If you’re thinking that Labor Day weekend came quickly, you would be correct. Monday is the first day of September, making this holiday the absolute earliest it can be. Sooner or later, fast or slow, it’s all relatively in the time zone that we occupy so let’s see what’s going on.
Thursday’s lineup includes among the usual suspects, a special comeback show by Buckhart Road at Sangamo Brewing Co. in Chatham. Fast friends and fellow singing, songwriting musicians Marty Morris and Tom Beverly do their dynamic duo for the first time in a while, bringing back familiar tunes and introducing a few new ones.
Friday officially kicks off the holiday weekend and the beginning of the end of the summer season. With weather predicted to be more like mid-fall for the next several days, I will go out on the proverbial limb and predict outdoor events will be highly attended and richly enjoyed by a whole bunch of people. Why not start with Craig Russo’s Latin Project at the pleasantly designed outdoor stage area at Boone’s? The long-running project by the well-versed and well-played, internationally traveled percussionist has been home to various musicians through the years with the present lineup featuring Jason Brewer (trumpet), Adrian Russo (piano), Craig Russo (drums, congas), Jeff Magby (drums, congas) and Toby Curtright (bass) for an astoundingly incredible group of players.
For more outdoor stuff, look for Not Petty popping into Dockside Grill, OAT relaxing in George Rank’s beer garden, Hippies of the Heartland peacing out at The Railyard and Chris Camp and John Drake playing the blues at Buzz Bomb. More action held out of doors include Exit 52 ramping up at The Tipsy Toad on Dirksen Parkway, The Meerkats cruising cool into Locals in Pawnee, The Collective crossing over at Long Bridge out past the airport, Stone Cold Cowboys riding the north end range at Weebles and Satellite revolving around the Curve Inn on the south side.
For area Labor Day weekend celebrations presenting a wide assortment of live music, head east to the Edinburg Labor Day Picnic (all day on Saturday and Sunday, plus Monday afternoon), south to the Raymond Celebration (Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings), north to Greenview for the Rusty Bucket’s Mini-Music Festival (Friday night, all day and evening Saturday and Sunday) and back south for the Kincaid Labor Day Picnic (Friday evening and all day and evening Saturday and Sunday) and the Auburn Labor Day Picnic (all day and evening on Saturday and Sunday with special mention of a polka dance – including lessons, if needed – Saturday noon to 2 p.m.). Now that’s a heap of live music helpings going on with all the individual acts and times available for perusal in our listings.
In downtown Springfield on Saturday, Buzz Bomb hosts the Healing Arts Festival from 2 to 10 p.m. with continuous live music (including Sister Cody and Danni hitting at 3 p.m. and Bruce Williams with Dennis Maberry and Mike Viles playing songs from Bruce’s 2023 release Bing Bong at 6 p.m., while Black Queen returns to form at 8 and Acid Fog creeps in at 9) along with health information, inspirational talks and displays by local artists.
Saturday rolls forth with nearly 50 shows listed, so let’s move on to Sunday since it’s like a second Saturday with the Monday holiday ahead. Of the 30 acts listed on our usual Funday, take notice of Rogers & Nienhaus at Trails End in Curran (always a party) and Downstate at Buckhart Tavern (these young guys get it), plus your last chance to see the amazing Dreamgirls production happens at the Hoogland at 2 p.m.
Enjoy your holiday, but don’t labor over it.
This article appears in August 28-September 3, 2025.
