BY ED FELIEN
If you’ve ever driven through a small town in almost every section of the country, the main street will lead to a downtown and a small, one-block- square park in the center of town, and it almost always has a bandstand in the center for band concerts in the summer. Mexicans call their town centers the zocalo.
In a very odd way, Minnehaha Park is the zocalo or town center for South Minneapolis. It’s odd because it is certainly not in the center of town. It’s way off in the southeast corner of the city, but in many ways it has served as the town center for the traditional communities of South Minneapolis. Last year’s Svensgarnas Dag (Swedish Heritage Day) was held on June 23 in the Park. On July 14 it was Norway Day. But South Minneapolis is more than Norwegians and Swedes today. German, Mexican and African-American communities all use the Park to celebrate their culture. In 2011 it was the site of the celebration for Twin Cities World Refugee Day.
There will be a free music concert every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday through-out the summer at the bandstand beginning at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, May 28, it starts out appropriately with the South High Community Band. How much more small town Americana can you get? On Thursday, May 29, it gets a little more serious with the Richfield Symphonic Orches-tra playing show tunes and marches. But by Friday, May 30, they launch into popular with Luke Warm and
the Cool Hands playing bluegrass and old time music. It stays pretty popular throughout the summer with only occasional lapses into more serious music like the Seward Concert Band on June 12, the Classic Brass Quintet on June 25, and the Lex-Ham 45-member community band on July 16. There’s something for everybody: New Orleans jazz, Latin, African, pop, choral music, folk-rock, rock-a-billy and so on forever.
It runs until Aug. 29. A perfect place to spend a summer evening.
- Wed., May 28, South High Community Band & Jazz Band (Concert Band & Big Band Repertoire)
- Thur., May 29, Richfield Symphonic (Show Tunes, Marches)
- Fri., May 30, Luke Warm & the Cool Hands (Bluegrass\Old Timey\Folk Rock)
- Wed., June 04, Bato Bato! (Latin/African/Pop)
- Thur., June 05, Harmony in the Park (Choral Festival)
- Fri., June 06, The May North (Folk, Alt-Bluegrass)
- Wed., June 11, Calhoun Isles Community Band (Concert Band )
- Thur., June 12, Seward Concert Band (Wind Band Music)
- Fri., June 13, Pamela Machala (Pop/R&B/Jazz)
- Wed., June 18, Kairos Alive! (Intergenerational Dance/ Live Sax, Guitar, Drums)
- Thur., June 19, Charity Huot and the Summit Hill Band (Acoustic Alternative Folk)
- Fri., June 20, Black Diet (Garage/Indie/Soul)
- Wed., June 25, Classic Brass Quintet (Music for all listeners)
- Thur., June 26, Storebought Hair (New Orleans Jazz)
- Fri., June 27, Lake Street Ramblers (Acoustic Folk Rock)
- Wed., July 02, No concert scheduled
- Thur., July 03, No concert scheduled
- Fri., July 04, No concert scheduled
- Wed., July 09, The Wrong Omar (Original Americana Folk Rock)
- Thur., July 10, Not Quite Dead (Grateful Dead Tribute Band)
- Fri., July 11, Sonic Love Child (Americana/Roots/-Vintage Pop Music)
- Wed., July 16, Lex-Ham Community Band (Community Concert Band)
- Thur., July 17, Cathy ‘n Abel (English/Spanish Acoustic)
- Fri., July 18, Capri Big Band (Big Band Jazz Swing Music)
- Wed., July 23, Rich Lewis Band (Accoustic R+B and Soul)
- Thur., July 24, Mystic Order of Reverb and Twang (50s Rock, Rockabilly, Surf)
- Fri., July 25, Concrete Surgery (R&B Funk)
- Wed., July 30, The Slush Puppies (Jazzy pop Quartet)
- Thur., July 31, Charanga Tropical (Latin)
- Fri., August 01, War Poets (Rock/Americana)
- Wed., August 06, Jazzmobile (Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project)
- Thur., August 07, Sing United (Combined Corporate Choral Event)
- Fri., August 08, Lost Marbles Family Picnic (Folk & Rock)
- Wed., August 13, She Has Issues (Pop/Theatre/Rock)
- Thur., August 14, Hubcap (Funk, Rock, Latin, Jazz)
- Fri., August 15, Doug Otto & the Getaways (Rockin’ Country and Blues)
- Wed., August 20, Patchouli (Indie – Acoustic Guitar Duo)
- Thur., August 21, The KGB Band (Blues & Classic Rock)
- Fri., August 22, Lingua Luna (Folk)
- Wed., August 27, Byron Johnson-Blanchard Quartet (Folk/ Acoustic/ Indie)
- Thur., August 28, Matt Hannah (Americana/Folk)
- Fri., August 29, Tom, Dick & Harry (Fun, Rockin’ Originals/Covers)
