Here at Oceancity.com, we’re making an inter-blog, cross-site effort to call attention to as many opportunities as possible to have fun in OC this summer for absolutely no money!  So I’m going to be doing my best to organize my own little Free Concert Blog Post series.  First up: the Harley-Davidson Summer Concert Series!

Harley-Davidson of Ocean City is offering a free summer concert series this year, featuring four Saturday-night shows in June, July, August and September. You don’t have to be a hardcore biker dude (or biker, uh, babe) to attend, but judging by the concert schedule, having a biker’s taste for down-and-dirty country and no-nonsense classic rock. Enya is definitely not in the building.

June 14th, Barren Creek — These seven guys from Delmarva share years of experience as musicians, as well as a love for country-inflected rock like that of Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Eagles. The band tears into songs from the 50s through the 80s with solid musiciansip and plenty of attitude. Interestingly, three of the members are also vocalists, meaning that a lot of their arrangements rely on two- or three-part harmony.

July 5, The Crossroads Band — Billed as “where rock and blues collide,” this Eastern Shore quintet mixes rock, country and classic blues to create a memorable, all-american sound. Expect to hear classics from Muddy Waters and B.B. King alongside newer songs by Stone Temple Pilots or Lonestar, all tied together by bluesy vocals and electrifying guitar work. You can catch them at bars around the Peninsula in both Maryland and Delaware, but to see a free show without having to buy drinks, the Harley show is a great option.

August 9th, “Smokin’ Gunnz” — Okay, the name is about as subtle as a Harley pulling up next to you at a stoplight.  Their myspace page, boasting several pictures of and references to Jim Bean Black (claimed as a “sponsor” to the band), is not exactly the picture of taste, either. But that’s kind of what you want in a Southern rock band, isn’t it? Gritty, down-and-dirty classic rock with a twangy flavor. This quartet from Pennsylvania promises to deliver on that ideal, with 9 years of performing experience as a group and an exciting blend of covers and original material.

September , Never Never –  In their home town of Baltimore, Never Never have quite a reputation; they’ve been voted “best classic rock band” for 11 years running! What makes their sound so crowd-pleasing? Maybe it’s just years of experience, or hot-stuff instrumental skills.  To the people who regularly seek out Never Never shows, though, it’s more than that — the guys are known for their loyalty to fans and their passion for the music that they play.  Their Led Zeppelin covers are so popular in B’more that the band is tossing around the idea of a special all-Zep show one night, requests welcome.

All of these great shows are going to be at the Harley Davidson of Ocean City, at 10716 Coastal Highway in Berlin.  The series is sponsored by Pool Tech, BIG Classic Rock, and WMDTV. Shows are from 6-8.

Hope that revvs your engine! Have a great weekend!

You heard it here first! Unless you already heard it on the OC Ocean e-newsletter, in which case, you heard it here second? Third?  At any rate, July 6th, the Beach Boys are playing at the Roland Powell Convention Center. How awesome is that? I mean, of course we love Still Surfin’ and the other Beach Boys tribute bands that we’ve had here in OC, but there is something to be said for the real thing.

Personally, when I think about the Beach Boys, I always think about my dad. He’s a life-long fan of theirs — they’re still one of the only bands he’ll sing along to on the radio. If your dad is like mine, tickets for the show would be pretty much the be-all-and-end-all of Fathers’ Day presents.  Tickets are $35 to $50 each; not bad to take Dad back to the days of Stingrays and surf boards.

So, the good news is, there’s a plan afoot to get a new performing arts center built in Berlin. The Berlin Performing Arts Center Research Committee has submitted a detailed proposal for a center to be finished in December, 2009. Their research supports the idea that having a certain number of similar performing arts centers is the best way to help all of them thrive in a given city. According to the proposal, the Berlin Performing Arts Center could be one of the first steps towards creating a flourishing dance, music and theater community in Worcester County.

So, what’s the bad news? Worcester county has not made any kind of commitment to fund the proposal, which was designed as a public-private partnership, in which costs are shared between private investors and the county itself. While the county did not out-and-out deny funding, it has been reluctant to make any offers so far.

Obviously,  it’s hard making budget decisions for a whole county — it’s hard for me to make budget decisions for the weekend. But really, Worcester County needs to step up here. Other Delmarva burgs, like Virginia Beach, have made a commitment to supporting the arts commuity, and it has paid off with a lively artistic scene that draws in guests who might have otherwise gone elsewhere. Considering the success Ocean City has had with art and craft shows in recent years, I think that the county should recognize the impact of cultural tourism by now — as well as the impact of just plain culture. Berlin is a fun city with a lot of character and charm, and a performing arts center would be a perfect way to grow that into something alive and exciting. And that would benefit Ocean City and Worcester County as a whole, not just Berlin.

