Orton Park Festival

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Valerie Fremin

Rosie Flores

Midway through its sixth decade, this annual free, outdoor festival remains a summer favorite, but also a bittersweet reminder that the season of fests is nearly over. Visiting acts not to miss close Orton’s last two nights, including rockabilly/honky tonk legend Rosie Flores (pictured) and riff-happy rock brothers Radkey on Saturday, and Chicago punk-cumbia mixers Dos Santos and soul rockers The Main Squeeze on Sunday. An all-star roundup of locals can be found all weekend, including Beatles experts Get Back Wisconsin (5 pm Friday), guitar phenom Raine Stern (11:45 am Saturday), Angela Puerta (1:15 pm Saturday), Honor Among Thieves (5:15 pm Saturday), twang-punkers Wood Chickens (3 pm Sunday) ... and, of course, Cycropia Aerial Dance enlivens one of Orton’s majestic oaks on Thursday and Friday night.

5-10 pm on Thursday-Friday; noon-10 pm on Saturday; and 9 am-8 pm Sunday. 2019 dates: Aug. 22-25.

Thursday: Pizza/ice cream social 5:30 pm, Cycropia Aerial Dance 7:30 pm. Friday: Get Back Wisconsin 5;15 pm, Slow Pulp 7 pm, Cycropia 8:30 pm. Saturday:Raine Stern Band 11:45 am, Angela Puerta 1:15 pm, German Art Students 2:45 pm, MNA auction 4 pm, Honor Among Thieves 5:15 pm, Rosie Flores 6:45 pm, Radkey 8:30 pm. Sunday: Bill Roberts Combo 9 am, Gin Chocolate & Bottle Rockets noon, Combo Noir 1:30 pm, Wood Chickens 3 pm, Dos Santos 4:30 pm, Main Squeeze 6:15 pm.

press release: Madison’s original outdoor music festival once again delivers on its reputation for providing a high-end array of local, regional and touring national acts. Here’s what’s in store for the 54th annual Orton Park Festival:

Thursday night is Family Night at Orton Park. There will be pizza and an ice cream social starting at 5:30 pm, with beer available for the grown-ups.Cycropia Aerial Dance proudly brings its magical blend of dance and circus arts to the 2019 Orton Park Festival in a performance of spectacular works. Audiences will have two chances to see this FREE show, on Thursday, August 22, at 7:30 pm, and Friday, August 23, at 8:30 pm.

Using trapezes, ladders, hoops, straps, stilts, and other custom-designed aerial apparatus (including the debut of a brand new aerial lotus!), dancers will play with gravity and verticality as they perform below and within the canopy of one of Orton Park’s majestic oak trees. Cycropia has been performing at the Orton Park Festival for over 20 years, creating a Madison community dance tradition. The show is appropriate for all ages, and Thursday’s performance during “family night” at the Orton Park Festival will feature pizza, ice cream, and activities for kids prior to the performance. This performance is a great way to cap off your summer!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23:  For Happy Hour at Orton ($3 beers from 5:00-7:00 pm) we bring you Get Back Wisconsin, a Madison-based band dedicated to performing the entire Beatles core catalog. Dubbed by the Wisconsin State Journal as “The Beatles Purists,” the band marks each 50th anniversary of a Beatles album release by performing the entire album, note-for-note, accompanied by an all-star orchestra of guest musicians. Come together at 5:15 pm to enjoy this magical mystery tour.

Get Back Wisconsin 5:15 pm, Slow Pulp 7 pm, Cycropia 8:30 pm.

Next up at 7:00 pm is Slow Pulp. Though they now reside in Chicago, these Madison hometown heroes have been best buds since elementary school and are returning to the ’hood to play the headline slot on Friday night. Emily Massey leads this shoegazing crew with her signature dreamy, melancholy vocals. (Pro tip: These guys have been touring and recording without cease and are on the verge of breaking out nationally. Catch ’em at Orton for free while you can!)

Friday evening ends with another magical performance by Cycropia at 8:30 pm.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 24: Kicking off our Saturday line-up at 11:45 am, and kicking the door down, Madison’s Raine Stern and her band will delight with sounds rooted in blues and folk. Raine is an innately talented artist who writes, arranges, and produces her own work. Her sound hits hard because she pours her guts into every aspect of her art. Says Raine, “My mission is to take people places they didn’t know they needed to go.”

Colombian singer-songwriter Angela Puerta takes the stage at 1:15 pm. Angela’s trio combines influences from many genres, including rock en Español, indie rock, funk, reggae, Colombian traditional music and other Latin American rhythms. Currently based in Madison, Angela is working on her first album as a solo artist that is expected to come out this fall.

Madison favorites the German Art Students are making their Orton debut on Saturday at 2:45 pm. Famous for their witty, goofy new wave-ish tunes, this band also has the capacity to kick out the rock ‘n roll jams. G.A.S. are not to be missed!

