Not-to-be-missed music news
FREE WEEKLY CONCERTS
They’ll be held at several Delaware State Parks
Enjoying relaxed summer nights just got a lot easier, and a lot less expensive, with the Summer Concert Series at Delaware State Parks. The series offers a perfect place to sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds of summer at no cost (excluding park entrance fees). The concerts are held once or twice a week at several locations statewide including Bellevue, Delaware Seashore, Holts Landing, Killens Pond, Trap Pond, White Clay Creek, and Rockford Tower. This August, the statewide series will feature The Shakers, Helixx, Jah People, and many more musicians performing a wide variety of music. For more information, visit destateparks.com.
SONGS FOR FREEDOM MUSIC FESTIVAL
Fundraiser is Aug. 13
The annual Songs for Freedom Music Festival will come to New Castle on Saturday, Aug. 13, to support Delaware’s Meet Me at the Well Foundation, which rescues and educates women who have been subjected to sex-trafficking, and advocates self-reliance and self-confidence for all women and girls. The festival will include dozens of female performers, including Block Taylor, Fuzion Sol and Heaven’s Thunder. The event, at The Commodore Center, will also offer food and craft vendors, face painting, and a carnival game area. Tickets are $25 at the door with specials for families and children. For more information, visit thewellde.org.
DELAWARE TEEN IDOL
Finals are Aug. 5 at the Playhouse
In AIDS Delaware Teen Idol, teens perform original works focused on current youth issues such as HIV/AIDS awareness, drug and alcohol prevention, sexual abuse, parenthood and other chosen topics. Participants may perform songs, raps, poems, skits, or simply give a speech. The competition’s finals will be Friday, Aug. 5, at the Playhouse on Rodney Square. AIDS Delaware Outreach and Education services incorporate Delaware’s youth in advocating solutions to pressing worldwide problems. Tickets are $7. For more information, visit aidsdelaware.org.
CELEBRATING HOPS WITH HIP-HOP
Argilla Brewing’s IPA Day Fest is Aug. 4
Join Argilla Brewing Company in celebrating IPA Day on Thursday, Aug. 4, two days before international IPA Day. The event will feature live hip-hop music and IPAs on tap, including Session Pale Ale and Totally Falconer Oat IPA. The event will begin at noon with the Weekday Warriors performing. For more information, visit argillabrewing.com.
WAILERS HERE TWICE IN AUGUST
Reggae band performs Aug. 18 and 27
The Wailers, the world’s premier reggae band, will come to Delaware twice this month: Thursday, Aug. 18, at the World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington, and Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Freeman Stage at Bayside in Selbyville. Bob Marley and The Wailers have sold over 250 million albums, and since Marley’s passing the band has continued touring worldwide, performing 200 or more dates a year. For more information, visit wailers.com.
Musikarmageddon Final Countdown
Victors in the first two rounds of the 10th annual band battle will square off at the October finals
The Susquehanna Floods
Treewalker
Wilmington’s 10th annual battle of the bands, Musikarmageddon, kicked off with a close match on July 8 at Kelly’s Logan House, with Perryville, Md., blues and folk rockers The Susquehanna Floods coming out on top against Magnetic North and Wild Virtu.
“The judges said there were only five points between the winning band and another. That’s about as close as it gets,” says Susquehanna Floods lead guitarist Zachary Crouch.
The second round on July 16 at Oddity Bar saw TreeWalker take the title against The Fuzzy Snakefoot and Chill and the Rabbits.
Hailing from Elkton, Md., the indie rockers are humble about their win.
“Chill and the Rabbits played a very energetic set and The Fuzzy Snakefoot put on quite a show,” says vocalist and guitarist Kirby Moore. “They are both cool bands and we didn’t envy the judge’s job—I mean how do you judge art?”
The next rounds will take place on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 1984, featuring Galaxy 13, Cassettes and Hoochi Coochi, and Thursday, Aug. 18, with Arden Kind, Anatomy of an Outcast and Rusty Blue at the World Cafe Live at The Queen.
The winners from each round will compete in the finals for the Musikarmageddon X championship on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the baby grand.
Members from Susquehanna Floods and TreeWalker view the competition as a means to support Wilmington’s creative community—and they point out the need for music to be at its strongest, due to national and international current events.
“This competition has definitely brought some incredibly creative people together in this magical way,” says Crouch. “You can really tell that everyone participating is interested in helping bring music into people’s lives. In troubled times like this, music could be the best medicine and we think music sends a pretty positive universal message.”
Says Moore: “With so much divide and negative energy in the world today, and in much of the media, we hope to bring people together to be entertained and enjoy a little spirit of community.”
For tickets and more information, visit outandaboutnow.com/musikarmageddon.