Now that Cruisin’ has cruised on by, the summer season is officially in full swing. And that can only mean one thing for Ocean City’s nightlife: things are about to get hot, hot, hot! Your mission, should you choose to accept it: don’t spend a single night this weekend chowing down on room service in your hotel. No, I don’t care if said hotel has HBO and will deliver pina coladas straight to your balcony, it’s still a waste of a perfectly good evening.

Wednesday — S.T.O.R.M. at Seacrets. This Washington, DC-based  duo has been called the OutKast of Reggae, meaning that you can expect fast rhymes, genius production and that undefinable little something that we call “chemistry.” S.T.O.R.M are a national band, and they’re going to be out of town until at least mid-summer, so this is a great opportunity to experience the floor-packing rhythms they’re going to be laying down from the Seacrets stage.

non sequitur — whenever I type “Seacrets,” my first instinct is always to write “Seacrest” instead. Maybe my subconscious is a Ryan fan? Or not…

Thursday — First State Harmonizers at the Green Room Fine Wine and Cold Beer. Okay, not cool, but the Harmonizers are a really talented barbershop quartet visiting from Dewey, Delaware, and I’ve got to admit that I love that old-school a capella sound. Plus, the Green Room is known for its excellent beer selection, and I’m all over that.
Friday — The Mood Swingers at BJ’s on the Water. Yes, they do classic rock, like every other band in OC. However, they do it *unlike* any other cover  band I’ve ever heard. The band is made up of three, er, seasoned Maryland musicians, all of whom have their own strong and divergent influences, and all of whom contribute serious musical chops. The Swingers draw on inspirations from reggae to country to create a sound which is unique to them, as well as to Ocean City.

Saturday — okay, this is a big one. The Little River Band at Roland E. Powell Convention Center. How often do we get international bands here in OC? Not very often, that’s how often. So you’ve got to be a little psyched for the Aussie big-shots Little River Band,  with 13 Top 40 hits in the US and 13 original albums from the 70s to the 21st century. Tickets are going for $19-$35. Get ‘em while you can!

Sunday –  The Blue Method at Castaways. This group gets a mention partly just for their decision to choose wit over self-promotion by referring to their location on myspace as “Jersidelphia.” They do know that people sometimes search by city, right? Whimsy aside, they’re a young, original, racially diverse jam/funk band from the Northeast, touring the east coast in small, fun venues like Seacrets. Perfect for fans of college bands like G. Love and the Special Sauce. And since Monday’s a holiday, you can party on Sunday night without too much fear for the next morning.

So… you entering these in your PDA yet? Come on, do it! It’s never too soon to think about the weekend.

Some mondays, you really ought to just call in sick. In fact, considering the agenda for this weekend, I probably should have just called in advance and informed my employers that I was scheduling a sinus infection for this morning.

All of which should tell you that Cruisin’ 08 was, in fact, pretty awesome. The bands got good reviews all around, and there were plenty of sweet classic cars in attendance. A few people complained that the local PD were a bit overzealous in re-directing the traffic, but that might have been a reasonable course of action from their perspective, considering that some reports say that a massive power outage downtown was caused by a truck driven by a Cruisin’ reveler getting a little bit too enthusiastic and slamming into a telephone pole. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Everyone had a lot of fun at the concerts, where it wasn’t just the big-name bands who got starred reviews. One fan reports that Still Surfin’, the Beach Boys tribute band who opened for the Rip Chords, spontaneously gave a free performance for bystanders who came by to watch them tuning up. Now that’s classy!

A couple of pictures:

And Delmarva Now has a really excellent article about it. Seriously, go read it — it’s a profile of some of the annual regulars who make Cruisin’ such a friendly place to be. These are people who aren’t going to let gas prices scare them off. God bless them — Ocean City is going to need those folks this summer.

I’ve gotta say, I’m as green as the next chick, but part of me is glad that people are still doing the rock-show road-trip thing. Back in college my friends and I used to ride greyhound buses, find the cheapest hotel rooms in town, and count down the days until our trip to whatever happened to be the current incarnation of “rock city.” Pittsburgh, NYC, Baltimore — wherever there was a big show or festival, we’d try to daydream a way of getting there. To me, that’s part of a classic American summer. And that’s really what Cruisin’ is all about, isn’t it?