Stick around for the MNA Auction beginning at 4:00 pm. There is a lot of great stuff to bid on, and all proceeds benefit the local neighborhood association. Bid high, and stay close by, because the music starts again in just about an hour.

Next up at 5:15 pm, local legends Honor Among Thieves will draw us in with their wonderfully unique sound, which transcends a single genre. Blues roots are unmistakable, along with musical flourishes that stray into punk, jazz, funk and beyond. The Thieves have amassed a wealth of creative material and wield it with passion and spontaneity that makes each performance unique and has allowed them to remain one of Madison’s most revered bands for nearly a generation. (Trivia point: the Thieves were the subject of a 2004 documentary film entitled "When the World Runs Fast.”)

Rosie Flores takes the stage at 6:45 pm. A cult hero in the Austin and Los Angeles music scenes since the 1970s, Rosie Flores is a blues artist and so much more. Think rockabilly, honky tonk, jazz, and Texas swing, all served up with gritty vocals and fiery guitar solos. This will be a show to remember.

Wrapping up the Saturday line-up, Orton is thrilled to welcome Radkey. Three siblings, Dee, Isaiah and Solomon, the Radkey kids grew up in a “shitty little pink house in St. Joseph, Missouri. Homeschooled. Bored with nothing to do but listen to their father's records and start a band.” They played their first show opening for Fishbone in 2011 and haven't looked back since. Orton crowds will love Radkey’s across-the-board detonation of several shades of rock, punk and wild abandon – and riffs, riffs, riffs. Don’t miss this one! 8:30 pm.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25: Set your alarm clock and get up early, ’cuz the Jazz Brunch opens at 9:00 am and the line forms quickly. While you’re enjoying your breakfast, chill to the blues guitar, soulful bass, piano and drum sounds of the Bill Roberts Combo.

Post-brunch, shift your gaze to the main stage for Gin, Chocolate & Bottle Rockets, who will energize the park with the combined musical stylings of three solo-artists-turned-bandmates, Jen Farley, Shawni Marks and Beth Kille. Named “Ensemble Vocalists of the Year” at the 2015 MAMA Awards, GC&BR features clever pop-rock songwriting and tight 3-part harmonies, and has been described as “a little sass, a little sweet, and a whole lot of fire.” Clearly, something for everyone here. 12:00 pm.

Next up at 1:30 pm is the fresh ensemble Combo Noir, fronted by well known local singer Anna Purnell (of Yid Vicious, Forward! Marching Band, and Dixie Sizzlers fame). With sounds that are dark, luscious, and soulful, Combo Noir creates a groovy, bluesy mood.

Then hold onto your hats for Wood Chickens! These local favs will deliver a kick in the pants with rockin’, foot-stompin’, cowpunk action! Hear the band that is packing the clubs with their irresistibly fun songs like “We Skate in Boots” and “Mall Cop.” Wood Chickens take the stage at 3:00 pm.

Our penultimate act, Dos Santos, takes the stage at 4:30 pm. This Chicago-based quintet, has influences in American popular and traditional Latin music, and is considered one of Chicago’s most potent, impactful performing groups. Experienced in performing a wide range of musical styles, these guys also have a history of involvement in arts education and social justice organizing. Their sound draws from this sonic, cultural, and political well of influence, and is guaranteed to make you move.

Closing out this year’s festival is The Main Squeeze. This dynamic 5-piece band got its start as a party jam band at the University of Indiana, where they soon began playing to sell-out crowds of frenzied college students. The Squeeze is now based in L.A. and has been weaving the veins of rock, funk, blues, and R&B into modern song stylings. 6:15 pm.

In addition to great music, the Orton Park Festival will feature terrific local restaurant vendors, as well as craft beer, cider, and wine tents. Kids’ games, the infamous “cakewalk,” and the ever-popular MNA auction (both silent and live!) will return as well.

Orton is presented by Marquette Neighborhood Association with some serious help from friends at Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center and other partners in the Festyland summer festival series.

This event remains free and fabulous thanks to the generous support of these fine folks: Heartland Credit Union, Lauer Realty Group, Willy Street Co-op, your northside neighbors Paul & Ellen, All of Us Research Project, Solidarity Realty, The Chocolate Shoppe, Madison Gas and Electric, Pines Bach Attorneys at Law, RP’s Pasta, Harmony Bar, Aprilaire, The Barrymore Theatre, FPC Live, Full Spectrum Solar, GWABA, Gebhardt Development, Ground Zero, The Harmony Bar, INOC, Lazy Jane’s, Madison Water Utility, Mickey’s Tavern, SRO Artists, Mark Saunders, Robert J Sawicki of Innovative Financial, Star Liquor, Total Water, TDS Custom Construction, and our media partners WORT and WVMO. Thank you all!