The festive football fun starts at noon with Mayor Robert Jackson opening the event. Montclair’s own opera diva, soprano Mia Riker-Norrie from the Opera Theater of Montclair, will sing the national anthem.
State champs Montclair High School Mounties football team and cheerleaders will be joined by Pop Warner teams and cheering squads for a victory chant.
There will be plenty of activities for kids of all ages: South Park Street will have a football-themed video game truck and a bouncy-bounce, and in Claridge Theater Commons kids can enjoy sandart, spinart, and face painting. Magician Joe Fischer will stroll throughout the area performing magic tricks.
Center Stage will entertain festival-goers with a variety of music throughout the day. Enjoy performances from some of the area’s most popular groups: pop rock band Justina Valentine & The LoveHaterz, Cajun-zydeco-country group Big Mamou, and Montclair High School a capella singers Passing Notes.
Some of Montclair’s top restaurants — Escape, Indigo Smoke and HLS Juice Bar and Grill — will offer tasty treats for purchase.
Club Crawl – Free Music, Free Shuttle
Enjoy the music of your favorite local bands at some of Montclair’s most popular venues – all in a single evening and all for free. The Montclair 2014 Big Game Winter Festival will hold an evening Club Crawl on Saturday, February 1 — seven locations, each hosting one of seven (or more) bands.
Musicians will perform four 30-minute sets beginning at 7:00 p.m. with subsequent sets starting at the top of the hour. Start your club crawl at any one of the venues listed below and move on to whichever spot may next strike your fancy.
A free shuttle will make three scheduled loops, stopping at designated venues, so you can hop from one performance to the next.
Participating venue and artist information listed below:
Black Lace Blues
The Office Beer Bar & Grill
619 Bloomfield Avenue
Black Lace Blues perform an eclectic mix of blues, rock, funk and reggae original music and selective cover songs. Musicians: Bruce Tyler, drums; Brian Feldman, guitar, lead vocals; Max McMahon, bass; Larry ‘The Lip’ Lipscultz, harmonica; and Hilly Ephros, keyboards.
Denise Hamilton
Egan & Sons
116 Walnut Street
Montclair native Denise Hamilton performs an electrifying array of jazz standards and smooth R&B selections. Hamilton is known for her powerful, sultry voice and captivating singing style. She has performed throughout the tri-state area including NYC’s legendary Blue Note, Cecil’s Jazz Club and Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza Casino.
Meg Beattie Patrick & Billy Tanglewood
Trend Coffee House & Tea Room
411 Bloomfield Avenue
Meg Beattie Patrick and Billy Tanglewood have played in many bands and ensembles over the years, performing original songs and covers in NYC area clubs. Billy Tanglewood has performed at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and was a headliner at the Boonton River Jam. Their genres include rock, jazz, folk and soul. Meg and Billy now collaborate as a duo and have been the featured artists at popular local venues including two house concert series — Notes From Home and Café ZED. Most recently they have performed at Hat City Kitchen, Tierney’s, Trumpets, Java Love, Church Street and Trend Coffee and Tea House.
Amy Beshara & Max Carmichael
12 West Restaurant & Bar
275 Bellevue Avenue
Fiddler Amy Beshara and multi-instrumentalist Max Carmichael are Jersey born and raised. Together they play traditional and original acoustic folk music in the Celtic and American Old Timey styles (with a few other world traditions sprinkled in.)
The Fabulous Flemtones
Just Jake’s
30 Park Street
The Fabulous Flemtones are Billy Karcher (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Andy McGuire (guitar, vocals), Tim Engle (bass, vocals) and Orlando Staton (drums, percussion) have been playing together for over two and a half decades. The popular Montclair band has been the Tierney’s Tavern “house band” playing regular monthly gigs there since the late 80s.
Dr. Equalizer, Jay Mickens, Bronze Thesaurus
InsaniTea
570 Bloomfield Avenue
Dr. Equalizer describes himself a “scientist who just happens to be an artist.” His influences are the electronic music projects of bands such as Art of Noise and Fantomas, the hip hop MC of Wu-Tang Clan, and thrash bands like Slayer. Dr. Equalizer takes electronic music and weaves its compositions into the fabric of jazz, rock, and world music, molding the instrumentalist and DJ into one.
Singer/songwriter Jay Mickens found most of his musical inspiration seven years ago from Jimi Hendrix, and has been rockin’ on his guitar ever since. His other influences include Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, and Damien Rice.
Charlie Jones Trio
DLV Lounge
300 Bloomfield Avenue
Guitarist and songwriter Charlie Jones has been a mainstay of the tri-state club scene since the 1970’s and has appeared with many top jazz and R&B greats, including Bettye Lavette, Big John Patton, Illinois Jaquette, Jimmy McGriff, Bernard Purdie, Jesse Morrison, Larry Young, and Lonnie Youngblood. He’s performed in the Jimi Hendrix Alumni Band with Randy California, Buddy Miles and Larry Coryell; accompanied singer Tiny Tim and was a cast member on the Uncle Floyd Show, sitting in regularly for guitarist Jimmy Vivino. Charlie also recently performed at the Joni Mitchell Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall with Bettye Lavette.
For more information on the Montclair 2014 Big Game Winter Festival visit www.Montclair2014.com. Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Montclair2014 and follow us on Twitter: @Montclair2014.
Oh. I thought this was a pix of a few B-net commenters. Prof. circa 1993, third from left.
This is a great idea but I wonder why there wasn’t more advertising of these events earlier? I just found out about it this last week. Montclair does have some good events but somehow they think all they need to do is let people know about it a week in advance.
Also, how can Indigo Smoke offer tasty treats for purchase when the restaurant is closed and has been for some time?
“Enjoy the music of your favorite local bands…”
I’m really not being snarky but want to know–does ANYONE know any of these “favorite local bands?” I’m not familiar with any of them and I pay attention to the local music scene.
Hereiaminn….That’s because B’net crosses two parallel universes. You just slipped into the opposite one. Must be the low pressure system hovering amongst us.
If you aren’t familiar with Black Lace Blues’ drummer Bruce Tyler, Meg Beattie Patrick or the Fabulous Flemtones you aren’t being totally attentive to the local music scene.
I second Howard’s comments. These are folks who have been playing in our area for some years now.
Sounds like fun! Thanks for posting this!
Claremont: Chef Lance Knowling of Indigo Smoke does marvelous catering. He has participated in several foodie events since the restaurant closed.
https://www.indigosmoke.com/#!chef-lance