Montgomery Village hosts free concerts all summer in Santa Rosa

With the onset of summer weather, free outdoor concert series pop up at parks and plazas all over Sonoma County, but the Montgomery Village shopping center in Santa Rosa isn’t satisfied with just one series.

The 20-acre open-air shopping center, with more than 75 retail and commercial outlets, offers three series every summer:

“Concerts Under the Stars,” 5:30-8 p.m. Thursdays on the Village Court near Monti’s Rotisserie & Bar.

“Rockin’ Concerts,” noon-3 p.m. Saturdays on the Village Court.

“Sunday Concerts” 1-4 p.m. Sundays, at the Village Terrace near Cattlemens Steakhouse.

With some 60 live concerts to choose from, you’re likely to find music you enjoy, whether you want to relive your past with tribute bands like the Sun Kings playing Beatles tunes and the Unauthorized Rolling Stones vividly mimicking Mick Jagger, or listen to such top Bay Area acts as the zany dance band Wonder Bread 5 and Pete Escovedo and his Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Booking bands took some effort in the early years, but now bands approach Montgomery Village about playing there, said Melissa Williams, director of marketing and operations for the shopping center.

“We have a reputation,” she said. “We treat the bands very well.”

This year’s concerts opened Thursday with the return of party band Pride & Joy, and continues Saturday with Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond tribute act, followed by Beatles Flashback on Sunday.

The last show, by Sonoma County favorites the Poynt-?lyss Sistars, is Oct. 8.

Williams believes the tribute bands are particularly popular because the shows allow fans of a particular act to revisit memories of past concerts.

“You don’t always get to see the original performers live now,” she said. “The tribute performers are picking a frozen moment in time when those bands were at the pinnacle of their careers. It brings you back to when you were a kid, listening to those songs.”

Tribute bands cover a wide variety of tastes, from Caravanserai saluting Carlos Santana to Super Huey playing Huey Lewis hits. The Montgomery Village crowds respond warmly, Williams said.

“When Super Diamond does ‘Sweet Caroline,’ the entire audience is singing along,” she said.

Montgomery Village has been around since 1950, but the concert series are relatively new, initiated in 2009. The several series now draw crowds of 400 to 1,000 people per show.

“Sometimes, we have standing room-only on the terrace,” Williams said.

Williams estimates the shows have raised some $600,000 for local schools and nonprofit service organizations, which get all of the money raised by donations, drink sales and VIP reserved tables priced from $60 to $80. Beverages are donated by Korbel Winery, Rodney Strong Vineyards and Eagle Distributing.

You can reach staff writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.