Peacetown starts tonight, returning to Ives Park for the summer
Peacetown starts tonight, returning to Ives Park for the summer
For the next 12 weeks, the Peacetown summer concerts at Ives will feature two bands, food trucks and fun
While Peacetown began at Ives Park 12 years ago, for the past three years Peacetown’s summer concerts have been spread across five stages at The Barlow.
Now, with a return to its original and more scenic venue, the concert series will take place at Ives Park over the course of 12 Wednesdays from today until the end of August. (See our article on why Peacetown made the change back to Ives.) The event will run from 5 pm to 8 pm.
To commemorate the return of Peacetown’s Summer Concert Series to Ives Park, tonight’s inaugural show will feature a ribbon cutting by the Chamber of Commerce between 4:45 and 5 pm.
Throughout the summer, there will be two bands on different stages in Ives Park—and one band at HopMonk.
The irrepressible Jim Corbett, Peacetown’s founder and impresario, is looking forward to kicking off the series.
“Speaking of perfect weather, it is predicted to be hot on Wednesday (92 degrees), but just about 5 pm as the music starts, a soft breeze will magically waft through the crowd, the temperature will drop ten degrees, and we will have a perfect evening to laugh, sing, dance and play,” he said.
In addition to the music, there will be cold Lagunitas beer and local wine for sale, as well as food from HopMonk and Gerard’s Paella food trucks, and, according to Corbett plenty of “good vibes.”
“Remember to bring two friends,” he said. “That’s how we spread the peace.”
Tonight’s Peacetown Concert at Ives Park: Spike Sikes and the Awesome Hotcakes and The Dream Farmers
The music played by Spike Sikes and the Awesome Hotcakes goes by many names: soul, swing, R&B, jazz and jump. Their website describes their musical style this way:
It’s a sound that’s classic and simple, but when it’s done right, it hits the spot and has you grinning from ear to ear. Spike has spent years searching for this sound.
From the Texas blues joints he cut his teeth in to the funky halls of New Orleans, he was always studying the music, trying to find just the right recipe. It makes perfect sense that he found his bandmates in Sonoma County, a music scene that has fostered many eclectic artists for decades.
What he didn’t know was how hungry audiences were for “this kind of music.” You might say they’ve been eating it up like…Hotcakes!
The Dream Farmers are a close-knit group of musicians from Sebastopol, who have a fresh California sound influenced by rural and urban lifestyles, the natural beauty of West County, institutions of higher learning, travel and solid music chops gained from years of experience playing many types of music. They are influenced by blues, soul, R&B, jazz, English invasion, and ethnic music from around the planet. Their love of all black roots music informs their sound and adds to the funk factor.
Here’s the line-up for the whole summer
And here’s what’s happening on Peacetown Wednesdays at HopMonk:
