Barn Show, Holmes Farm, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

It didn't look promising as I approached the performance area after the walk across Holmes Farm. Hurricane Harvey remnants had caused rain showers and wind on and off all day.  I checked for a cancellation notice online - none - and when I drove down Manomet Point Road in the afternoon, the red hand-painted signs were up announcing tonight's show!  It was on!

This performance of the Barn Show Music Series concludes its fourth summer season of providing live music on the rolling hills of Holmes Farm in Manomet. Although the weather wasn't very helpful, we still were able to enjoy the outstanding musicians that promoter/organizer/musician Hayley Sabella had booked for the event.

(Click on an image for a slightly higher resolution view if your device supports that action).

The stage in front of the Farm Stand trailer is normally bustling with activity and musicians ready to begin. The area beyond the fence normally filled with eager patrons. As rain showers had continued right up to start time, the decision was made to move the stage/musicians inside the barn for the show.



After a herculean effort by the sound man and Hayley Sabella's team to move and set-up everything, all was ready and Hayley (at right) introduces the first act, Eleanor Electra, to get things going.



It brought to mind the roots of  Barn Show.  The first event was inside this barn.  Musicians and audience alike crowded inside on couches and boxes, crammed in wherever they could fit, spilling through the opening.  It didn't matter - it was about the music. As it should be. It's about the music - always.



I love this image - music, light, and magic pouring out of the barn. Although turnout was less than normal, there were enough hearty New Englanders willing to brave the rain for the music.  As it turned out, the rain gods smiled on Barn Show. Not a drop fell after the show began and, in fact, the skies cleared to unveil an almost full moon as darkness fell.



The inside-looking-out view.



It was a fine and special evening for the folks who showed up prepared for wind and cold and rain - this is, after all, New England - challenging weather happens. Adults had the music, the kids had mud puddles - life was good.



Love that hat - "Dudley Do-right" maybe on a visit from Canada?



The clouds start to break-up and the moon glow spreads.



Soon, there wasn't a cloud in the sky - just moon and stars and music.



Second act was Izzy Heltai.



Another inside-looking-out view.



Headliner act Laney Jones and her band. She rocked Barn Show with her powerful music, musicianship, voice, and demeanor.



Laney Jones and her band.



For a trip down memory lane, here she is back in 2014 performing at Barn Show  on the outdoor stage. I hope she doesn't wait another three years to return.



As I walked back to my car, Holmes Farm was awash with star and moonlight and the sound of night critters. It is hard to beat the Barn Show experience for great music, a beautiful pastoral setting, and the intimacy of a small venue.



Here's the view at a show a month earlier when the weather was more cooperative.



The outdoor stage is at right.

Here's a link to my previous blog posts about Barn Show if you'd like to see more.

Next year, buy a season pass - it demonstrates commitment to the ideal of local, live music, puts money in the bank to pay the overhead, and gives us great live music to enjoy on a summer's eve - right here in Manomet.

If we don't support it as a community, it will cease to exist - it's that simple.  We can be a community that supports live, outdoor, summer music or not - it's up to us.

Thanks, Hayley, to you and your team for another great season at Barn Show!

Barn Show, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Once again, Manomet gets to enjoy outdoor live music as the Barn Show Music Series continues its second season of outdoor concerts at Holmes Farm on Manomet Point Road. Above, the crowd begins to gather before the show begins.  Co-presented by Hayley Sabella and Brewster Productions, the concert series features up-and-coming original music, ranging from folk to country to rock, and everything in between.  The Holmes Farm property is owned by the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences.

Note just to the right of center on the horizon line there's a big rock.......

.... that provides a great play spot for the energetic kids in attendance - no moving parts and no electronics required.

Promoter Hayley Sabella introduces the first act.

Tonight's show was the fourth of five in the series and included opener Monica Rizzio, followed by JR Wyatt, and concluded with headliner Sarah Blacker.

Support local, live, outdoor, summer music in our community.  Here's their website for more information:  http://barnshowmanomet.com/

Monica Rizzio.

Guest performer Jake Hill (at center) joins in for a cameo vocal.

A brief break in the action as JR Wyatt prepares to take the stage.

JR Wyatt.

  

This double exposure-ish image captures JR Wyatt leaving the stage after his set ends. For you photographers out there, it is actually the result of in-camera HDR processing.

 A spectacular sunset welcomed the headliner, Sarah Blacker.

Sarah Blacker.

Sarah is joined by her bass player and a back-up singer.

Promoter Hayley Sabella (at right), also a musician and performer in her own right, joins Sarah Blacker and her band for a cameo vocal. 

Mark your calendar for the final show this season on September 6. Here's their website for more information:  http://barnshowmanomet.com/

A few of my previous posts about the Barn Show Series can be viewed at the following links:

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/barn-show-manomet-plymouth_26.html

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/barn-show-manomet-plymouth.html

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/barn-show-holmes-farm-manomet-plymouth.html

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/barn-show-holmes-farm-manomet-plymouth.html

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/barn-show-manomet-plymouth.html

http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/barn-show-manomet-plymouth.html

Barn Show, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

The Barn Show Music Series is now in its fourth summer season of providing live music on the rolling hills of Holmes Farm in Manomet. It was another perfect summer evening to enjoy the outstanding musicians that promoter/organizer/musician Hayley Sabella booked for the event.

(Click on an image for a slightly higher resolution view if your device supports that action).

You may wonder what the name "Barn Show" means in this setting. I remember a few years ago, Hayley gathered some musician friends and locals together and crowded into this barn building. There were musty old couches, rickety old chairs, wooden boxes, and other barn accouterments - folks crowded in wherever a foothold could be placed. It didn't matter - it was music, it was live, it was real, and it was happening right here in Manomet. And it grew.



There is a big rock right under me. I climbed it, held my camera far over my head, and rotated in place to capture this panorama from 10-12 feet off the ground. (Probably not such a smart move for an old man).

Here's a link to my blogs from many of the previous shows if you'd like a trip down memory lane.



Holmes Farm is a working farm, and the sunflowers were in glorious bloom tonight.



The bees were busy as they could be bagging buckets of pollen. Some might say this image is overexposed but, I'd prefer to say it is a "high-key" technique. Yep, that sounds much better than overexposed......

But on to the music - lead-off solo performer, Eva Walsh......



.....followed by the duo, The Promise is Hope.



The last rays of sun before.....



...it disappeared in the west........



...and the Mallett Brothers Band took the stage.

I think I'd describe the Mallett Brothers Band sound as rousing, upbeat, driving rock, with a Maine and French Canadian flavor enhanced by the addition of fiddle and mandolin to complement the traditional guitars and drums. They had the happy crowd hootin' and hollerin' and on their feet filling the dance area in front of the stage.



I have seen/heard them a few times over the recent years and they never disappoint. They were just such great performers and the audience really connected strongly.

The Barn Show is an amazing place and creates a magical feeling sitting here in the middle of Holmes Farm with its rolling hills folding away towards the ocean, the gardens brimming with flowers and vegetables, the beautiful music rising out of the silence normally only punctuated by bugs and critters of the night. (Whew, nice run-on sentence).



It is a quintessential New England summer experience - live music, outdoors, on a warm evening, darkness gently enveloping the rolling hills, the stars filling the clear night sky.

It is extraordinary and a reflection of the underlying thirst for and spirit of creativity in Manomet that the Barn Show series has been so wonderfully successful.

In addition to the breathtakingly beautiful beaches of Priscilla, White Horse, and Manomet, artistic musical creative expression is finding a warm reception here in Manomet, a village in the town of Plymouth - "America's Hometown."

September 3rd is the final Barn Show this year. Come on down! Schedule and tickets at this link.

Barn Show, Holmes Farm, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Here's the setting for the Barn Show Music Series  at the beautiful Holmes Farm in Manomet. The musical performance area is at the left. The Barn Show Music Series continued its six outdoor concert summer series at the Holmes Farm on the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences property just off Manomet Point Road. The series is co-presented by Hayley Sabella and Brewster Productions and tonight featured performers Thomas John Cadrin, Laney Jones and her band, and headliner 3rd Left. My post from the show before this one is at this link.

This is the fifth of six shows in the series. Folks are just arriving. The evening was cloudy with a threat of thunderstorms slowly approaching from the west.  The rain did finally arrive so the show ended a bit earlier than planned but we still enjoyed a couple good hours of music before the rain.

This image is from an earlier blog post at a previous show on a sunny day.

Opening performer was Thomas John Cadrin.

Followed by Laney Jones and her band.

The bass player of the headliner band "3rd Left."

The lead singer and guitarist of  "3rd Left." 

Just before the show was rained out, the lead singer brought up the father of the drummer to sing a couple songs. It was one of those special moments in a live show - an older, unassuming guy ambles up on the stage with young rockers and you don't quite know what to expect until he starts singing.  And when he did, he brought down the house with a rousing rendition of the Stephen Stills tune, "Love the One You're With."  I'd say this was the crowd favorite of the night!  

This was the first year for The Barn Show Music Series and it has been a great addition to live, local music in Manomet.  Only one more show remains this year on October 12. I hope they schedule a second year of concerts next summer! There are few better ways to spend a New England summer evening than sitting outside and enjoying live music in a beautiful setting.