Brutal sun or drenching rain: It’s hard to know what kind of weather to wish for these days for an outdoor festival. Whatever’s beating down on the crowds Saturday, it will be the beat of the music that counts at the Dancin’ in the Street Music Festival in Stuart.
Just as they have for the past 29 years, thousands of people are expected rain or shine for the best of local and regional bands playing on five stages set up along the St. Lucie River. The sixth stage – in the Lyric Theatre – may well be sold out. It’ll be hosting the Outlaws, the half-century-old Southern rock band that started out in Tampa in 1966. That was just a year after the Mamas and the Papas’ “Dancing in the Street” hit the airwaves.
The Outlaws didn’t make it big until nearly a decade later, when “There Goes Another Love Song” became their signature hit in 1975. The lineup has changed plenty, but the sound is true to its youth – in the same vein as the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and a hint of early pop-country.
If you want to skip the throngs and the festival admission price ($15 to $20, not counting the Outlaws show), the nearby Terra Fermata has a great lineup that day starting at 2 p.m. and running well into the night. First up are the Nouveaux Honkies, a husband-and-wife duo that are favorites in this area. They are followed by Abby Owens, the Indiantown-born singer/songwriter I wrote about a couple of weeks ago and who I’ve since realized had already been discovered by hundreds if not thousands of local fans. Owens’ set starts around 3:30, followed by the Jonnie Morgan Band at 4:30. That Orlando-based group also has a solid following – they played at Sunfest last year. And finally our Vero one-man-band wonder, Ben Prestage, who takes the stage at 8 p.m. The crowds should be thick by then – in more ways than one.
Hopefully they will also be fawning. Before settling in Vero a few years back, Prestage grew up on an 18-mile dirt road near the Okeechobee-Martin County line and picked his first banjo at 14. While he was still in high school, he put together an eight-piece band – including his fellow members of the South Fork High School Marching Band. They all traipsed down to the Lyric Theatre’s Originals Night, an open-mic for songwriters, and made their debut. Prestage has crafted his own sound since then and it packs them in.
Dave Barry is presenting his latest book – “Best.State.Ever” – Sept. 8 in Vero. That’s a Thursday, two days after the book goes on sale, and three weeks from now. But these ticketed book signings, sponsored by the Vero Beach Book Center but held at St. Edward’s School, tend to sell out early, particularly in the hometown of Barry’s old Miami Herald buddy, Carl Hiaasen. Barry gave up his column years ago. But he still writes for the Herald – he’s been covering the Olympics, and before that the conventions. I’m thinking he’s going to have a heck of a Year in Review column this year. Maybe he’ll give us a hint of what’s to come.
Here’s a retro concept if you’re feeling nostalgic about summer ending: Spend the afternoon in the dark of the beautiful old Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce, watching a movie that’s free. Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. is a screening of “Hope Springs” with Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell, which I saw when it first came out and really enjoyed. A quiet little comedy (Carell plays it straight – he’s the marriage counselor trying to generate some heat in the other two’s marriage), it’s a slice of life a lot of us will recognize. Leave the kids at home – they would HATE it – and settle in with an afternoon cocktail if you really want to escape (the Sunrise bar will be open – I checked).
Even better, head up to Melbourne’s King Center for the Classic Albums Live reproduction of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” Saturday at 8 p.m. The evening includes supper on the terrace with fellow fans of The Boss starting at 6 p.m. Full bar available.