Festival season is upon us, and that means sunshine on your shoulder, cold drink in your hand and people around who are feeling, well, festive! There’s just something magical about the sound of music echoing down a car-less street or billowing across a grassy field.
We’ve already whet our musical palates with Urban Arts Festival and Taste of Tacoma, and if you missed them, that’s a shame. Here are a few outdoor musical offerings yet to come:
Art on the Ave this weekend will have two music stages, the Rock Stage and the stage formerly known as the Oldies Stage, now called the Mixed Stage (renamed because now it will present bands playing rock, pop, acoustic music). The two stages will sit on opposite ends of the blocked-off portion Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue from Cedar Street to Trafton Street. Bands performing include Sammy Barrett, Jeff Angel, Atomic Outlaws, Top Heavy Crush, Chrome Betty, Camille Bloom and Justin Black, just to name a few. For a complete listing of the bands performing at Art of the Ave, check out www.artontheave.org.
Next weekend is Old Town Blues Festival (July 14, noon to 1 a.m. at the Slavonian Hall in Old Town Tacoma) where blues musicians including Little Bill and The Bluenotes, Loose Gravel and The Quarry, and Michal Miller Band will be gettin’ down. This festival is always a good time, rain or shine. For a complete listing of blues bands performing, visit www.tacomaoldtownbluesfest.com.
If you thought June and July were chalked full of musical entertainment, wait till you get a load of August.
Showcase Tacoma Festival in downtown Tacoma Aug. 10-12 will be a must-see for jazz, blues, R&B and funk lovers. Bands performing include Pearl Django, Michael Powers, Sommer Stockinger, Kareem Kandi and more. For the full list, see www.metroparkstacoma.org/page.php?id=738
Top of Tacoma 2007 McKinley Street Festival on Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. will feature blues, Motown, R&B and gospel and swinging jazz with bands the likes of Stacy Jones and the Wolftones and Norma Owens and the Larger than Life Band. The complete lineup will be posted soon at www.myspace.com/topoftacoma.
T.A.C.’s annual summer event, Glassroots Arts Festival, will take place Aug. 18 from noon until 6 p.m. on Court D between 11th and 13th streets. The music stage will feature local bands of various genres that have performed at Embellish Multispace Salon during Tacoma’s Third Thursday Art Walks. One song per band will be recorded live and made into a compilation CD. The CD that was recorded at last year’s Glassroots festival is available for sale now at Embellish. The complete lineup for this year’s festival has not been released yet. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/glassroots.
The South Sound’s biggest music-focused festival of the year is Louiefest on Aug. 18-19 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Sprinker Parks and Recreation Center in Spanaway. Three stages (rock, acoustic and blues) will showcase music performances throughout both days. Guitarists of all ages and skill levels will gather to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest number of guitarists playing a single song, “Louie Louie.” Bands performing at Louiefest include Andrea Nardello, Cee Cee James and Amy Mann, and Kerri Dopart. Sunday will feature ORBO and the Longshots, and Panacea. For a complete list of bands performing at Louiefest, visit www.louiefest. com.