Scott Tady: Midland's got your July 4th fun; Norman Nardini to rock New Brighton

Midland is a popular place to find fun every July 4th.

The borough is outdoing itself this year, with a July 4 concert outdoors at Lincoln Park that begins at 1:30 p.m. with Blind Colours, a local rock trio that impressed me with its recent pre-match performance outside the Pittsburgh Riverhounds' Highmark Stadium.

Midland's Independence Day concert continues with Cassie & Dave at 3 p.m., old-school hip hop/R&B party band Fistful of Ballers at 4:30 p.m., House of Soul at 6:30 p.m. and venerable pop-rock-R&B band Casanova at 8:30 p.m.

For that late-afternoon gig, Fistful of Ballers gets to show off its new vocalist, Lex Gonzalez, who hails from Brooklyn, and was a vocalist/rapper for popular New York City hip-hop band, Lifted Crew.

"Lex fit in immediately and provides a perfect mix with our other vocalists, Fred 'G-Ru' Cook and Charlene Thompson-Wamsley," Fistful of Ballers' co-founder Brad Meredith said. "His high energy is a perfect accompaniment especially when spitting rap lyrics back and forth with Fred."

Having previously packed Beaver County venues, and with Pittsburgh shows coming up Aug. 11 (Bridge Music Bar) and the Hard Rock Cafe (Nov. 4), Fistful of Ballers is riding a wave of momentum.

"While we perform songs you likely never heard another local cover band play before, they are all hip-hop and R&B anthems you just can't resist and probably know all the lyrics no matter what your musical taste is," Meredith said.   "When I hear Craig Mack recite 'Time for a new flava in ya year' in his 1994 hit 'Flava in Ya Ear,' I think that could be Fistful of Ballers' motto. Every time we get off stage, we often receive the same comments reiterating how no other bands are doing the songs and with the style we do them. We dig doing something different and it seems to be successful so far."

Performing for an all-ages crowd in Midland, they'll tweak some lyrics from those '90s songs to keep things family-friendly with the rhymes intact. You'll hear the word "switches' a few times, for instance.

"We totally understand we are going to win some of the crowd while others will likely write a letter to the editor, but we interweave experienced rock musicianship and style into the hip-hop songs enough to satisfy those with WDVE beer koozies yelling for Skynyrd and AC/DC hits," Meredith said.

The July 4 action in Midland commences with a 10 a.m. parade through downtown, followed by a carnival leading up to the nighttime fireworks show.

The fireworks cap off a three-day celebration beginning July 2 with popular country-rock band Eldorado at 6:30 p.m. on the outdoor Lincoln Park Stage, with Mexican fare from the Curbside Cocina food truck.

July 3 activities feature a car cruise, a carnival from 5-10 p.m. and live music by Project Band at 4:30 p.m. and Dr. Zoot at 7 p.m.

Inside the adjacent Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, visitors can check out the free Midland Arts Council exhibit through July 5.

Norman to rock New Brighton

One of Pittsburgh's longtime rock 'n' roll kings, Norman Nardini, takes a trip up Route 65 to entertain July 8 at Wooley Bullys Juke-Joint in New Brighton.

"I got Beaver Fever 'bout my upcomin' Wooley Bullys show," Nardini messaged me. "I'm gonna pull out da' whole hammer."

Fans know jovial banter and the gift of gab are part of Nardini's charm, though it's his fiery guitar work and high-energy songs that have made him part of the bedrock of the Pittsburgh music scene.

Backed by a full band, Nardini hits the stage at 9 p.m. There's no cover charge ever at Wooley Bullys, "unless The Stones are coming," owner Jay Wooley says.

Super sound

Garage rock with a few quarts of glam.

Semi-Supervillains are a Pittsburgh-founded power trio, now making a delightful noise in East Nashville.

I hear a Jack White-ish ragged glory in "I Like It," a track from Semi-Supervillains' brand-new album, "Frantic." Songs like "Never Gonna Love" bear a '70s-rock intensity influenced and expertly extracted by Weirton, W.Va., producer Rick Witkowski, of Crack The Sky.

"Depraved rock thrills" is the aim, says a press release from Semi-Supervillains, which are getting airplay on Sirius XM’s Underground Garage station.

With the album's leadoff track, "Here Comes Trouble," advising a young man what to do if his girlfriend's father barges in on them in the bedroom, and a title track with the opening line, "God, I need nicotine," Semi-Supervillains make their intentions know.

Embracing the description "your older brother's cool rock band," Semi-Supervillains return to Pittsburgh this weekend for a July 2 show at Club Cafe. They return Aug. 18 to rock The Government Center record shop on Pittsburgh's North Side.

More: The Clarks announce show at Mario's 410 Grille in Bridgewater

Fleet treat

Fleet Foxes' soaring vocal harmonies and pretty melodies powered the indie-folk band's June 21 show inside a packed Stage AE.

The Seattle band celebrated the solstice singing about the sun, mountains, oceans and wood, imparting an up-with-earth/down-to-earth vibe that managed not to stray into hippiedom. Though on this first night of summer, it was the decisively Christmas-y "White Winter Hymnal" that was the most goosebump-inducing, as those harmonies pulled from "Pet Sounds"/Beach Boys influences.

Fleet Foxes' frontman Robin Pecknold's baritenor voice shined resplendently on "Ragged Wood" from the group's universally acclaimed 2008 debut, given an extra bit of gallop in the live setting from tour drummer Christopher Icasiano.

A three-person horn section with trombone and saxophone attained an almost prog-jazz feel to a few songs in the second half of the set, which emphasized 2020's likewise highly praised "Shore" album.

Morgan Henderson swiped a bow across the strings of his upright bass for a crowd-fave, "Blue Ridge Mountains."

Pecknold strummed and sang solo the encore opener, "Blue Spotted Tail." The next two selections included opening act Uwade, a promising and charming young singer-songwriter from Nigeria. Uwade also had joined in vocally on Fleet Foxes' second song of the set, "Wading in Waist-High Water," having appeared on the 2020 album version, too.

Uwade won over the audience in her opening set, making sure to mention how beautiful she thought Pittsburgh was on this first visit for her, and praising the burger she enjoyed down the street at Burgatory.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@timesonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tady: Midland's got your July 4 fun; Norman Nardini shall rock New Brighton