Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Summer Shows

No new music to share right now, instead I'm going to share how excited I am to be seeing two great shows taking place this summer. Not to rub it in or anything but...

The first show I've already made plans to see is in mid July to see a triple decker of a summer tour: John Mayer, Brett Dennen, and Colbie Caillat. Yea, you read that right. You've got an accomplished guitarist who's tackled everyone from Radiohead to classic blues men (whose last album Continuum was just re-issued with an additional track, Say - stream it here), a young folksey pop singer with wisdom beyond his years (and who I've seen and enjoyed before - albeit in a MUCH smaller club - hopefully he won't lose his personality in such a big venue), and a guilty pleasure that's hard to resist. All of this wrapped up in one tight package that spells summertime fun. Check out dates for the tour below, and look for me in Mansfield on the 12th.

John Mayer - Gravity : Continuum

Brett Dennen - The One Who Loves You The Most : So Much More

Colbie Caillat - Bubbly : Coco

Tour Dates:
7/2 Milwaukee , WI Marcus Amphitheater (Summerfest)
7/3 Maryland Heights , MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
7/5 Noblesville, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
7/6 Rothbury , MI Rothbury Music Festival
7/7 Toronto , ON Molson Amphitheatre
7/9 Wantagh , NY Nikon @ Jones Beach Theater
7/10 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
7/12 Mansfield , MA Tweeter Center
7/13 Columbia , MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
7/15 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
7/17 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
7/18 Tinley Park, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
7/20 Denver, CO Soccer Fields @ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
7/21 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
7/23 Paso Robles, CA Mid-State Fair
7/25 Marysville , CA Sleep Train Amphitheater
7/26 Mountain View , CA Shoreline Amphitheater
7/27 Irvine , CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
7/29 Chula Vista , CA Coors Amphitheatre
7/30 Phoenix , AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
8/1 Dallas , TX Superpages.com Center
8/2 Houston , TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion


The second is a weekend festival, the Green River Festival, which takes place at Greenfield Community College in Massachusetts shortly after on July 17-19. It's an Earthy-crunchy sort of weekend with all sorts of activities for kids and adults alike. In addition, there's some eclectically wide music playing all weekend including Jimmie Vaughn (older brother of Stevie Ray Vaughn), Forro in the Dark, Los Straitjackets, Eilen Jewell, Lucinda Williams, and the artist I'm most excited to see, Mavis Staples, former member of the legendary Staple Singers and accomplished singer in her own right. I got a weekend pass to see all these acts (plus a few more) for the insane price of $35! I'm already crossing my finger hoping the weather will be perfect that weekend.

Mavis Staples - Down In Mississippi
: We'll Never Turn Back

Lucinda Williams - Main Road : Sweet Relief

4 comments:

Andrew said...

I like John Mayer well enough, but I'm not a huge fan of Dennen. I saw him open for Guster and he wasn't that great.

boyhowdy said...

Used to go to the Green River Festival every year until my crew chief responsibilities at Falcon Ridge Folk Fest the following weekend began creeping into the weekend before. Well, that, and it's the same weekend as Grey Fox bluegrass fest.

Great line up, this year, though -- i'm jealous. For what it's worth, here's two hints:

1. To get the best seats on Sat/Sun, arrive before the gates open (worth waiting in the car from 9:30 on; they usually open gates a half hour later), get yer bracelet, leave your blanket down...and then get back in the car, and leave the grounds, go into town, and get lunch, since music doesn't start until noon or so. Try it, and you'll be in the first few rows, I guarantee it.

2. make sure you get into town to see the pre-fest concert Thursday night in the park. Richard Shindell is playing -- great solo singer-songwriter stuff.

Enjoy one of the best fests in the ... um, East!

- Boyhowdy, Cover Lay Down

Sean said...

Thanks for the great suggestions Boyhowdy. This is my first time going to this fest so they are super helpful.

Anonymous said...

Hey there, noticed you are a Brett Dennen fan, thought you would like to check out Pete Yorn’s original guitarist WAZ, who just released a new EP entitled, "The Secret" which debuted at number 13 on the iTunes Folk Charts.
Here the myspace link: http://www.myspace.com/waz