Longtime fusion band Third World’s summer jam is a call to do you: “Just keep on doing it your own way, until you find your groove,” they sing in the funk-disco new release featuring artist Busy Signal and a super fun video with a giant boombox, big bold fashions and roller skaters.
Third World (thirdworldband.com)
The band is best known for “Now That We’ve Found Love,” “96 Degrees in the Shade” and “Try Jah Love.” The nine-time Grammy Award nominees are among the seven acts featured in the return of Bayfront Reggae & World Music Festival, July 17 at Bayfront Festival Park. Also featured: Anthony B, Kranium, Mr. Killa, International Reggae All Stars, Dynamq and DJ Sound of Fujun. Tickets available at bayfrontworldmusic.com.
Bayfront Reggae & World Music Festival
July 17
Noon: Gates open
1 p.m.: DJ Sound of Fujun
2 p.m.: International Reggae All Stars
3:30 p.m.: Dynamq
4:45 p.m.: Mr. Killa
6:15 p.m.: Third World
8 p.m.: Anthony B
9:45 p.m.: Kranium
Daniel Oyinloye (News Tribune file)
Catch Seyi on The Pier
Daniel Oyinloye’s project Seyi, a mix of spoken word, hip-hop and R&B, is this week’s Concert on the Pier, a series that turns Glensheen’s 100-foot pier on Lake Superior into a stage for local artists, the Congdon’s lawn a spot to lounge, and the water into a place for audience members to go waist-deep or float in on a kayak. Oyinloye is an activist and artist who works in film, music and storytelling, in addition to curating, producing and supporting other local artists. Concerts on the Pier gates open at 5 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. There are vendors available on site.
Stuart Gordon (left) and Kelly Killorin (Duluth Playhouse)
Skates to stage
“Xanadu,” first a movie starring Olive Newton-John with a flowing fluff of hair, is the magical tale of a Los Angeles artist who casts his dreams into the wind and encounters an enigma on roller skates. The 1980s movie, a cult favorite, was later adapted for stage and premiered on Broadway in 2007. (In a review of the play in the New York Times, Charles Isherwood describes it as killing Newton-John’s career. “Can a musical be simultaneously indefensible and irresistible,” he asks. “Why, yes it can. Witness ‘Xanadu,’ the outlandishly enjoyable stage spoof of the outrageously bad movie …”) The soundtrack includes songs like “Magic,” “Suddenly” and “Xanadu.”
The Duluth Playhouse’s production of “Xanadu” is July 15-Aug. 1 at the NorShor Theater. Tickets start at $40, available at duluthplayhouse.org.
Music Director Gavriel Heine (News Tribune file)
‘Cinderella’ story on the Range
The Northern Lights Music Festival Opera, one of the regional entities that powered through to production while also adhering to pandemic guidelines, (think: “Tosca” with Plexiglass and masks and artists quarantining together) returns with Rossini’s “La Cenerentola,” a variation on the Cinderella story that has a Bad Dad in addition to the two ugly stepsisters. This festival is an annual summer showcase of classical arts led by Veda Zuponcic.
“La Cenerentola” is at 7 p.m. July 16 at Veda Zuponcic Auditorium, Mesabi East, Aurora, and 3:30 p.m. July 18 at the Discovery Center Amphitheater, Chisholm.
Members of the Northern Lights Apprentice Program have also created a shortened kid-friendly version that is billed as being accessible for children as young as 5. “Cinderella” is at 3:30 p.m. July 15 at Veda Zuponcic Auditorium, Mesabi East, Aurora; and 3:30 p.m. July 17 at the Discovery Center Amphitheater, Chisholm.
Tickets at northernlightsmusic.org.
Kirsten Aune fashions (Submitted photo)
Creative fashion showcase
A fashion show with pieces by Northland creatives Kirsten Aune, Candace LaCosse, Hattie Peterson and Mary Matthews will be a mix of hand-printed apparel with bold Scandinavian themes, jewelry and leather creations. The Summer 2021 Fashion Show is at 4 p.m. July 17 at the 12 North 21st Avenue West. It’s free and open to the public.
Sadkin (Submitted photo)
Bring the synth
Sadkin, a band that taps into that forever ’80s-’90s cinematic sound of synth and moody swoops, plays a single release show for its “Volterra” on Olive Bay Records/Universal Music Group. Sadkin, paloma paloma and DJ Sox play at 8:30 p.m. July 16 at Main Club, 1217 Tower Ave., Superior. Tickets: $10. It’s the first live show for Sadkin since February 2020.
