Gleason Gras West, CdA Music Festival only add to the fun
While crowds will clamor around food booths and music stages in Riverfront Park for Pig Out in the Park, this Labor Day weekend offers extra helpings of festival feasts for the ears.
In addition to Pig Out, a slew of local bands are coming together for the inaugural Coeur d’Alene Music Festival and Gleason Gras West, inspired by former professional football player and Spokane native Steve Gleason’s fight with a terminal disease.
As a safety for the New Orleans Saints from 2000-’08, Gleason is well known for his punt-blocking play on the night the Louisiana Superdome reopened for the first time after Hurricane Katrina. Gleason was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS – more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – a terminal neuro-muscular condition.
Honoring Gleason’s battle with ALS, Spokane’s Gleason Gras was organized to help provide support and services for individuals with muscular diseases or injuries, and help raise public awareness about ALS.
Gleason Gras West is a two-day quasi-block party-style affair taking place at multiple venues.
Gleason Gras West
Tickets: $20 for weekend passes, $12 for Friday tickets, $14 for Saturday tickets, all proceeds go to support The Gleason Initiative Foundation, available through www.ticketswest.com
TONIGHT
6:30 p.m. at Red Lion BBQ, 126 N. Division St.
B Radicals
Hey! Is for Horses
Left Hand Smoke
6 p.m. on the Saranac Public House rooftop, 21 W. Main Ave.
Luke Pate
Mishap
Blake Noble and The Ninja Stars
7 p.m. at The Magic Lantern Theater, 24 W. Main Ave.
Team Gleason Highlight Reel!
SATURDAY
6 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.
Old Bear Mountain
Hey Marseilles
Emily Wells
Coeur d’Alene music united
This Labor Day weekend, Spokane’s neighbors in Coeur d’Alene will not have to cross the state line to take in an outdoor music festival.
The first-ever Coeur d’Alene Music Festival runs four days with upwards of 40 bands.
The festival, which began Thursday, offers on-site camping at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds.
The event was spearheaded by the bandleader and lead singer of area favorite Flying Mammals as a way to garner more support for local musicians in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane.
“In this area we have cultivated the idea that local music is not worth going to see,” said Flying Mammals’ Aaron Birdsall. “There are amazing bands here who are signed on major labels that tour and play all over the country, except in town.”
Among the main attractions for the festival are Warner Music Group signee and Spokane-based pop-rocker Jerad Finck; nationally known Spokane band The VanMarter Project, whose music is used on Discovery HD TV series “Catchin’ Air”; along with a reunion of area reggae-rock heroes Melefluent.
Tickets for the Coeur d’Alene Music Festival are $25 per day or $75 for a four-day pass, through www.brownpaper tickets.com (music begins at 11 a.m. each day of the festival).
For the complete lineup, visit www.facebook.com/coeurdalene musicfestival.