the hum / By Bob Doran

Summer on the River

Mad River Summerfest, plus the Berel Alexander, Lightnin’ Woodcock, Dgiin and Cannabis College

(July 8, 2010)  Type the word Summerfest into Google and you’ll find they’re all over the place. Summer is festival time after all, and people want to dance and party in the great outdoors. We had one east of here for a few years with an emphasis on heavy rock and hip hop — it went down for reasons we won’t go into here.

The name was revived locally last summer with a totally different intent. Scott Carlson, who among other things works for Humboldt Brews, wanted to put on a free festival with an emphasis on local music and homemade beer. With help from friends he did just that last summer along the Mad River and followed up with Winterfest, a successful multi-band, multi-venue benefit in downtown Arcata.

Ukulele PHOTO BY BOB DORAN

GALLERY >

Now it’s time for the Second Annual Mad River Summerfest at Pump Station No. 1 (West End Road). Again the line-up showcases the best in local bands. The lovely ladies of AkaBella start things off at 11 a.m. with some worldly a cappella, perfect for a summer morning. Then at 11:30 soul survivor Courtney Weaver and her new band lay down some blues and such. AkaBella returns for a tweener set at 12:30, followed at 1 p.m. by hard rockin’ by The Rezonators. A break at 2 p.m. brings samba and the first of several raffles, with proceeds going to The Ink People Center for the Arts, Humboldt Baykeeper, Humboldt Surfriders and the Arcata Skatepark (phase 2).

At 2:30, it’s the instantly acclaimed all-star Tom Petty tribute band Full Moon Fever, who already have a pack of fans after just a couple of shows. Then at 3:30 it’s folky-punk Greg Lokjo, back in town for Dell’Arte’s Mad River Festival (he did sound for Blue Lake: The Opera, etc.), who might do a Rubberneckers song if you beg. Things get funky at 4 p.m. with another all-star combo, The Lowdown.

More raffles at 5 (with an iPod among the prizes). Then at 5:30, the unique UKEsperience with summery tunes, Hawaiian-Humboldt stylie. Greg Lokjo leads into one more raffle and the announcement of the homebrew contest. (Did I mention the beer? Five bucks gets you a commemorative pint glass). That takes us to 7 p.m. when The Fickle Hill Billies close things out with some tie-dyed psychedelic rock.

OK, we touched on the beer. This is a festive affair with arts and crafts and food all day, a halfpipe for skaters, a climbing wall and more stuff for kids, like a straw maze. Since Pump Station parking is limited, there’s a shuttle running from Wes Green Landscape at West End Road and Ericson Way (west of Valley West). And once again, as with Mr. Kite’s party, “a splendid time is guaranteed for all.”

Meanwhile down at CR, it’s Relay for Life weekend with cancer survivors and supporters walking to support research for a cure; music by The Roadmasters, among others. As we went to press, Cliff from KHUM was looking for more bands. Wanna play for a good cause? Give him a ring.

Berel Alexander (who I’ll always think of as young Bernie) called over the weekend with an update on the Berel Alexander Ensemble: “We have these summertime celebrations happening: Friday at the Red Fox, then Sunday night at Mosgo’s (7-10 p.m.), which is all ages, geared more toward families. We have a new recording coming out, recorded over the Valentine’s shows. We took a few songs from each show and put together this live album with a few new songs, some from Hooked and a Chilean folk song “Poco a Poco,” which translates as “Little by Little.” (No, it’s not the old Stones song.)

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