Published in the August 6 – 19, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mark Fenichel
Mark Fenichel
A visit to the Chris & Friends Open Mic last Wednesday at GVA Café proved to me that the music scene is growing. Not only was there a packed house but also a long line of high quality musicians eagerly waiting to play. This is truly a great place to enjoy live music and beer, wine and gelato, too! The people are always very nice and friendly, and the acoustics in their music area are wonderful. You can find some live music there almost every night of the week. The GVA cafe is certainly a centerpiece of the downtown music scene. Playing from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Aug. 16 at GVA are the HackJammers, a high energy quartet playing a mix of ‘80s/’90s, dance music, funk, and classic rock that gets people on their feet.
Meanwhile, across town 88 Keys is now open for lunch and dinner every day of the week with a wide variety of live music nightly. They feature high quality food at reasonable prices in a comfortable atmosphere with full bar, a new seasonal menu, and an excellent array of appetizers, delectable desserts, and smaller dishes, too. It has become a great spot to meet friends and make new ones.
HackJammers
Live bands continue to play on the street every Thursday at The Downtown Music series on Third Street and Monterey Road, plus great fruits and veggies at the Downtown Farmers Market. The sponsors banners show the great support from the community for live music. Please support those sponsors so we can continue to have live music every summer. You can sit outside and have dinner at Trail Dust BBQ, Ladera Grill or Betto’s Bistro and hear the music.
The Friday night music series is in full swing with huge crowds and opening acts followed by many of the top bands in the Bay Area … and it is all free compliments of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and the wonderful sponsors that support the event.
It was a real thrill to perform as the opening act with Randy Sauro in front of the crowd that came out to see Sugadady last week. I am looking forward to performing at the Taste of Morgan Hill the last weekend of September.
So many bands and so many different stages packed with music both days. Watch for a fully detailed sneak peek of all the Taste of Morgan Hill music in a future issue soon.
Many great shows coming to Morgan Hill this month with ARTTEC producing the Festival of The Arts in and around downtown.
The majority of the big shows will be at the Downtown Amphitheater including “Music For Heroes” with proceeds helping fallen heroes and their families featuring the Eddie Money tribute with some surprise guests and name bands including an appearance by Kiefer Sutherland and his band ZZ Lightfoot as well as Davey Pattison and his newest version of his former boss (the late Ronnie Montrose) band “Gamma” Aug. 16.
It may make sense to get your tickets now for the final FOTA concert called The Cancert, a concert for causes with “Survivor” (“Eye of the Tiger”) and other acts on Aug. 30. For all the details and tickets go to www.fotafest.com and check out our story in this issue.
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On another note, The Trail Dust continues to provide live blues, roots and folk music to go along with their outstanding barbecue on Friday nights. And when driving to Gilroy, you really should visit their BBQ 152 location offering live music every other Friday as a bonus to go with their fantastic brisket, pulled pork and rib dinners.
