Something for Everyone at Harborside Music & Arts Fest

By: Elise Hugus, July 18, 2012

DAN BROWN - North Falmouth's John Beninghof is co-organizing and playing at Saturday's Harborside Music Festival.

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For the second year in a row, locals and residents of all ages will unite Harborside Music & Arts Festival, held on Saturday, July 21 at Falmouth's Marina Park, overlooking Falmouth Harbor.

Local favorites the Daniel Byrnes Band and John Beninghof will headline, with sets by the Vermont reggae band Pulse Prophets, Boston’s organ-driven swamp jam band The Po’ Boyz and country-rock band Waylon Speed, hailing from Burlington, Vermont.

Kina Zoré will get the crowd moving with rhythms and socially-conscious lyrics inspired by the band’s roots in Mozambique.

Byrnes, who is known for songwriting talents and saxophone-laden folk-rock sound, has charmed the crowds from the Cape Cod Music Festival to the British Beer Company in Falmouth.

The festival offers a little something for everyone, said organizer Niko Tripoli, a North Falmouth native who also goes by the name of Selectah Niko at his Tuesday reggae night residency at the Boathouse in Falmouth. He will get the show started at noon, spinning classic reggae and deep cuts from the latest world reggae artists between sets.

As host of the long-standing reggae show “Roots Radical Connection” on 89.3 FM WUMD, Tripoli said his goal is to unite people through music.

In addition to music, local artists will display their work and special editions of the Harborside Music Festival T-shirt will be for sale.

“The whole idea of the event is to bring our community together in different ways than we’re used to on the Cape,” he said. “The Cape is a worldwide community—people from all over the world live, vacation, and study here. We can showcase how beautiful our own home is and link up with different communities by showcasing some of our local and regional talent.”

Creating a musical community

Beninghof, a North Falmouth jam-pop singer-songwriter, is co-organizing the festival. It’s his way, he said, of giving back to the community that helped him get started as a musician.

“I’ve benefited greatly from the music community in Falmouth. It’s my home and I feel like it’s a very artistic place,” Beninghof said.

Having a festival, he said, “benefits musicians within the community, it benefits people with kids and it gives them exposure to live music. On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of people who aren’t going to come see us at 11 PM will be able to come out.”

The benefits of music will extend beyond Saturday. A portion of all proceeds from the bar and T-shirt sales will go to MusiPALities, a program organized by the Police Athletic Activities League to help Falmouth students study music. Attendees may also donate a used musical instrument at the PAL table at the event.

Having organized a number of local music festivals over the past five years, Tripoli said he is glad to be holding the event in a free and accessible space in downtown Falmouth.

“In the last 10 to 15 years, I personally have noticed the talent and music in the area just grow and grow. There’s a ceiling to where we’re able to grow because of a lack of venues, but I think it’s a great spot,” he said.

Festival weekend

After the Harborside festival ends at 10 PM, attendees are invited to an official afterparty with funk-reggae-jam band Spiritual Rez at the Boathouse, just a stone's throw from the bandshell.

But the fun kicks off on Friday, July 20, with a Love In Stockholm show at The Beach House in North Falmouth. Falmouth native Charlie Rockwell fronts this soul-jazz-rock band out of Boston, playing high-energy originals and well-chosen covers that are guaranteed to make you move.

End the weekend on a high note with The Old Silver Band’s regular Sunday night show, starting at 11 PM at the Landfall Restaurant in Woods Hole. Headed by brothers John and Matt Beninghof, the four-piece band consistently packs the dance floor with its jam-rock sound—and an impromptu encore on the venue’s back deck.

The intention of adding these additional free shows, Tripoli said, is to bring a festival atmosphere to all parts of town. “There’s so much talent and so much going on all over Falmouth,” he said. “We want to spread the love around.”