Concerts in the Park will return with the powerhouse Los Angeles band Incendio, bringing world guitar grooves to the stage at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, at Ober Park.
Vashon local Matthew Rieger will open the free concert with music influenced by Greenwich Village poetry, the golden years of the Laurel Canyon rebellion, and the honesty of Appalachian string band music.
Concerts in the Park, held every Thursday night in August, gathers the community for free outdoor music performances. All the shows are held in Ober Park, located between the Vashon Public Library and the Vashon Park District, where the park’s grassy berms provide ideal natural amphitheater seating.
The concert on Aug. 8 will mark Incendio’s first visit back to Vashon since they last performed at Concerts in the Park in 2013.
The band features guitar playing across a variety of genres, including Latin, Middle East, and Celtic music. Formed in 1999, the group has 11 CDs and two DVDs available internationally, variously hitting the Billboard, CMJ, NAV, and Amazon.com charts.
Averaging over 150 shows a year since 2000, until the COVID shutdown, the band’s live performance is an “explosive improvisatory journey,” according to Pete Welch, of Vashon Events, the musical curator of the concert series. They’ve played such venues as the Sundance Film Festival, the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., the California World Festival, the national Levitt Pavilions, and many more stages across the U.S. and abroad.
Incendio’s 11th international release, “Summoning the Muse,” came out in June 2019. Their previous release, June 2013’s “The Shape of Dreams”, stayed at or near the top of the Amazon flamenco and world charts for the remainder of that year. They have reached over 110 million spins on streaming radio, and their music can be heard on Pandora, Spotify, and other streaming outlets.
To learn more about the band visit incendioband.com. Find out more about the opening act for the show at matthewriegermusic.com.
Don’t have time to make dinner? Don’t worry, Iyad’s Syrian Grill will be at the park for this and other shows in the Concerts in the Park series. Bring the family, as there’s plenty of grassy space to spread out picnic blankets and soak in the music on a warm summer night. But leave your dog at home — they are not allowed in Ober Park. Alcohol and smoking are also not permitted.
Reggae legend Clinton Fearon opened the Concerts in the Park series on Aug. 1, to packed crowds. Following Incendio’s show on Aug 8, Adrian & Meredith, a duo playing folk and Americana music, will take the stage on Aug. 15. The Jewel Tones, a Motown group, will play on Aug. 22. Trolls Cottage, playing their trademark blend of world and island roots music, will close the series on Aug. 29.
Upcoming artists in Vashon Events’ “New Voices” program, showcasing emerging talent in the Vashon music scene as show openers, will include Matthew Rieger on Aug. 8. Subsequent concerts will feature Colette and Shawn Jones; Starbird Road (Maya Battisti and Cassie Paetkau); and Natasha Popova.
To find out more, visit vashonevents.org.
