Lowell – The Mill City’s multi-day celebration of music and art, The Town and The City Festival (TACF), kicks off this coming Thursday April 24th through Saturday April 26th.
The sixth annual edition of The Town and the City Festival takes place in event spaces, bars, cafes, and galleries throughout downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. The festival celebrates the spirit of Jack Kerouac in direct and indirect ways. It is named after Kerouac’s earliest novel which was primarily set in this historic mill city. The Town and The City Festival is inspired by the creativity and exploration for which the author was so famously known and presents a diverse mix of musical genres and artistic disciplines to inspire discovery and to celebrate a love of life.
Ten acts have been added to the line-up including Hannah Connolly as well as New England- based artists, The Evolutionists, Elsa Kennedy, Barefoot Young, Joanne the Band, Bobbo Byrnes, Knock Over City, The Infinite Wet Secret, Kingshot, and Main Era.
“We’ve got a very diverse line-up of musical acts this year,” said Festival founder Chris Porter. “It’s always been a point of emphasis that the Festival showcase New England based talent alongside national acts, and we’re proud that more than half of this year’s artists are home-grown.”
Taking the stage at Taffeta on Thursday for the kick-off concert featuring three Indie Rock acts are Lady Lamb, Ezra Furman, and Class President
Things get into full swing on Friday with eight shows spread across downtown Lowell. The Sheila Divine, Heretix, and The Dear Abbeys take over Taffeta; The Infinite Wet Secret, and Lake Saint Daniel play The Worthen Cafe; and Warp & Weft rocks with Ali McGurk and Melo Green. At Christ Church United, festival-attendees can listen to singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault, along with Americana band Twisted Pine, and up and coming music artist Maya DeVitry. Koto will host Night Visions, Lovina Falls, Fizzpaste, and The Shallows.
Friday night’s shows also feature Kid Renaissance, Dom the Composer, and Main Era at Smokehouse Tavern; The Peacocks, Dead Vapor, Oddie and Stay at Home Dads at The Old Court; and last but not least Thirsty First features The Freqs, The PA’s, Kingshot, and Knock Over City.
Venue hopping will be in full swing on Saturday with 13 different shows on the docket, Things get an early rockin’ start with afternoon shows at Taffeta with Couch and Lekha & Friends; Thirsty First with The Chelsea Curve, Girl with a Hawk, and The Deluxe Fiasco; Rocking Horse Music Club and Bobbo Byrnes will be at Warp and Weft; and The Worthen Café will be the place to find indie rockers Roaches, Ron’s Car, and Paint by Numbers.
Two free all ages shows are also on Saturday’s schedule, with singer-songwriters Julia James, Hazel Adeline, and John David, performing at Brew’d Awakening’s Outdoor Stage starting at 3pm (indoors pending weather); and at 7pm The Music of Words at Lala Books features poets Kevin McLellan & Carrie Bennett who will read from their published works and sign books, and music by Joanne the Band.
At Christ Church United the headliner is the legendary Loudon Wainwright III, preceded by sets from Elsa Kennedy, and Hannah Connolly.
The Big Sun, and Mold are at Koto; Warp & Weft will be groovin’ to Jake Swamp & The Pine as well as New York based Deni Bonet; and back at The Thirsty First indie rockers Senseless Optimism, Winkler, and Hilken Mancini & Melissa Gibbs will be performing.
The Evolutionists take over The Lass Stop with Debo Ray; and Comedy at Cobblestones presents a line-up of New England’s finest comedians, including Frank Santorelli, Kristin O’Brien, Greg Boggis, Steve Albert and Katie Coughlin.
The Old Court will rock with Caesura, The Ghouls, Gross Girls and Escape Durgin; and blindspot, Barefoot Young, and goodkarma will be on Smokehouse Tavern’s stage.
“It’s always exciting for me to bring the festival back to my hometown,” said Festival founder Chris Porter. “Lowell is such a great place for this kind of event; it’s a very walkable town so venue hopping is very easy to do. Kerouac said, ‘The only truth is music,’ and the festival gives music lovers a lot of truth to enjoy.”
The Town & The City Festival takes place at more than a dozen venues throughout downtown Lowell, including Taffeta (at Western Ave. Studios), Zorba Music Hall, Warp & Weft, Christ Church United, Stewart Hall at Christ Church United, The Old Court, The Thirsty First , The Worthen Cafe, Smokehouse Tavern, lala Books, Brew’d Awakening, Cobblestones, Koto, and a brand new venue called The Lass Stop.
The Town and the City Festival is produced by Porter Productions with support from the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, and the Lowell Cultural Council.
For more information, please visit TheTownandtheCityFestival.com
*Performance schedule and artists are subject to change*
One response to “The Town & The City Festival Kicks off Thursday”
WooHoo! So excited to be in town for this show. I’ll be at Warp and Weft at 3 pm on Saturday.
I’m local as in born and raised in Billerica but now live in SoCal by Disneyland.
Please stop by, throw me a heckle or an attaboy. My mom will be in the audience so keep it clean.
xo