Dukes of Hazzard star Tom Wopat kicks off new Moon Tunes season in Riverside Park

The La Crosse riverfront was filled with music lovers sitting on lawn chairs and blankets Thursday night, enjoying the opening of a new Moon Tunes season.

The series of summer concerts at Riverside Park is starting its second decade. The headliner Thursday was singer and “Dukes of Hazzard” star Tom Wopat, whose family has roots in Hillsboro, Wis.

For Moon Tunes, Wopat brought along the “General Lee,” Dodge Charger that he and John Schneider rode on the Dukes of Hazzard TV show of the 1970s and 80s.

Between songs, Wopat chatted with the audience and plugged his new album.

“We have a limited supply over there at the table,” Wopat said. “If we do run out of the limited supply, we just go back to the truck and get another limited supply.”

Moon Tunes happens, beginning at 5:30 p.m. most Thursday until early September. Next week’s show will feature area musicians performing tributes to The Beatles and The Doors.

The concert series introduced 10 years ago was originally called Noon Tunes, held middays on Wednesdays, but shifted to Thursday nights and became Moon Tunes.

Organizer Terry Bauer, of the Valley View Rotary, told WIZM’s La Crosse Talk earlier Thursday that the concerts have gotten the interest of the companies that bring big cruise boats upriver during the summer, and some of the river stops in La Crosse for 2024 could be scheduled to coincide with Moon Tunes shows.