Free Summer Concerts in the Park

Many talented artists will be arriving this summer to be part of the 2007 Music on the Half Shell concert series. These summer concert events started many years ago and have continued to grow year after year. They have been such successful events that last year the attendance was over 58,000. Food booths along with other various booths are set up during the concerts to help keep the crowds fed and entertained. This is a great way to spend your summer evenings in Roseburg.

Music on the Half Shell begins June 26th and runs for eight weeks. Each concert is performed on Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 pm. The 2007 calendar schedule is already filling up. So far three acts have been booked for the summer concert series in Stewart Park. The opening act will be The Wailers, and then in July Los Lobos and Pink Martini will perform. The other five acts are yet to be announced. Although the concerts are free to the public, donations are collected.

The Wailers is a Reggae band that originates from Kingston, Jamaica and was the backup band for Bob Marley from 1974 until his death in 1981. Bob Marley and The Wailers released several albums throughout the 70's and early 80's, which included "I Shot The Sheriff", "One Love" and "Could You Be Loved." More than 250 million records were sold worldwide. The Wailers consist of original members who recorded and/or toured with Bob Marley and The Wailers.

On July 24th, Los Lobos will perform on stage. This band was established in Los Angeles in 1973 and has set themselves apart as one of the most distinctive bands of the 80's. The band uses musical molds built on the blues, rockabilly, jazz, Latin and their own Mexican-American heritage. They recorded some of Ritchie Valens covers for the soundtrack of "La Bamba," including the title track that became a #1 single. The group toured the world in the late 1980's and 90's and did opening acts for Bob Dylan and The Grateful Dead. The last album released by Los Lobos was titled, "The Town and the City" in 2006.

The next scheduled act will be on July 31 at the Half Shell with the twelve-piece band Pink Martini. There music falls somewhere between a 1930's Cuban dance orchestra, a classical chamber music ensemble, and a Brazilian marching street band. This band originates in 1994 from the Portland area. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival and then in the years after that they toured throughout Europe, Greece, Turkey, Taiwan, Lebanon, and the United States. Pink Martini's debut album, "Sympathique" was released on the bands own label and sold over 650,000 copies worldwide.

In the past some of the artists performing included: Mike Strickland, Etta James, Bill Evans Bluegrass, Baaba Maal, Chicago Blues Reunion Band, Bruce Hornsby, Asleep at the Wheel, Blind Boys of Alabama, The Dave Mason Band, Patty Griffin and the list goes on and on.

Some of the sponsors for the eight week concert series are: The Ford Family Foundation, Clint Newell Motors, The Physicians of Douglas County, Creative Images, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians.

As soon as the other artists are booked for the concert series, you will be able to get the information about them from the following website: www.halfshell.org
So come on out for some good food and great entertainment, there is such a variety of music that there is sure to be something you will love.