Newport This Week

Music Bonanza for Broadway Street Fair



 

 

Can you imagine walking down the middle of Newport’s Broadway with your senses happily overloaded with wonderful music, delicious smells and thousands of smiling faces? This aptly describes the 4th Annual Broadway Street Fair, which runs Saturday, Oct. 12 from noon to 6 p.m.

There will be five stages featuring continuous music from 35 mostly-local acts. Newport This Week sat down with the fair’s music director, David Lopes, to see what’s in store musically for the upcoming fair. Lopes, an enthusiastic ambassador of music on the island, has put together a diverse lineup that ranges from The Ancient Order of Hibernian Singers, to members of the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, and everything in between.

What does Lopes look for while booking the fair’s music acts? “Our theme for the music this year is audience engagement,” he said. “We want bands and performers to interact with our great community. This is not the type of event for acts that want to stand in a corner and be invisible.”

 

 

Lopes is very excited about the lineup he’s booked, and each stage will have a different theme. “The stage at Stone Street is called Stone Street Coffee House [and] local performer Michelle Siegal has been critical in coordinating the acts [there] and will spend her day keeping that stage moving.”

The City Hall stage will feature eclectic acts like the Rogers and Thompson bands, along with the Newport Children’s Theatre, Infinite Praise, Another Roadside Attraction and Half Street. Half Street founder, Teague Sobin, is looking forward to playing his first Broadway Street Fair. “Being a local band on the island, we didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. We can’t think of a better place to play some heavy alt-rock blues but on the streets of Newport,” he said.

The Washington Square stage will be known as The Rocktorium Records stage. Musician-producer Ray Gennari, owner of Roctorium Records studio, will be bringing six of his record label’s acts to Washington Square in what promises to be a memorable show. Featured artists on that stage include Lee Ross, Muddy Ruckus, Clatta Bumboo and The Roots Government, Gumption and Glory, The Z-Boys and The Copacetics. All six have contributed one tune each to a special release album which will be available at the stage that day.

“Dave [Lopes] is just so easy to work with and gets things done,” Gennari said. “The artists are all excited to finally have this opportunity for many of them to play together.”

The stage at Equality Park features dynamic acts like The 40, Underwires, The Strattones and Lopes’ own Up All Night Band.

The fifth stage is at Great Friends Meeting House, and that is where things could start to get very interesting. From noon to 4 p.m., you can hear Lois Vaughn, The Complaints, Melissa Chaplin and RI Music Hall of Famers, Neal and The Vipers. Then, beginning at 5 p.m., the temperature goes up a bit, with DownCity Band and Hall of Famers Steve Smith and The Nakeds in a ticketed event running until 7:45 pm.

If that’s not enough music for you, Lopes has arranged for an after street-fair-party at The Parlor on Broadway. “We’re moving the music over to The Parlor so we can capture anyone in the neighborhood who wants to keep the fun going into the evening,” Lopes said. “We’ll use two stages and keep the music going continuously through the night.” Tickets for that event are available on Eventbrite.

Lopes was quick to credit his team for all their help organizing this musical extravaganza. “I don’t do any of this by myself and have lots of folks helping,” he said. “Our main street fair team is headed by Lynne Tungett who has worked tirelessly on this event since its inception.” Lopes singled out Jennifer Sunderland, Stumpy Nation, Rob George, Ray Gennari and Michelle Siegal for recognition.

See you next Saturday on Broadway!

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