Join me in enjoying a jubilant journey, as we jump into the juke joints to jam and jive while juggling all kinds of music on this jewel of a juggernaut jubilee. There’s no justification for the j-sound jargon I’m generating so let’s not jinx it and just get joyful, jovial and generally jolly as we jiggle, jog, jostle and not judge our way through this last weekend of June before we jet into July.
Thursdays sure keep us hopping these days with the continuing series of Levitt AMP concerts leading the way. This week’s lineup consists of Ruben Moreno & The Zydeco Re-Evolution with our very own amazing blues trio, Smokestacks, opening the show.
Other Thursday music looks quite extensive as well as entertaining including a ticketed event with Stephanie Urbina Jones, a nationally acclaimed recording artist who has performed with Willie Nelson and Vince Gill and “continues to unite musical worlds, elevate Hispanic culture in American roots music and inspire audiences with stories of heritage, hope and belonging” at Unity of Springfield in Southern View.
Moving on to Friday night there are many more choices to make with stalwarts Micah Walk at Harvest Market, OAT with Reggie Britton at George Rank’s, Not Petty at the Railyard, Blue Note Quintet at Pease’s, Rick Mari Band at Mowie’s, Devin C. Williams at Buckhart Tavern and Pete Sander at Obed & Isaac’s. In the rock-pop cover band department, Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters is No. 1 with a show at The Library Pizza and Sports Bar, while Branded burns one at The Tipsy Toad, Grounded grinds one out at Weebles, The Get Down gets one up on the Curveside Bar & Grill near Athens and Captain Quirk transports one into Long Bridge Golf Course and Menace to Sobriety ties one on at Locals in Pawnee.
In the always popular tribute band section of our weekend roundup, The Stadium Smokehouse hosts Faux Doubt (No Doubt/Gwen Stefani) with guests Head Over Feet (Alanis Morissette) on Friday and Blue Sky Revival (Allman Brothers) and Birds of a Feather (Phish) on Saturday, while Danenberger Family Vineyard presents Ozzy Rebourne (you guess) on Friday and Heartache Tonight (guess again) on Saturday.
For Saturday proper, let’s go all over the place for a diverse dive into live music. First, we make an afternoon visit to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul for a Hymns for the Republic concert by Dr. Paula Romanaux, a renowned organist and liturgical historian who lives in Petersburg and was the house organist at St. Peter’s in Philadelphia for years.
Next, we hop on over to the Butternut Hut for an evening performance by Heavy Delight, a local band of extraordinary musicians (Nate Cozadd, Reid Muchow, Trey Tholen and Chris Miller) going all out with “jazz-fueled improvisation, fat funk rhythms and fearless jams” for your listening pleasure. Then, the Blue Grouch presents Pimpin’ Henry, a hometown, classic-styled, rock band doing cool covers interspersed with well-crafted and finely tuned originals. Last for us, but not least to anyone by any means, the Hoogland Center for the Arts hosts the Springfield Theatre Centre’s 79th Season Preview Party with director talks, live performances and an all-out arts celebration in a ticketed event.
Well, we’re done without even a look at Sunday, which includes a bunch of wonderful things such as a Springfield Pride Drag Brunch at 5th Street Gem and a fundraiser at the Blue Grouch featuring Canyon Choir and Travis Ried Band to help Ric “Skippy” Major replenish his sound system lost in the Curve Inn fire.
Please peruse our listings for all the other goings on this week. Let’s join up again for a joyous July.
This article appears in June 25-July 1, 2026.
The Travis Ried show at the Grouch is Friday the 26th, not Sunday.