11 things to do in the Wilmington area this weekend: concerts, comedy, festivals and more
It's Juneteenth AND Father's Day this weekend, so lots of important things to celebrate.
Just a heads up: We've done a separate story listing all the Juneteenth events in the Wilmington area, and there's a ton: festivals at the MLK Center and New Hanover County Arboretum; a fashion show; an art exhibit; a gospel brunch; and even a storytelling event.
For all of your Juneteenth info, click the story link below. For everything else — and, it's summer in Wilmington, so it's busy — read on for info about the N.C. Blueberry Festival in Burgaw, big concerts at Live Oak Bank Pavilion downtown and much more.
More: Juneteenth events: Wilmington celebrating 'not only emancipation but also Black culture'
More: Full list of outdoor summer concerts in Wilmington, plus Brunswick and Pender counties
ALL WEEKEND
N.C. Blueberry Festival
Downtown Burgaw: The Pender County town of Burgaw's annual celebration of that sweet little superfood returns this weekend with live music, a very competitive recipe contest and, of course, lots and lots of blueberries.
Adding even more flavor to this year's event? Burgaw is getting national attention as the setting for quirky Fox comedy "Welcome to Flatch," which films in the town and was recently renewed for a second season.
Things start Friday with a barbecue cook-off and judging of the festival's famous recipe contest, with live music in the town square starting at 5 p.m. Regionally touring beach band Gary Lowder and Smokin' Hot plays at 7 p.m.
Saturday is the festival's big day, with an early morning 5k, a car show, model train show, a magic show, beer and wine garden, kids' activities, BMX bike demos, Burgaw's own Cripple Creek Cloggers dance troupe and even a pie-eating contest.
Live music all day as well, with legendary beach music band The Tams taking the stage at 4 p.m.
June 17-18, for full schedule go to NCBlueberryFestival.com.
More: Follow the blueberries: How a Pender County tradition marries farming and tourism
More: One Wilmington-shot TV show is canceled, but another is renewed
'School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play'
Thalian Hall Studio Theatre: Plays that tell the stories of Black women are staged all too rarely in Wilmington, so Big Dawg Productions' opening of "School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play" by Jocelyn Bioh at Thalian Hall this week automatically feels like a long-overdue celebration.
The play is a trenchant comedy about girls attending an exclusive boarding school in the West African nation of Ghana, and about one girl in particular, Paulina (Addison Hamlet), whose goal is to get into the Miss Global Universe pageant. But when a smart, talented American student named Erika (Hallie-Claire Weems) enrolls in the school and impresses a pageant recruiter, she becomes a target of the threatened Paulina and her friends. Mean Girls, activate!
The play's director is Wilmington writer and actor Fracaswell Hyman. He said that after doing several plays by August Wilson, aka The Black Shakespeare, whose works tend to have limited roles for women, Big Dawg wanted to offer a play with quality parts for Black actresses.
"There is a pool of talent here that has not been explored, or welcomed really," Hyman said, something that staging this play should help remedy.
He said that, even though the play is set in Africa, its themes should be very familiar to Black American women. They include an exploration of the imposing beauty standards that can lead to heavy spending on such products as hair straighteners or extensions.
"Even in African-American culture, the European aesthetic is given a high bar," Hyman said. "I think we're still getting to the idea of looking at the natural beauty of Black people in their own right."
"What it comes down to," he added, is that "we think we need these things to be loved."
A compelling observation to consider, in between laughs of course, while watching "School Girls."
7:30 p.m. June 16-18 and 23-25, 3 p.m. June 19 and 26. $34. 910-632-2285.
John Hastings
At Dead Crow Comedy Room: This Canadian stand-up comic playing two shows downtown this weekend was once heckled by none other than basketball legend/American eccentric Dennis Rodman. Hastings lived to tell about it, so do your worst, Wilmington! Just kidding, of course. Hastings has been in the comedy game for nearly two decades, and you might've seen him on "America's Got Talent," when he performed to an empty audience during the depths of the pandemic. Rodman won't be at the Dead Crow this weekend (as far as we know), and there will actually be people in the seats, so things are already looking up.
7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. June 17-18. $18-$28.
'The Winter's Tale'
At Hugh Morton/Greenfield Lake Amphitheater: Cape Fear Shakespeare on the Green continues its 29th season of free summer Shakespeare at Greenfield Lake with this complex comedy, one of the Bard's perhaps lesser-known works.
It's the story of the insanely jealous King Leontes of Sicily (Jason Corder), who accuses his pregnant wife, Hermione (Aisling Stegmuller), of adultery with his childhood friend. Leontes does something rash, but then the story skips ahead 16 years to explore the far-flung fallout of the king's actions.
StarNews reviewer Bob Workmon says the cast has "every cause to feel good about the overall effect" of the production.
8 p.m. June 17-19 and 22-23, rain or shine. Admission is free, with donations accepted. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Concessions available, picnics allowed.
More: 29th year of free summer Shakespeare in Wilmington is a win with 'The Winter's Tale'
THURSDAY
Color Temperature
At Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern: Wilmington indie rockers Color Temperature play an album release show for new record "Me Talk Pretty," which so full of bops that some of its songs have started to pop up on widely followed Spotify playlists. Deservedly so, because frontman/songwriter Ross Page's songs are glittery, multi-faceted gems that shine an introspective light on that beautiful, many-headed beast we call "relationships." Page is also the drummer for some half-dozen Wilmington bands, including dream pop outfit Lauds, who fill out the bill along with fellow Wilmington indie rock stalwart Billy Heathen. 7 p.m. June 16, $15.
