A New Wave

Riding the Tides: Appropriately named Wild Blue launched the new series last Saturday. Ellen Huet

Concerts on the Bay Summer series splashes down at Monterey Plaza Hotel.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Last weekend, live music and the sound of ocean waves simultaneously tickled the ears of Monterey Plaza Hotel patrons – and a few nearby sea lions – with the first concert of the hotel’s new summer series.

In a unique pairing of shoreline and venue, Monterey Plaza Hotel’s lower terrace, which juts out over the bay and little Aeneas Beach, will be home to live music on Fridays and Saturdays for the next six weeks.

The inspiration for the series simmered for years after an older concert collaboration at the hotel ended around 2003, says marketing manager Doug Phillips. A renewed push to bring music back to the terrace came earlier this summer, when the hotel found itself three weeks away from July 4 weekend and only at 20 percent capacity. Something had to be done.

“We pulled together a really great show – three bands – for the weekend, and it was a huge success,” Phillips says. “The locals said, ‘You gotta do this more.’”

Audiences loved the outdoor-yet-wind-protected feel of the intimate venue, so the hotel began lining up acts from now until the end of August.

Last Friday was the series’ inaugural show with Wild Blue, a Jimmy Buffett-style trio. This Friday’s band is Eight Second Ride, a country western band with a loyal local following. Both bands are based in Monterey County – a detail that the series emphasizes.

“Our basic goal is to market to the local community,” Phillips says. “It has more of an impact than we realize.”

The series also includes Saturday night music inside the upper lobby bar area, which Phillips says hasn’t been used much in the past, but will now play host to a more “sexy, lounge-type” sequence, with acts like saxophonist and Monterey Jazz Festival alum Paul Tarantino and jazz vocalist Laurent Fourgo heating things up. By comparison, Friday’s outdoor bands are rowdier, featuring mostly rock ‘n’ roll – acts include The Original Substitutes, a ’60s and ’70s cover band, and the dependably entertaining Money Band, who will deliver two shows.

The series’ opening night with Wild Blue started in sunny weather, but halfway through the set, the band stopped to put on some layers as the evening temperature shifted. Locals already know to bring a jacket; hopefully, visitors will come prepared.

“It’s getting a little chilly out here,” said keyboardist Scott Slaughter. “But it’s so nice to be outside. Let’s keep playing.”

The oncoming spicy lineup – and Indian summer heat – promise things should get hotter as they do.