If there’s something Rhode Island always gets right, it’s music in the summertime. You can practically set your watch to it. The party gets started with the Summer Concert Series, Newport responds with the Folk Fest, comes back next weekend with the Jazz Fest, but August is defined by AS220’s Foo Fest.
The Ricecakes (and their dads, if anyone was there) headlined the series. Major props to the Newport Folk Fest for inviting locals brown bird and Joe Fletcher on stage.
But the big shout-out goes to AS220 who since 1995 has been hosting the annual Foo Fest. Remember that Battle of the Bands concert you went to in high school? There were always a few bands you knew and liked, but things got sour because one had to win and the others had to lose. Foo Fest is like that but everyone wins in the end because 5,000 people show up to cheer you on.
Most band names are never apt at describing the personality of the band itself but here’s one exception to this rule. The Sugar Honey Iced Tea, playing outside, is everything sweet and wonderful in the folk world.
To make some Sugar Honey Iced Tea, simply add:
The Famous Winters go on the indoor stage around 2:30pm. I remember going to Tazza a couple of years ago to watch Ana Mallozzi from Sugar Honey Iced Tea play an acoustic set and she pointed out Sean Kennedy, who couldn’t have been older than 20-years-old at the time. “You have to check this kid out!” I remember her telling me. Armed with only an acoustic guitar, he was memorable, to say the least. But now he’s got a killer rhythm section behind him consisting of drummer Alex Garzone from The Silks and bassist Matt DeCosta from Formal Action. Keyboardist Nick Dawson fills the sonic void guitars never seem able to do. Together, their melancholy tunes give new meaning to terms like Americana and Alt. Rock (ugh!), which haven’t seen new definitions in this millennium.
$7 (children 4 and under free), 1pm to 1am, Saturday, August 11, AS220, 95-115 Empire Complex and block