FRIDAY
Maren Morris
At Live Oak Bank Pavilion: You'd think that with 13 Grammy nominations (and one win) to her credit, Texas-born singer and songwriter Maren Morris wouldn't have to justify her country music bona fides. Her latest album, "Humble Quest" — which includes the banger "Circles Around This Town" and blends country with pop, rock, R&B and other styles to wonderful effect — debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard country charts, after all.
But some so-called country music fans have called those bona fides into question (check out my Maren Morris story posted to the StarNews Facebook page, the comments are vitriolic). Not because of her music so much, but because she's had the temerity to speak her mind on political issues (something that doesn't seem to be an issue for say, Toby Keith or Brantley Gilbert), including voting for Joe Biden and her support for Black Lives Matter and Black country artists, or because she dared to pose topless for Playboy. She seems to have a talent for triggering the "shut up and sing" crowd.
It's almost like the Dixie Chicks all over again, except this time Morris seems to be weathering the storm and taking the attacks in stride. Ironically, there's very little if anything in her songs that feels polarizing, especially on "Humble Quest," which was largely inspired by the birth of her son and includes heartfelt songs sung with both humor ("Tall Guys") and unconditional love (the tender "Hummingbird," which is about the son). 8 p.m. June 17, tickets start at $39.
More: Rising country singer Maren Morris brings stirring 'Humble Quest' songs to Wilmington
Kicking Bird and Jphono1
At Bourgie Nights: The Chapel Hill musician and songwriter John Harrison, known for his indie rock outfit North Elementary and his psych/folk/rock solo project Jphono1, has some history with Wilmington.
He lived here for most of the '90s, attending UNCW and playing in various bands, including Emily's Porch, before moving and becoming a staple of the Triangle scene. There, he's the go-to opener for North Carolina legends The Connells, who he's accompanied on many a tour.
"They keep asking me to play," Harrison said. "If you'd told me that when I was freshman at UNCW, I'd have been like, 'Oh, come on.'"
Harrison has always made regular forays back to Wilmington, however, and on Friday he'll play here for the first time since 2019, sharing a bill (as Jphono1) with incendiary Wilmington rock/pop act Kicking Bird.
He'll be playing in support of his latest record, "Rectify Mercy," his fourth album in the past two years. Safe to say the pandemic didn't stunt Harrison's creativity.
"I can't imagine not playing music," Harrison said. "I keep waiting to not want to share as much or not wanting go out and play, but I still love getting out there."
Asked how it feels to be an elder of the North Carolina scene 30 years after he first started playing, Harrison chuckles and says, "I don't view myself that way."
Rather, his longevity is tied to his belief that making music is "the most important thing I could be doing."
In Jphono1, Harrison marries his love of structured songwriting with his more experimental leanings, blending moods and styles or deconstructing arrangements just to build them back up again.
Or, he'll just pull out an anthemic, blissed-out psych-rock gem like "You Are a Kingdom," from the new album, a tune that washes over and envelops you and begs to be played at top volume.
"I just like all kinds of music, I'm constantly seeking it out," Harrison said. "I feel like back in the day, with bands like the Beastie Boys or Beck, there used to be more sonic experimentation. It doesn't always work, but I like to try to see (what happens) when you smash different things together."
9 p.m. June 17, $10.
More: Rock band Kicking Bird emerges from pandemic as one of Wilmington's most potent live acts
SATURDAY
The Black Crowes
At Live Oak Bank Pavilion: Longtime soul and rock outfit The Black Crowes have been shaking their money makers for more than three decades now. In 2019 the band reunited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Shake Your Money Maker" album that brought them to fame on the strength of such hits as "Twice as Hard" and "She Talks to Angels." Pandemic aside, they've been touring ever since. Frontman Chris Robinson has played Wilmington in the past with his jammy Chris Robinson Brotherhood outfit, but Saturday will mark the first-ever Wilmington concert for The Black Crowes.
7:30 p.m., tickets start at $32.
SUNDAY
Amuzu Film Festival
At the Amuzu Theatre: Technically, it's the Solstice by the Sea Short Film Fest, and it's being held at Southport's historic Amuzu Theatre, which started life as a movie theater in 1918 and these days hosts plays, concerts, film screenings and more. The festival of 10 short films is sponsored by the Amuzu and the Brunswick Arts Council, and film topics include the story of women who helped slaves to freedom as part of North Carolina's 19th century Underground Railroad, and a look at the history of rice production in Brunswick County, which was done by enslaved Gullah Gechee people from West Africa in the 1800s. 3-6 p.m. June 19, tickets are $20.
More: This historic Southport theater harbors ghosts of the past while dreaming of the future
Dad jokes
There are two — count 'em — two Wilmington comedy shows dedicated to dads this Father's Day. At the Dead Crow Comedy Room on North Third Street, the Kong & Kicks Father's Day Show will celebrate both dad and the Juneteenth holiday with a variety of comics starting at 8 p.m. ($20-$30).
Over at the Sorrow Drowner tiki bar experience at 10th and Dock streets, you can have a mai tai with your comedy from 6-9 p.m. during the Sunday night Stand-Up for Dads event ($15), featuring Wilmington comics Louis Bishop, Billy Raim, MT Bottles and Matt White. Added bonus: prizes for best audience dad joke and best-dressed dad.
Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Concerts, comedy, festivals and things to do: Wilmington NC June 16-19
