Still time for fun

FESTIVAL

FILE PHOTO: GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Julie Andrews appears in the 1965 film "The Sound of Music."

Still time for fun

Summer Festival ends this weekend

BY ROGER LELIEVRE

The Ann Arbor News

It’s the weekend we’ve all been dreading - the end of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and Top of the Park for another season.

Before the fat lady sings, however, there’s still plenty of fun to be had this weekend at Top of the Park. Here’s what’s on tap:

Tonight

Grassrootz Stage (5 p.m.)

Featuring the Ann Arbor Music Center's Rock Band School with special guests Sunny Side Up, Submarine Racers and Soje Transit.

Magic Jackson (7 p.m.)

The band Magic Jackson is a funk monster. Its fresh, yet familiar sound lends itself to a high-energy live show full of hard hitting funk and thumpin' dance grooves.

Lady Sunshine & the X-Band (9 p.m.)

An Ann Arbor favorite, Lady Sunshine and the X-Band echoes the Stax-Volt blues legacy in their shows time after time. This group is a true product of the Motor City and is a reflection of the very essence of Detroit - emotion, fire, pride, and soul.

Sunday

“So Long Sunday” is the closing night celebration at Top of the Park.

Madcat & Kane, with Shimmin and Schrock (5 p.m.)

Grammy award winner Peter Madcat Ruth, Shari Kane, Mark Schrock and Mike Shimmin bring their musical gumbo of blues, jazz and folk to the closing night of the festival for a rocking, feel-good show. Based in Ann Arbor, Top of the Park welcomes back this hometown icon to a stage performance that will have old and young dancing in the street.

George Bedard & the Kingpins (7:30 p.m.)

In what has become an annual tradition, George Bedard & the Kingpins close Top of the Park and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival season with their swinging, crowd pleasing music. Bedard has been a key figure on the Michigan roots-rock scene for decades, and his energetic guitar playing and gutsy vocals keep him on the short list of being one of the areas most popular performers.

"The Sound of Music" Sing-A-Long Screening (10 p.m.)

Pull out your lederhosen, practice your yodeling, and polish the glockenspiel for this special, sing-a-long screening of the 1965 musical "The Sound of Music," where audience members of all ages can sing-a-long to Julie Andrews' classic. As part of the pre-show activities, Top of the Park attendees are encouraged to dress in costume, perhaps as a "Sound of Music character" or one of their "Favorite Things," and participate in the costume parade and contest at 9:45 p.m.

If you go, don’t forget to donate a few bucks to the cause if you can ($3 for an individual, $5 for a family is suggested) so Top of the Park can stay free. In the words of Director Robb Woulfe: “We want our patrons to better understand
how important their individual financial support is to the sustainability of the event. ... The economy has forced this issue.”

He said attendance has been hurt this year by bad weather, with some TOP programs curtailed or canceled.

So there you have it. Savor the experience as if you have to wait another whole year for more. And me? Maybe I’ll see you by the Stucchi’s booth Sunday night enjoying a final tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and thinking about how I’ll fill my time for the next 350 days or so. It won’t be that hard, right? Right?

FILE PHOTO: LEISA THOMPSON, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

George Bedard and the Kingpins at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival's Top of the Park.