Looking to reinvigorate their wildly successful summer concert series as it entered its 10th season last year, the organizers decided to take a good look around.
They had been calling it Cityblock, but, as evidenced by the throngs of Harley Davidsons neatly nestled along Worthington Street each week, Thursdays had clearly become Bike Nights in Springfield. A new name was born.
Series coordinator David Allen says that the powers that be were once again looking to up the audio ante in 2011. And in his dialogue with attendees, he believes he has received—and acted upon—some sound advice.
“We always try and mix it up, but perhaps this year, more than ever, the talent was picked based on covering a broad demographic,” Allen explains. “From blues to hair bands, alternative to classic rock, we have it all!”
Skynyrd sound-a-likes Nuthin Fancy kick off the 2011 season at Stearns Square this Thursday, June 30, followed by by Buckwheat Zydeco (July 7) and Lee Rocker, formerly of The Stray Cats (July 14). The Bike Night series kicks into high gear July 21 with multi-platinum ’80s icons Dokken and throttles on all summer long with appearances by Roomful of Blues (July 28), Jeff Pitchell & Texas Flood (Aug. 4), Bang Tango (Aug. 11), FAT (Aug. 18), Luther “Guitar” Johnson (Aug. 25) and The Yardbirds (Sept. 1) along the way.
All shows run 7:30 to 9 p.m. and occur rain or shine. For more information, kindly point your browser to springfielddowntown.com.
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Similarly doling out cents-less sounds of summer are the town of South Hadley (southhadleyrecreation.org) and the Agawam Cultural Council (www.agawamcc.org).
The former kicks off its series with homegrown heroes the South Hadley Community Band June 30 and continues with Celtic kings Boston Blackthorn (July 7), crooner extraordinaire Jimmy Mazz (July 14) and Beatle-borrowers The Nowhere Men July 21. The series continues weekly through August 25, when rockers Old School close the book on the season.
All shows are free and take place Thursdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the gazebo on the town common at the intersection of Routes 47 and 116. In the event of rain, performances will be rescheduled to the Sunday following the original date.
The latter—dubbed Summerfest and occurring Wednesdays at the Phelps/Veterans’ Green in Agawam starting at 7 p.m.—begins June 29 with retro-pop queens the Glamour Girls, followed with turns by soul singer/bluesy six-stringer Evan Goodrow (July 6), Spiked Punch (July 13) and Enter The Haggis (July 20). Beach Boy replicators The Driftwoods (July 27) round out the month, then pass the baton to local roots rockers Merrick Section (Aug. 3) before the series concludes on a country kick courtesy of Ashley Gearing and James Wesley Aug. 10.
For up-to-the-minute weather updates regarding Summerfest shows, phone (413) 821-0514.
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Meanwhile, down in Connecticut, our friends at the Mashantucket Tribal Nation (more commonly referred to as Foxwoods) launched a summer concert series of their own earlier this month that will continue July 5 with Blue Oyster Cult. The likes of Kool & The Gang (July 19), Salt-N-Pepa (July 26) and the Bacon Brothers (Aug. 9) will hold court on subsequent Tuesdays. True to this week’s theme, all of the aforementioned are also technically free, but whether you get in and out without your wallet being lightened is of course directly proportional to your ability to ignore the beeping, blinking machines, purring roulette wheels and the like upon entry or exit.
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Last up, if all these sounds of summer have your band lickin’ its chops for a sun-drenched outdoor performance, contact Six Flags New England’s Steph Maloney at smaloney@sftp.com. Maloney is in charge of the park’s annual Live and Local series, giving area up-and-comers the opportunity to perform on the special events stage by Splash Water Falls. Among the L&Ls already confirmed for 2011 are Warped Tour alums Reverse Order (June 28) and Connecticut’s Brookline Drive (July 1), but the lion’s share of slots for the season appeared readily available as of press time.”
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, PO Box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 394-4262 or email Garycarra@aol.com.
