Popular local downtown live music venue the Townehouse Tavern turns 30 this weekend.
It’s also the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, that famous period in June 1967 when an estimated 100,000 hippies descended on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury for a summer of sex, drugs and, especially, rock and roll.
And, finally, it’s also the 50th anniversary of one The Beatles’ most iconic studio albums, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which spent 27 weeks at the top of the charts in the UK and won four Grammys, including Album of the Year — the first time for a rock album.
To celebrate all of the above, local musician, sometimes-politician and longtime manager of The Townehouse, Paul Loewenberg, and others are coming together for a weekend event.
Loewenberg and other local musicians have been performing Beatles tribute concerts marking major anniversaries of their albums for some time.
This particular two-day event presents the opportunity to mark a milestone of The Townehouse’s longevity in the community, one of the most iconic moments in the hippie movement and one of the most important rock albums of all time — all at once.
The celebration will take place June 16-17 inside The Townehouse and outside on Grey Street, which will be shut down for the occasion.
The Friday night features a reunion of classic Sudbury bands who “stormed The Townehouse stage” over the years, Loewenberg said, including Budget Motel and Far From Heroes.
Saturday is a full-day “re-enactment” of the Summer of Love featuring what Loewenberg calls “the best of local artists right now” all pitching in.
Loewenberg’s Beatles band will perform all of Sgt. Pepper from start to finish alongside as many as 16 additional classical musicians from the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra.
The Wharf Rats are reuniting for a tribute to The Who. Ox, formerly of Sudbury, will perform a Jimi Hendrix tribute. Jo Po will perform Janis Joplin.
Murder Murder will perform a set of The Grateful Dead. And the Whisky River Blues Band will perform a selection of blues from the Summer of Love era.
Passes are $20 for each day, $35 for both Friday and Saturday and $50 will get you admission for the full weekend plus commemorative Townehouse anniversary swag.
For more details, visit TheTownehouse.com.