Elvis will take the stage at the North Syracuse Family Festival, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Lonergan Park, off Route 11.
Local vocalist Tom Gilbo portrays the King of Rock’n’Roll as his band, The Blue Suedes, provides the backbeat. Also performing will be the Skaneateles Community Band.
The festival features arts and crafts, a wide array of food, a dunk tank, inflatable games and face-painting for kids. Admission is free; 458-1970.
Pro Baseball: Chiefs return home
After a week-long road-trip in Ohio, the Syracuse Chiefs return to the North Side’s Alliance Bank Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24, to face the Columbus Clippers. International League games are also scheduled at ABS at 7 p.m. May 25-26, and at 6:30 p.m. May 27. In honor of Memorial Day, the May 27 game will be followed by fireworks.
Columbus is the top farm team of the American League’s Cleveland Indians while the Chiefs are affiliated with the Washington Nationals.
Field-level ticket prices at ABS range from $9 to $20, while upper-deck seats cost $8, and $4 for kids and seniors. Parking costs $5 per vehicle; 474-7833.
Music: Dinosaurs at Dinosaur
American roots rock and blues music rings out as usual this weekend at the world-famous Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, in downtown Syracuse.
First the Massachusetts-based reggae-funk band Spiritual Rez plugs in at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24, then Ontario County’s Violet Mary featuring vocalist Mel Mel Muscarella makes its debut at 10 p.m. Friday, May 25. On Saturday night, May 26, the CXTec Dinosaurs play the Dinosaur, while Captain Howdy holds forth outside in the Boneyard from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 27.
The Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is at 246 W. Willow St., at the corner of North Franklin Street. Admission is free and the food is Dixie-fried; 476-4937.
Bronzettis at Sitrus Friday
Guitarist Tom Bronzetti and his sister, singer Alicia Bronzetti, will team up on a set of jazz standards and show tunes from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 25, at Sitrus on the Hill, at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel.
Last year, Bronzetti released his debut disc, “Make Someone Happy” which features tunes such as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Jet Stream” and “London Blues.”
CNY Jazz Central hosts the Friday-evening series called Jazz @ Sitrus which continues June 1 and June 15.
The Sheraton University Hotel is located at 801 University Ave., on the SU Hill; admission is free; 475-3000.
Banjo bodhisattva
One of the world’s most dynamic banjo players, Syracuse native Tony Trischka, returns to his roots for a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at the Westcott Community Center.
Last year Trischka – who now lives in Fair Lawn, N.J. – produced Steve Martin’s disc, “Rare Bird Alert,” which features performances by Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks. Trischka’s most recent record was 2008’s “Territory,” a 20-track disc which showcases Tony playing both a “John Henry” medley and a Celtic medley.
Trischka’s ability to write captivating melodies perfectly suited for the banjo coupled with his unrivaled knowledge of banjo history and technique have inspired a whole generation of progressive acoustic musicians. In 2011 Tony acted as the musical director of the documentary “Give Me the Banjo,” which aired on PBS.
Admission to Saturday’s concert cost $17 or $15 for WCC members. The center is located at 826 Euclid Ave., at the corner of Westcott Street, on the city’s East Side; 478 -8634; folkus.org.
Dirty Dozen at Westcott
They’re called the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but this New Orleans combo is actually an octet. The Dirty Dozen will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at the Westcott Theater, 524 Westcott St., on Syracuse’s East Side. Admission costs $15; 424-4973.
Founded in 1977 by bass drummer Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band, Dirty Dozen revolutionized the brass-band style by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans style. Current members include trumpeters Gregory Davis and Efrem Towns, saxophonists Roger Lewis and Kevin Harris, guitarist Jake Eckery and sousaphonist Kirk Joseph.
The Dirty Dozen is touring in support of its 35th anniversary disc, “Twenty Dozen,” which includes tunes such as “Paul Barbarin’s Second Line,” “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In” and “Paint It Black.”
Well-bred duo
Husband-and-wife acoustic duo Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion boast persuasive progressive pedigrees. Sarah Lee is the daughter of folksinger Arlo Guthrie and granddaughter of iconic American songwriter Woody Guthrie. Irion’s grand-uncle is the author John Steinbeck.
Guthrie and Irion will perform tunes from their 2011 disc, “Bright Examples,” when they take the main stage at the Sterling Stage Kampitheater’s Folkfest at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 26, in Sterling.
The eighth annual Folkfest gets underway at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 24, and continues through the early-morning hours of Monday, May 28. More than two dozen bands will perform on three stages at the cozy campground at 274 Kent Road in Sterling, located near Lake Ontario in Northern Cayuga County.
Besides the Guthrie-Irion duo, performers include Cabinet, The Ryan Mountbleau Band, Twisted Folk, Free Grass Union and Lucid. Several Central NY artists are on the bill, such as Tom Barnes, the Easy ramblers, Driftwood and Charley Orlando.
Weekend passes cost $75. Day passes cost $40 on Friday and Saturday, $35 on Sunday; (818) 212-9489.
Van Norstrands at Drumlins
Multi-talented brothers Andrew and Noah Van Norstrand will perform a benefit concert for REACH CNY, from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 31, at Drumlins Country Club, 800 Nottingham Road, on Syracuse’s East Side.
REACH is a local non-profit organization which provides child and family health services including youth development and comprehensive adolescent pregnancy prevention.
The Van Norstrands – two of Upstate’s NY’s most dynamic acoustic musicians – often perform across the Northeast with the Andrew and Noah Band which just released a self-titled disc.
As a duo Andrew plays guitar while Noah doubles on fiddle and mandolin on tunes such as Noah’s “Stick Shift” and Andrews’ “Pilgrim.” They also cover a few country classics such as the traditional “Roving Gambler” and Hank Williams’ “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still in Love with You.”
Admission to next Thursday’s “friends-raiser” costs $25 and that includes access to picnic food stations; 420-2686.
Film: Cagney in his prime
One of James Cagney’s best early films, “G-Men,” will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 4, as the Syracuse Cinephile Society continues its spring film series at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 689 N. Clinton St., near Syracuse’s Inner Harbor.
In Monday’s movie Cagney portrays a street-wise lawyer who becomes an FBI agent to avenge a pal’s death. Also starring are Ann Dvorak, Margaret Lindsay, Robert Armstrong and Lloyd Nolan.
On June 11, the Cinephile Society concludes the spring series with “College Swing,” a 1938 comedy starring Gracie Allen as a scatterbrained co-ed.
Admission costs $3.50, or $3 for Cinephile members. For dinner reservations, call Spaghetti Warehouse at 475-1807.
