Friday nights in Cape Girardeau leave the courthouse lawn filled with portable chairs, barefoot children and the swells of a free concert hosted by Old Town Cape.

Heather Newman and Ryan Matthew, both of Omaha, Nebraska, performed at the Ivers Square gazebo for the weekly Tunes at Twilight series Friday, Aug. 30.

The duo performed a multitude of songs from their first and second albums, as well as a few cover songs from legendary artists such as Etta James and Michael Jackson.

Newman rocked a black dress and a red electric guitar as she swayed and nodded to the beat. Matthew sported a black and white striped shirt as he performed behind a keyboard

The artists opened their performance with a steamy original song titled “Zakary,” in which Newman sang “don’t you know what you do to me, babe.”

The setlist included other songs like “Cheapshot,” “Lonely on Beale,” “Howling for Love,” and the namesake of the newest album, “Rise From the Flames.”

Near the end of the set, Newman spoke to the audience about how she thought society could spread positivity.

“Our world is going up in flames by spreading hate,” Newman said. “You can stop these flames by spreading love.”

Kathie Brennan, a regular concertgoer of Cape Girardeau shared her praise for the performance.

“We come to Tunes at Twilight every [Friday] night because it’s a fun social gathering and always a surprise as to what music will be playing,” Brennan said.

Tunes at Twilight is a free concert hosted every Friday evening at the Ivers Square Gazebo by Old Town Cape, which is a nationally accredited Main Street Program dedicated toward bettering downtown Cape Girardeau, according to downtowncapegirardeau.com/about-us/. The concert series lasts for six weeks at a time, with a break between every six-week session for warm or cool weather (i.e. there were no concerts during July because it was warm).

For more information about the concert series, visit Old Town Cape online at oldtowncape.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/oldtowncape.