Tonight marks the first big show of the weekend, the Rip Chords tearing into classics like “Hey Little Cobra” against a backdrop of vintage cars and 50’s/60’s atmosphere at the Roland Powell Convention Center. Tickets are only available in advance, but it doesn’t look like the show is sold out yet, so if you hurry maybe you can snag some tix before 8 pm rolls around and the show starts. Tickets are $23 each, with some of the proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

Here’s hoping you have an awesome Cruisin’ weekend!

Okay, I know, I promo the big festivals and events on here a lot. I can’t help it, I’m a booster, and I want Ocean City to make me proud with insane turn-outs and cheering crowds. But I know not everyone’s into that. Some people want a smaller scene, a more intimate moment, or just a cheap beer and someone at the mic who knows what he’d doing with that acoustic guitar. As a matter of fact, my husband is one of those people. As much as it pains me to say it, he would not be caught dead at Cruisin’, and I don’t think I have a great chance of dragging him to the Virgin Mobile music festival in DC, either. But he does have a birthday coming up (happy 34th, honey!). So in honor of Daniel, and all of his fellow small-show enthusiasts, I present…

Other Stuff Going On During Cruisin’ Weekend!

1. Martini Mockingbirds at the West OC Greene Turtle, Friday night. Good-natured acoustic duo from Baltimore area plays covers of sixties through nineties hits, pitchers of beer flow cheaply. Classic OC.

2. Jettstream at the Purple Moose Saloon. I like these guys. I am kind of un-impressed that Purple Moose has yet again messed up their name on the listings page, but hey, you can’t expect much better from lowly internet promoters… hey, wait a minute… I’m an internet promoter! Anyway, Jettstream, local rockers with a special taste for Skynyrd-style southern-fried classic rock. They’re lots of fun, and apparently easygoing about that whole wrong-name thing. Both Friday and Saturday nights.

3. Tuesday in October at Castaways — okay, it’s actually a Friday in May, but, I’m willing to take a break from the city-wide nostalgia fest to give these thoroughly 00’s power-pop guys a try. If nothing else, they play original songs, and they have that whole spunky-unsigned-band attitude going for them. Plus, Castaways is a great place for beer specials and, since I am writing these recommendations with my hubby in mind, cute girls on the dance floor!

4. Tranzfusion at MR Ducks — Finally, round out your weekend on Sunday night with a find you can tell all your friends that you were the first to hear about — and tell them that you heard it from me! Tranzfusion are a Salisbury-based act who are getting some serious buzz for blending the area’s favorite classic-rock sound with modern indie-rock sensibilities influenced by Elliot Smith and Wilco. It seems like an appropriate way to finish the Cruisin’ experience, taking that classic 70s rock and roll and pushing into a contemporary frame of mind. Sunday night is going to be chilly, so be sure to bring a sweater to MR Ducks’ casual outdoor venue… or if you’re going with your sweetie, don’t bring one, so you’ll have a built-in excuse to snuggle.

The latest from Special Event Productions is that Cruisin’ registration is sold out, so I hope everyone who wanted to participate in the car show next weekend have got their tickets already! Meanwhile, the headline concerts, the Vogues and the Ripchords, are still selling tickets with a week to go. What are you waiting for?

Apparently late on Saturday night there was a huge brawl outside of Seacrets, involving literally hundreds of people, and 23 police officers. Four officers and three civilians were injured, including one who was bitten by a police dog after throwing a punch at the dog’s handler. Ten people were arrested on various charges.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that some of the arrests were for property damage, this doesn’t seem to have hurt Seacrets. The club is still open for business, and is not itself under investigation. Those who were planning to catch the Jim Long Band, Wizdom Reggae, or Star69 this weekend should count themselves lucky — and please, behave yourselves. Nobody expects club-goers to behave like museum-goers, but a word to the wise: when you feel like you’re one drink away from wanting to punch a cop, you might want to stop drinking.

Further information on the story can be found at The Examiner, Delmarva Now, and pretty much all over the internet.

This is an exciting time of year — we just got through with Springfest (and it was awesome, and it didn’t rain after all!), and now it’s already time to remind you to buy Cruisin’ tickets before they sell out!

In case you need motivating, I dug up some YouTube links spotlighting this year’s headliners:

Here’s a nice, old-timey video someone put together to complement The Vogues’ 60’s hit “You’re The One.”

And here are the Rip Chords, performing in 2003 in Austin, Texas.

Sure looks like fun, doesn’t it? There’s still time to get in on the action, but not for much longer!