The Nightfall Concert Series continues this Friday with the baroque pop band San Fermin (pronounced Fur-MEEN), preceded by local opener Birds with Fleas.
"Presented and produced by Chattanooga Presents, Nightfall is a 19-week free outdoor concert series held every Friday at Miller Plaza and features headline performances by a broad spectrum of music performed by superior national and international artists," officials said.
San Fermin is a Brookyn-based band created by Yale graduate, Ellis Ludwig-Leone. It began as a makeshift project written on sheet music, which after being performed in a single concert in 2012, resulted in a record deal. Their self-titled debut album was subsequently released worldwide in the fall of 2013 via Downtown Records. Following rave reviews, the band was thrust into the spotlight, performing sold out shows and festivals across the world and opening for the likes of the National, St. Vincent, Arctic Monkeys, and The Head and the Heart.
Many of the songs on Jackrabbit, San Fermin’s second album, existed only on Mr. Ludwig-Leone’s laptop for the better part of a year, as he toured and turned the band into an ensemble operation. “The first record was written in a very pre-composed way, recorded when I didn’t think this would be a band. So I went from being this isolated composer guy to sitting in the back of a crowded van with seven other band members playing shows in rock clubs every night,” he says. “When I got back, I ripped these holes in the middle of the existing songs and added some new ones. I rethought everything I had been writing.”
Now an eight-piece touring enterprise, San Fermin treats its audience to a full-bodied, sweeping pop sound that incorporates thematic connections and undercurrents of contemporary classical influences.
The Chattanooga-based band Birds With Fleas will open this week’s Nightfall show at 7 p.m. Two years after their founding in 2012, the band decided to amp up their mellow sound to go toward a more energetic acoustic pop show. Incorporating their signature ukulele and banjo alongside electric guitar and synthesizers has created a broad landscape for this band, now known for its more danceable tunes. Having performed at Nightfall as an opener in 2013, Birds with Fleas is anxious to premiere their new material and new sound this Friday.
Due to popular demand, Nightfall is bringing back the beverage ticket system this week. People will get their ID checked, get a wristband, and pay for tickets inside the Waterhouse Pavilion. There will also be an "ID Only" station outside, next to the bars where you redeem your tickets in the street. Nightfall Discount Beverage Cards can still be used, will still be sold and will still be the only option for discount pricing throughout the season. These cards offer a 20% savings on drink purchases. They will be available for purchase inside the pavilion at the ticket lines.
Food trucks and non-alcoholic drink concessions are also available on site. No outside food or beverages are allowed to be brought in to Nightfall.
This free family-friendly concert series is made possible this year thanks to corporate sponsors. Support comes from Shock Top, Fletcher Bright Company, Kelly Cars, EPB Fiber Optics, Sugarlands Distilling Co., ChattanoogaNow. River City Company, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Big River Grille, Warehouse Row, Southern Honda Powersports, and UTC, with media support from WDEF News 12 and NPR/Music 88.1.
For more information on this free community concert series, call 423-265-0771 or visit NightfallChattanooga.com for a complete, interactive website that includes music samples by each headliner, as well as other important information for first-time attendees.