By Jessica Hudgins
SDUN Reporter
Showcasing up-and-coming artists and local veteran performers, the street fair will include more than 60 musical acts across all genres spread out over an eight-block stretch of Adams Avenue. Fair-goers can expect to hear a plethora of sounds including blues, gospel, rock, reggae, swing, roots-rock, folk-rock and Zydeco.
According to Chad Waldorf, who books shows for the Belly Up Tavern, a local-music haven in Solana Beach, one of the reasons behind the festival’s success is the variety of music it offers.
“We try to keep it balanced between genres,” he said. “The great thing about it is that there are different stages, and each stage is dedicated to a different type of music.”
The Street Fair will include six stages: the Rock stage at 33rd Street, the Roots-Rock stage at 34th Street, the Blues stage at Hawley Boulevard, the Worldbeat stage at Adams Park, and the DiMille’s and Lestat’s Coffeehouse stages near those businesses.
Waldorf is part of a team of music experts who decide which bands get to go behind the mic. Some bands submitted their work for consideration, he said, while others were recruited based on reputation.
“I keep an eye on the bands that come through the club and get a good response from the community,” Waldorf said. “For me it’s just bands that have a buzz and appeal to different audiences, like Mariachi El Bronx.”
Mariachi El Bronx started as a punk band called The Bronx, then started experimenting with the Mexican genre and eventually redefined what “punk” means, he said.
“Most of their songs are in English, but the music is authentic,” Waldorf explained. “It’s bands like that—bands that aren’t necessarily in touch with the music industry [that we want]. Having a band play mariachi music and doing it well will be a nice surprise for people walking by. We want to get bands that audiences will be pleasantly surprised by, and maybe the band will win some new fans.”
Headliners include former X singer/songwriter Exene Cervenka, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Peter Case, and Encinitas songwriter Jack Tempchin, who has written a number of hit songs for the Eagles, Patty Loveless and Trisha Yearwood among others.
The Adams Avenue Street Fair isn’t just about the music. Everything Adams Avenue has to offer will be on display, including the eclectic array of boutique shops, eateries and pubs that make up the Adams Avenue Business District. According to Jim Schneider, executive director of the AABA, the fair brings more than 100,000 people to Normal Heights over the two-day period.
“It’s a great way to showcase the entire neighborhood as a place to work, live and play,” Schneider said. “We’re bringing people in who may not have been in the neighborhood before, and hopefully the street fair will get them to come back and patronize our businesses.”
Businesses not located in the street fair zone can still get in on the action by sponsoring a booth among the many that will be selling wares and offering information. That’s exactly what Dave McPheeters, owner of Zac’s Attic, an antiques store at 2922 Adams Ave. (about ten blocks east of the street fair), decided to do.
“It’s not a major shopping day for stores located ‘around the corner,’” McPheeters explained. “So I figured if I’m not getting people through the door I might as well take my merchandise to them.”
McPheeters plans to have mostly jewelry, small collectibles and vintage clothing at his booth.
“It’s really just about pure exposure. With the number of people who come to the Avenue, there are pretty good odds you’ll sell something and hopefully that will get them to come back later,” he said. “Having a booth out there will hopefully give people a little taste of what the Avenue has to offer.”
While the Street Fair is a major undertaking for the AABA, Schneider said the results are not only beneficial for his member-businesses but fun as well.
“It’s a party. The event highlights San Diego music and also highlights our business district,” Schneider said. “The community is proud of itself, and it’s nice to have people come and see how great it is.”
For a complete list of the fair’s performers and events, go to adamsavenuebusiness.com.
