Chrisette Michele performs at 5th Street GEM this Saturday night.
As we enter into our last weekend of July, let’s set our sights on more fun in the sun (baby, it’s hot outside) while being cool about it. With the Illinois State Fair just two weeks away, you can just feel summer slip sliding away into the fall. In the meantime, let’s see what’s happening now.
Our Thursdays continue to roll on, featuring the next-to-last Levitt AMP concert downtown as our shining star event with opener Ricarda Rosalina and the Latin sounds of Adaptivo 16 headlining. Next week, the final show of the season delivers the Americana music of Jim Lauderdale.
In other concert news, Danenberger Family Vineyards near New Berlin keeps the tributes coming with Subliminal Doubt (covering No Doubt), while the regular spots give us Keith Dunlap on the Casey’s Pub patio, Harris Brothers Trio at Mother Road Diner, Stefan Huffman at the Curve Inn and the Mother Road Bones down in Chatham at Sangamo Brewing.
Friday night kicks off the Downhome Music Festival indoor replacement for 2025 called Mid-X-Midwest with a pre-party night at the Gin Mill. The popular fest of all original local music continues on Saturday night with a pub crawl featuring some 25 acts starting at 5 p.m. at the Gin Mill Lounge, Floyd’s Thirst Parlor, Arlington’s and Brewhaus Pub. Check the Downhome Facebook page and/or our listings for a full schedule. You can grab your $10 wristband from participating artists or at the door and that gets you into all venues all weekend long. The Downhome folks are definitely committed to being back outside with street stages in 2026.
The Hoogland presents a special event this weekend at the Peggy Ryder Theatre when The Sangamon River Poets: Masters, Lindsay and Sandburg by Dennis Camp returns to the stage for the first time since its 1981 debut. Originally written to celebrate the opening of the Sangamon Auditorium (now the UIS Performing Arts Center) at Sangamon State University (now University of Illinois-Springfield), the play weaves the writings of these three world- renowned Illinois poets from the 20th century, into “a keen portrayal of the river and its citizens” with a relevance still recognized and felt at this time. The 2025 production features two original cast members, Leigh Steiner and Kevin Purcell, plus Rich McCoy and Tom Lawton, with Phil Funkenbusch acting as performance coach and Wild Columbine providing the music.
Downtown organizers are working to bring folks together with the third of four consecutive Friday Night Live events held this week. Look for businesses to stay open later (many until 8 p.m.) with some live music listed happening at Buzz Bomb, Whiskey Jack’s and The Alamo, plus Dumb Records hosts a full-blown concert with Lethal Method, Cold Hard Steel, Fatal Dose, Nullify and Reject Modernity. Get yourself down to downtown and wander around a bit. You might just dig it, you know.
Also downtown (is something happening here?), this Saturday night 5th Street GEM, the latest addition to our “Fifth Street Strip” of bars, restaurants and nightclubs, hosts Grammy-award-winning artist (Best Urban/Alternative Performance 2009) Chrisette Michele for a special night called Grown, Classy and Sexy. Tickets are available at Eventbrite and DJ Caption Darryl Williams is “in the house” for this dress up night of “sophistication and fun” hosted by GEM owner Lakeisha Purchase.
And to top off the week, let’s jump to Wednesday night when Al’s Hwy 50 featuring Al Laughlin of Colorado’s The Samples, a Springfield regular back in the day, hosts the Reggae Splash for Cash at the Blue Grouch.
That’s my column for this week and I’m sticking to it.