After more than a decade of silence, the Springfield Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management resurrected its Sounds of Summer concerts last year. The sonic resuscitation was a success, with hundreds of concert-goers coming out to all six shows cranked out in 2006. But one of the event's organizers, Shera Cohen, wants to make herself clear on at least two points this year, so forgive her for speaking so Bluntly.
"All the shows will be at the same place, Blunt Park, and on the same night—Tuesdays—this year," Cohen says. "Obviously, our thinking last year was that by having the shows at different town parks every other week, we would bring music to several neighborhoods. The concept is good, but the truth is, it all became a little confusing to the public."
And, as evidenced by the show held there in '06, Cohen adds, Blunt Park concerts draw both the largest numbers and most diverse cross sections of the city in terms of ethnicity and age—distinctions which, she notes, played significant roles in deciding upon a permanent home for S.O.S.
While the single locale and consecutive Tuesday dates are part of 2007's goals of consistency and regularity, however, Cohen is quick to point out that when it comes to the performers, the names will continue to change.
"We had a lot of great talent last year, but none of them are returning," she says. "There's no story behind that other than the fact that Sandy [Federico, director of special events at the Parks Department] and I plan on having six different bands every year to give as many bands as possible the opportunity to perform."
The Tobacco Valley Swing Band capitalized on their opportunity, kicking off this season July 10, followed by the Dyne-O-Myte Disco Revue July 17.
Motown-meets-'80s rockers Prime Time Players front the Blunt festivities next Tuesday, July 24. Area staples The Floyd Patterson Band (July 31), salsa-sultans La Perfecta and oldie-schoolers Route 66 (Aug. 14) round out the summer. All Sounds of Summer shows are free at Blunt Park and take place from 7-9 p.m. In the event of rain, the whole production will migrate to Central High School.
In other news, melodic modern rockers My New Shell (www.myspace.com/mynewshell) first cracked into the local scene in January, debuting on a multi-band Maximum Capacity bill dubbed Rock Snowball. And, like a compacted orb of frozen flakes cascading down a slippery slope, the fledgling fivesome has gathered some significant mass—particularly in terms of fans and material—along the way. Undoubtedly, the band's talent has been a key contributor to the hype generation. After touching base with Shell six-stringer Eric Franco, though, it appears that some hustle—and healthy postage bills—are also responsible.
"Last month, I mailed out 100 CDs and letters of intent to every venue within driving distance—from Boston and Hartford right on out to New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York," Franco revealed.
The mission behind the mailing, he adds, was to pack Shell's summer calendar with live dates. And to that end, it appears his postal prowess is already bearing fruit. Fresh off a Finn MacCool's gig last week, Franco and company will return to where it all started for them—Maximum Capacity—for a July 19 engagement, then head down to Hartford's Webster Theater the following weekend to support headliners Psychostick July 28.
Lastly, Dino Bambino reports that his "comedy band," Sorry So Sloppy, will make its long-anticipated debut at Pearl Street this Saturday, July 21. Meanwhile, the band he takes seriously, a three-piece rock outfit called Disaster Simulator, has confirmed an Aug. 25 engagement at Hartford's Up Or On The Rocks.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
