The Suquamish Clearwater Casino’s three-month-long free concert series, which has been providing entertainment on the shores of Agate Pass for all ages this summer, is coming to a close.
This weekend will be music fans’ last chance to catch the Performances on the Passage, a series that has offered a variety of music and performers on Thursday nights at the casino’s event lawn.
Up and coming young Seattle-based singer/songwriters like Ian McFeron and Vicci Martinez played the stage as well as a plethora of cover bands from Clayton Wagy as Elvis to the rollicking rocker chicks Hell’s Belles in the concert series’ second season.
As plans are thrown into the mix for next year, this year’s season finale will feature, in three days, the near entire spectrum of diversity which the past three-months have yielded. From a reggae frontman, turned R&B hunk to a band continually reincarnating classic rock to a nine-piece salsa band, it’s all happening in Kitsap, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Clearwater.
7 p.m., Aug. 30
— Alex Duncan, former frontman of Jumbalassy
From the ashes of ‘90s-centric Seattle-based Caribbean-reggae sounds band Jumbalassy, dynamic front man Alex Duncan rose to a solo career.
Now with three solo albums under his belt and putting in work on a fourth to be titled “After Midnight,” Duncan seems to be letting it all hang down — though not in quite the same manner as Eric Clapton.
A native of the island of St. Kitts, Duncan is still guided by his Caribbean reggae roots, but more and more he has been letting it hang down under a thick but smooth coating of R&B. The cover of his latest EP features the singer bare chested beneath a tux suit jacket and unbuttoned white shirt, while the title track “Midnight” begs that special someone for “just one night with you.”
Despite all the ear and eye candy that seems to have flooded his music since the still-mostly-pure dance hall solo release “Shoe Me Love,” Duncan’s raw and gruff reggae-style rhymes and banter still make themselves known. And his live show is still regarded as “captivating” and “high energy.”
The Beat Magazine, the world’s largest publication on reggae, African, Caribbean and world music, even gave Duncan its props on the self-confidence he carries to the stage.
7 p.m., Aug. 31 — Left Hand Smoke, quintessential blues rock
OK, it’s time for a science experiment in music. Take all of your favorite classic rock bands from the Beatles and the Stones to Aerosmith, mix in a few grams of the soul of James Brown and funnel it through the Northwest-minded mouthpiece of contemporary pianist Ben Mish.
Commence sonicsynthesis, ignore the minor explosion and the vapor that rises is: Left Hand Smoke.
The band which the Clearwater is billing as “the quintessential Northwest blues rock band” made a name for itself when its self-titled debut came out in 1999 and within months, four tracks had been licensed for network television. One eventually ended up on E.R.
The CD went on to garner album of the year honors in West Coast Performer Magazine. Seven years and two albums later, a prophetic song called “Fame’s Around the Corner” was the first track on Left Hand’s much anticipated release “Nonsense Parade” (2006).
And with the Friday night spot on the Clearwater’s Performances at the Passage stage this year, the band may have turned that corner.
Other notches on the Left Hand Smoke resume include opening for Maroon 5 and John Mayer in Seattle, jamming with a few of the guys from Pearl Jam and being voted best pop/rock band of 2005 by Seattle Weekly readers.
7 p.m., Sept. 1 — Cambalache, straight outta the Northwest salsa scene
Under a title (Cambalache) that is commonly used to describe chaos, the nine-piece Seattle-based salsa band has that knack for mixing up the dance floor.
Following the group’s recent performance at the Alaska Folk Festival, a surprised critic wrote, “(It) was impossible to hear without having your hips start to wiggle.”
Cambalache’s style is an eclectic mix of the richness and diversity of all things Latin America. Featuring members from Mexico, Peru and America deeply rooted in the music movements developing in Cuba and Puerto Rico, the music of Cambalache is said to be a balance of classic and contemporary salsa amidst an energetic atmosphere of rumba and nueva salsa.
They’ve taken that atmosphere to Bumbershoot and the San Juan County Fair in addition a host of other festivals and club gigs over the past six years. And for an extra dose of fame, the band was selected to play the 2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in front of an estimated 55,000.
Though the crowd at the Clearwater will be considerably less, I’d imagine their might be a few more pairs of dancing shoes there at 7 p.m. Sept. 1.
The Clearwater Casino is located off of Highway 305 at the Peninsula’s mouth of the Agate Pass Bridge. All shows are all ages and free. Info: www.clearwatercasino.com or call (360) 598-8700.
