Now that it’s officially summer, can the doldrums be far behind? Not to worry, though, because Riverside Theatre is continuing its very successful weekend Howl at the Moon, Comedy Zone and Live in the Loop events. Next weekend, July 7-8, Ken Gustafson and Rob Volpe will face off at Riverside’s dueling pianos music party, Howl at the Moon, an all-request, multi-genre, dueling piano, live entertainment company that performs at venues all over the country. Audiences are loving this no-set-agenda evening, as they help pick the songs for a unique experience every time. These guys can do pretty much any tune you can come up with. Miami-born Gustafson has been the company’s entertainment director, and, in addition to his prowess at the piano and on vocals, he is also great on drum set, bass guitar, and acoustic and electric guitar. Entertainer and event coordinator Volpe has been playing Howl the Moon venues for over four years, and is a regular at Jellyrolls, one of the hottest nightspots in the Orlando, at the Boardwalk Resort in Walt Disney World. Howl at the Moon show times are 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $16-$22.

In its eighth year, the Vero Beach International Music Festival, hosted by the Mike Block String Camp, will be presented at First Presbyterian Church, starting Wednesday, July 5. According to the Festival website, the Mike Block String Camp invites world-class musicians from around the country to Vero Beach to perform together in one-of-a-kind collaborations. The Festival runs through July 14, and includes: an Artist/Camp Faculty Concert Wednesday featuring folk, bluegrass, Celtic, Americana, rock, jazz and more; a Student Concert and Barn Dance July 8, featuring the talented (mostly) young musicians of the Mike Block String Camp; an Artist/Faculty Concert July 12; and faculty-led Advanced Student Band Concerts July 13 and 14. Donations of $10 for student concerts and $20 for faculty concerts are appreciated and support the Mike Block String Camp Scholarship Fund. The camp is open to students all ages, levels and stylistic backgrounds, who study under world-class musicians, learning traditions, developing improv skills, and honing their craft for public performances.
This Saturday, the Comedy Zone headlines the Tennessee Tramp (aka Janet Williams) and Amy Dingler. Williams is a middle-aged redhead from Naples, Florida, self-described “trailer trash, truck drivin,’ potty mouthed, unsophisticated divorcee full of Southern sass!” In an interview at a Chattanooga comedy club, Comedy Catch, Williams said she’d always made notes of things she thought were funny and, over the years, had accumulated hundreds of little scraps of paper with ideas scrawled on them. These turned out to be the start of a whole new career: After teaching criminal justice for 21 years, and following a difficult divorce, she decided to go into comedy. And she’s been in the biz for years now. Her bawdy, audience-involved act is not for the faint-hearted. On the same bill, Amy Dingler is a former rodeo clown, bull fighter and stunt person, who, according to the Boca Black Box in Boca Raton, “decided to try something a little riskier” – stand-up comedy. Since then, she’s appeared in venues all over the state with her edgy, belly-laugh inducing routine. Tickets for Comedy Zone are $16 and $18. Show times are 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
There’s no charge to hang out and chill out at Riverside’s Live in the Loop. Just grab your lawn chairs and enjoy the music. This Saturday it’s the Copper Tones, three guys and a girl from South Florida who play Roots music (American folk music), backing vocals with guitar, banjolele, upright bass, mandolin, drums, ukulele and dobro, creating, they say, “a favorable twist of soul, rock, Americana and more,” a style they have dubbed “Soulgrass.” Live in the Loop outside concerts are free, 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Happily, there are always food and beverages available for purchase for these super summer happenings at Riverside.

For a little nachtmusik of the romantic kind on a summer’s evening, the King Center in Melbourne offers “Night of Romance with Ambrosia, Firefall and Al Stewart” Friday at 7:30 p.m. Like the fruit salad of the same name, the California rock band Ambrosia, formed in 1970, blends different “shades, textures, colors and styles,” resulting in a style of music, according to Wikipedia, with a blues and R&B soul, as well as “progressive, classical and world influences.” Among their hits: “You’re the Only Woman,” “The Biggest Part of Me” and “Holding on to Yesterday.” Three of the six current band members are from the original group. The band Firefall was named by original band member Rick Roberts, after the Yosemite Firefall, a summertime tradition of dumping a cascade of flaming embers off Glacier Point in California’s Yosemite National Park. Firefall has been performing for four decades and is still going strong, accumulating three Gold albums, two Platinums and 11 top-of-the-chart singles. Their biggest hits include “You Are the Woman,” “Goodbye I Love You,” “Cinderella” and “Just Remember I Love You.” Al Stewart is best known for his hit, the smooth and slinky “Year of the Cat,” and scored platinum recognition for his album of the same name and his follow-up album, Time Passages. According to Wikipedia, the Glasgow-born Brit became known as part of the legendary British Folk revival of the ’60s and ’70s, merging folk-rock tunes with stories of people and events from history. After 40 years, he remains prominent on the British music scene.