Normal sounds really good. The summertime music tradition, Live at Lakeview, returns with five shows. The headline and opening bands are revealed this morning by On Course Events.
- Live at Lakeview
- Thursdays, 4:30-8:30 p.m.
- Lakeview Commons, South Lake Tahoe
Aug. 5 — Boot Juice, Preacher’s Pickers (River rock and mountain blues)
Aug. 12 — Vokab Kompany, Mic Smith (Soul, electro, funk)
Aug. 19 — 40 Watt Hype, The Connor Party (Latin, reggae, rock)
Aug. 26 — The Sextones, Buenos Diaz (Soul, indie rock)
Sept. 2 – J Ras & The Higher Elevation, Tahoe Tribe, False Rhythms (Reggae, rock)
“After a year and a half of not being able to produce concerts for our community, it’s a beautiful thing to see live music making a comeback,” Director of Marketing Leslie Schultz said. “The continued support we’ve received from our event sponsors and vendors has made this season of events possible. We are so grateful for this community and excited to provide free shows on the beach once again.”
The free concert series began in 2012. It typically opens on the first Thursday of summer and concludes with a locally flavored show around Labor Day. The event is especially popular with longtime South Lake Tahoe residents who have lamented attention and resources spent on the downtown Casino Corridor. Although Live at Lakeview draws crowds of out-of-towners, it also brings out the neighbors. Each week is a celebration, and the Aug. 5 opener figures to be an extraordinary reunion.
Here’s a look at the bands:
Aug. 5: Live at Lakeview’s elusive 84th show is headlined by Boot Juice, a seven-piece folk band with a horn section, three-part harmonies, lead singer Jessica Stoll and dual guitarists. Connor Herdt is influenced by Tommy Emmanuel, so expect the musicianship to be top notch. With former ski patrollers from Sierra-at-Tahoe in the headlining band, it’s only fitting to have Preacher’s Picking, featuring the one and only Mr. John Rice on guitar.
Aug. 12: The opening band of the 2019 season, Vokab Kompany is a San Diego band with close ties to South Lake Tahoe. Founding members Robbie Gallo, aka Rob Hurt (MC/vocals), Matt Burke, aka Burkey Baby, met in Tahoe in the mid-1990s and started the band in 2006.
Aug. 19: Formed from backyard jams in Fresno in the early 2000s, 40 Watt Hype features congas, keyboards and conscious messages. It had been scheduled to play Live at Lakeview in 2020. “Our sound really tries to encapsulate the environment that we’re from,” founding member Aaron Wall said. “We have a lot of hip-hop, a lot of Latino influences. We kind of take the urban setting of Fresno and the West Coast in general and try to encapsulate that sound.”
Aug. 26: Live at Lakeview is not just a reunion for the audience. The Sextones will play together for one of the few occasions since its 2019 show here. Reno natives Mark Sexton, Alex Korostinsky and Dan Weiss have been friends since middle school. Sexton and Korostinsky recently released an album by their band Whatitdo. Weiss is a member of Seattle’s national and internationally touring band the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. But up first for the Sextones will be a July show at Reno’s Artown.
Sept. 2: The last band to play a Live at Lakeview show, J Ras & The Higher Elevation, will play the final event of 2021. A veteran of the Vans Warped Tour, this group plays uplifting, high-energy irie shows. In 2019 produced a music video, “Crash Down,” filmed at Lake Tahoe. A lavish opening accoutrement will be Tahoe Tribe, led by acoustic guitarist Vincenzo Thomas Amato.
