomfield, Avon, Waterford, New Britain, Hamden, Wallingford, East Hartford and other communities before the August 28 Mohegan Sun date.
From Motown to Funk
For anyone wondering what “Motown tribute” means musically, expect the boundaries to be fairly loose.
The foundation comes from the Detroit sound that produced some of the most recognizable records of the 1960s and early ’70s: strong melodies, layered vocal harmonies, driving bass lines and songs designed to make people move.
Soul Sound Revue then follows that music into the funkier sounds that came afterward.
Earth, Wind & Fire fits naturally into that progression, as does the later work of Stevie Wonder. From there, the band can jump decades forward into modern songs that share the same basic purpose.
Get people dancing.
For an outdoor summer show, that’s probably more useful than worrying too much about where Motown ends and funk begins.
Part of 14 Friday Nights on the Sun Patio
The concert is part of Mohegan Sun’s 2026 Party on the Sun Patio, a 14-week run of free Friday-night concerts stretching from June 19 through September 18.
This year’s lineup has essentially turned the patio into a tour through several generations of popular music.
The summer has included tributes to Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Kenny Chesney and Fleetwood Mac, along with nights devoted to ’70s rock, yacht rock, ’80s music and a ’90s house party.
Following Soul Sound Revue, the series heads toward its final three weekends with The Journey Tribute Show, Zac N’ Fried performing the music of Zac Brown Band and Beatlemania Again closing the season with The Beatles.
Soul Sound Revue gets the August 28 slot with Motown, soul, funk and R&B.
An Outdoor Concert Built for Dancing
The Sun Patio sits outside Mohegan Sun and operates as an open-air summer entertainment space with a stage, bar, seating areas, fire pits and room in front of the stage for dancing.
Friday’s doors open at 6:30 p.m., giving guests about 90 minutes before Soul Sound Revue begins at 8.
The entire Party on the Sun Patio event runs until 11 p.m.
Admission is free, but guests must be 21 or older and show valid identification.
Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and guests are permitted to bring their own chairs. Plastic Adirondack chairs can also be rented at the Tiki Hut for $10.
Those rental chairs can’t be taken onto the dance floor or into the fire-pit areas.
Considering Soul Sound Revue’s particular mission, the dance-floor restriction may not be much of a hardship. Sitting down probably isn’t the point of this one.
Dinner Comes to the Patio
Food trucks rotate throughout the Party on the Sun Patio season.
Mohegan Sun’s current schedule lists three trucks for the Soul Sound Revue concert:
Hungry Lion
Reel Catch
Yummy Wagon
That lineup differs from some earlier promotional listings for the August 28 event, so guests should keep in mind that food trucks are subject to change.
Drink specials and beverages are available from the Sun Patio Bar.
Outside food, beverages and coolers aren’t permitted.
Fire Pits and a Different Way to Watch
Guests looking for something beyond general admission can also reserve one of the Sun Patio’s fire pits.
The reserved areas provide seating and cocktail service, with VIP fire pits positioned for better views of the stage.
They’re separate from the free general-admission experience, so nobody needs a reservation simply to attend the concert.
For everyone else, it’s first come, first served: find a chair, claim some space or head toward the dance floor.
Forty Years of Music Made to Move
Soul Sound Revue is an unusually good fit for what Mohegan Sun has built on the patio.
The setting doesn’t demand a quiet audience staring toward a stage. There’s food moving around, drinks being poured, people talking, fire pits burning and a dance floor sitting directly in front of the band.
Then you put a horn section behind three singers and start pulling songs from Motown, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire.
At that point, the patio can take care of itself.
Event Details
Event: Soul Sound Revue – Motown Tribute at Sun Patio
Series: Party on the Sun Patio
Date: Friday, August 28, 2026
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Band Starts: 8 p.m.
Event Ends: 11 p.m.
Location: Sun Patio at Mohegan Sun
Address: 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, CT 06382
Admission: Free
Age Requirement: 21+ with valid ID
Seating: First-come, first-served
Personal Chairs: Permitted
Chair Rentals: $10
Outside Food and Beverages: Not permitted
Featured Food Trucks: Hungry Lion, Reel Catch and Yummy Wagon
Performer: Soul Sound Revue
Music: Motown, soul, funk, R&B and dance music
Soul Sound Revue performs as part of the 14-week Party on the Sun Patio series, which continues every Friday through September 18.
More information is available at the Event Website link below.
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.
