Weekend Wrock heads to Whaling Days with Mojo Blues, Jr. Cadillac, Rocky Point, Joey James Dean, and the Blues Brothers, kind of.
FRIDAY
WHALING DAYS KICK OFF w/ Mojo Blues Band at the Old Town Bistro, The Warren Brothers and Jr. Cadillac on the Whaling Days main stage, starting at 5 p.m. July 25 in Old
Town Silverdale. Free.
As the street fair and beer garden ramp up near waterfront park, signaling the beginning of Silverdale’s 36th Annual Whaling Days, live blues will emanate from a martini bar and bistro halfway up the block, an illusionist will perform on the family stage in the park, and the fragrance of fried food will waft throughout.
The entirety of Old Town Silverdale becomes a hub during Whaling Days. It’s a block party for which the unincorporated town has become known.
One of the local businesses — Old Town Bistro — a wine and martini bar and bistro, located just up Byron Street from waterfront park, will be kicking things off Friday night as it features the Mojo Blues Band at 5 p.m. back by popular demand from their first Whaling Days last year.
Midway through the Mojo Blues set, around 6 p.m., the Warren Brothers, decade-old town festival juggernauts from Tacoma, will take the main stage at waterfront park. Then, at 8 p.m., Jr. Cadillac will bring their time-tested, 38-year-old Northwest rock to the stage, ushering in the Whaling Days fireworks show over Dyes Inlet as night falls.
SATURDAY
THE JOEY JAMES DEAN BAND w/ Rocky Point All Stars, Tres Hombres, 50/50, Alligators and the Surf Junkies all day long, starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Whaling Days main stage
in waterfront park,
Old Town Silverdale.
Whaling Days’ objectives, listed on the festival’s Web site www.whalingdays.com, are, first, to bring “fun family-appropriate entertainment” to the area, second to “raise audience expectation within the county” by bringing in the “finest” national, regional and local acts, and third, to recognize the audience diversity.
Organizers have got the diversity thing down. And this year, they’ve gone heavily local.
Saturday kicks off with a genre and local group both new to the festival — surf rock from The Surf Junkies, at 12:30 p.m.
Then, at 1:30 p.m., another local group new to the Whaling stage, Alligators, will go on under the afternoon sun, bringing a fresh indie style of original, complexly crafted, sing along songs. Another local group 50/50 — just a few guys who like to play music and put on a show for people — will start the swell of a classic/southern rock wave at 2:30 p.m., bolstered by one of the Northwest’s best Texas-tribute three-pieces, Tres Hombres, and Kitsap favorite bluegrass/southern-style rock and rollers, the Rocky Point All Stars at 3:45 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively.
It all culminates with a tight-knit, cover-loving, classic rock band that you’ve probably seen or at least heard before if you’ve been to Whaling Days or the Kitsap County Fair in the past couple years — the Joey James Dean Band.
They’re the quintessential festival/fair band. Classic rock, played under the night sky with Coors Light in hand. They say the Joey James Dean Band brings the best show to the stage, “period.”
Following that punctuation, a funky Seattle group called Party Safari will be jamming the beer garden on through the morning.
SUNDAY
THE NEW BLUES BROTHERS REVUE w/ Hit Sensation and the Jazz Ambassadors starting at noon Sunday on the Whaling Days main stage.
In the not-so-coveted hangover slot, local saxophonist Dave Carson brings a bit of jazz to smooth over the night before as the Jazz Ambassadors take the stage at noon.
Then another band, of which Carson is a member, Hit Sensation, will play top-40 dance favorites from yesteryears at 1:30 p.m. before the New Blues Brothers Revue brings the past to life in black fedoras and sunglasses at 3:30 p.m.
Also check out the Whaling Days bicycle rodeo at the Central Kitsap School District Administration building 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. along with Kevin Wolfe the illusionist, Buck and Elizabeth and the famous favorite J.P. Patches on the kids’ stage throughout the day.
For more info on all things Whaling Days, check out the Central Kitsap Reporter’s Whaling Days insert, or visit www.whalingdays.com.
