Okee dokee folks… Well, summer is here and for me, summer is HELL! A few years back I wrote a song about my disdain of Summer for the Empire Revue’s “Cool” show. Here are a couple of the lines: “The summertime tests my will/ the sun is not my friend/ its rays reach out to suck my soul…” (If you’re curious, here is a video of the song being performed about an hour after I finished writing it – youtube.com/watch?v=l_fIZcbklJM&list=RDl_fIZcbklJM) Then there is this – “The Sun Is Trying to Kill Me” – it’s a t-shirt I found online and I have always wanted but alas, I have far too many t-shirts. OK, I will stop complaining about Summer. For now…
A lot of entertainment happens outdoors during the sweltering Summer months but that’s not always a good thing. When the sun is scorching you can get a bad sunburn, heat stroke or become dehydrated, especially if you just drink alcohol and not water. Promoters of outdoor shows need to realize the need for shade. At the RI Folk Festival we’ve noticed that the crowd tends to gravitate towards the treed areas instead of sitting in the open field. Last year we started to encourage folks to bring pop-up shade tents, so they can have personal sun protection. I sometimes find venues that regularly have music indoors will just set up chairs and tables in a parking lot and do it all outdoors. It’s fine, at night, but during the day parking lots hold and amplify the heat. And oftentimes the musician is sitting out there with no cover. If you are going to bring the entertainment outdoors, please consider making it comfortable for the patrons AND musicians. If you do plan to attend an outdoor event, especially a festival, bring a hat, sunglasses, sun block, as well as something to sit on, water, and a shade tent, if allowed. And if it’s nighttime then you will definitely want some kind of bug repellent. This may all be common sense, but these days there isn’t a lot of common sense going around. Read on…
Speaking of The Empire Revue, it seems to be happening with more regularity again! If you don’t know what The Empire Revue is, you should! It’s a comedy/variety show that features skits, comedians, music, and more. It’s always a hoot and you will find yourself laughing at bits for weeks after! This year marks 21 years of The Empire Revue! From the event description: “Your spirited host Keith Munslow will keep things flowing as the Sparkling Beatniks pop the cork on a fresh round of sketches. We’ll be pouring up a lineup of fantastic guest variety acts, while the ever-excellent Empire Revue Band keeps the good times on tap all night long.” The next show, Bottoms Up, happens on Sunday, July 12, 7pm at AS220 on Empire Street in PVD. For more, improv over to: fb.com/EmpireRevueProvidence.
Blackstone River Theatre is bringing back their Take It Outside Concert Series. They literally have the concerts out back, behind the Theatre, on select Sundays from 4 – 5pm. Coming up: 7/12 – Chris Monti Band, 7/26 – Cold Chocolate, 8/2 – Hiroya Tsukamoto, and 8/23 – High Horse. For more about these shows and more, float over to: brtri.org
On July 8, at 8pm, a 50th wedding anniversary will be celebrated. Long time patrons of the Narrows, Tony and Regina Silvia, will be celebrating their 50th year of marriage and decided to throw a party for a great cause – Mark Cutler’s Same Thing Project, a community songwriting workshop for people from all walks of life. Mark Cutler and his band, the Men of Great Courage, will headline that evening and the Berger Boys will open the show. Proceeds support The Same Thing Project. For more about this show and other Narrows events, compose on over to: narrowscenter.org
If you’re not already aware, Bally’s Twin River Casino in Lincoln frequently hosts great concerts in their event center! For people of a certain age – Boomers, Gen X, and occasionally Millennials, the entertainment is a perfect match! Over the years I have attended shows by many notable bands: America, Orleans, Firefall, Grand Funk, Berlin, Starship, The Guess Who, Chaka Kahn, Pat Benetar… so many I can’t remember them all! Getting to the Lincoln casino is a breeze and there is plenty of easy, free parking! Shows coming up: The Stylistics – July 10; Hanson – July 17; Todd Rundgren – July 18; Stephen Pearcy of RATT – August 6, and Collective Soul – August 21. If you like to gamble then you can do that while you’re there, if not, no worries, just enjoy the show! For more about upcoming events, roulette over to: casinos.ballys.com/lincoln
Summer means “shed” shows and that is the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. For forty years they have been bringing in some of the best music around. Though it is now called Xfinity Center I still, and will always, call it “Great Woods.” I am Rhode Islander and that is just what we do. I also went to the first shows there when it opened, so “Great Woods” is burned in my brain. For folks who have my taste in music these are the concerts that you may be interested in: Santana & The Doobie Brothers – 6/29; Muse – 7/19; John Mellencamp – 7/24; Train – 7/25; Chicago & Styx – 7/25; Deep Purple & Kansas – 8/13; Lynyrd Skynyrd & Foreigner – 8/22; and Roxette – 9/16. Leave extra time to get out of the parking lot. For a complete schedule, 495 over to: xfinitycenteramp.com/shows
If you would like a real Folk Festival experience then you should head to the 38th annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival on July 24, 25 & 26 in Goshen, CT. This festival features camping, dancing, music on 5 stages, great food, song circles, jamming, and more! Performer line-up includes: the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Susan Werner, The Gaslight Tinkers, The Storycrafters, Jim Lauderdale, Tony Furtado, Damn Tall Buildings, Cold Chocolate, Eileen Ivers with The Brigideens, and many more. For more, fly over to FalconRidgeFolk.com
This time around I only have a couple of Protest Songs to share with you. RI Singer-Songwriter Chris Principe contributed both. It’s a double single release: Judge & Jury / Us Vs. Give them a listen on spotify: Judge & Jury: open.spotify.com/track/2W9yTn13rkcgyCPXrfpKMn?si=987157bf9c074987
Us Vs. Them: open.spotify.com/track/2IxsRRqY34pH6tqPGgmsu1?si=1199477db81246f5 If you have a song, send a public link of the music, and a copy of the lyrics to: RISongwriters@yahoo.com
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcast at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast. You can find my concert photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. John Fuzek – JohnFuzek.com