The big  events mark the first weekend of July— Street Machine Weekend and the Centric Music festival.
In addition to plenty of pretty and loud cars, Street Machine Weekend features a special concert for Youth One.
 After the Friday night cruise, hang out at the beer gardens in Galt Gardens and listen to the music of a couple of excellent local bands- local country musicians Alyssa McQuaid and Coyote Junction as well as the Cody Hall band. There is no cover for that show, which will begin at approximately 8:30 p.m.

As usual some of the bars on the 3rd Ave cruise route also feature live music. Local classic rock band Fast Times will be performing at Backstreet South beginning at 7 p.m.
The Owl Acoustic Lounge features  live music for Street Wheelers weekend as Calgary rockabilly band Peter and the Wolves return to Lethbridge, July 7.

 J Blissette return to the Owl Acoustic Lounge, June 8 with Hobart , Tasmania rock band Heart Beach and Edmonton based garage rock band Brunch Club
 The 1010 pub also has live music for the Street Machine cruise, as Band of Brothers will be playing some rock and roll, July. 7.

 For something completely different from that, classical music festival  Centric Music Festival takes over Casa with for concerts featuring the music of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.
The Centric music festival opens, July 5 with a gala concert featuring Chopin performed by internationally acclaimed pianist Krzysztof Jablonski who will perform a selection of the solo repertoire he presented at the 1985 International Chopin Competition for Centric's opening gala concert. The concert is a rare opportunity for Lethbridge audiences to hear an accomplished artist of Dr. Jablonski's  calibre. A pre-concert talk begins at 6:30 p.m. with the concert at 7:30 pm. Tickets for that concert are $40.

Tickets for the other three concerts are $25.
The second concert,  July 6 at 7:30 p.m. is the first of three concerts exploring the music of the three major "B" German composers. It features the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Cellist, Tyler Stewart will present “Komm, süßes Kreutz, aria no. 57” from Bach's masterpiece, “the St. Matthew Passion,”  and one of the monuments of the cello repertoire, the “Cello suite no. 2 in D minor.” Pianist Jesse Plessis will interpret the first of Bach's six Partitas for keyboard, “Partita no. 1 in B-flat major.”

 

Soprano Lisa Mulgrew will join pianist Jesse Plessis for several extracts from “the St. Matthew Passion.”
The third concert,  July 7 at 7:30 p.m.  features music from different eras of Beethoven's output, beginning with violinist Leslie Ting and pianist Ryan Kolodziej interpreting “The Sixth Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 30, no. 1.”  Baritone Ian Fundytus will join pianist Jesse Plessis for Beethoven's only song cycle that ushered in the beginning of this genre of German art song, “An die ferne Geliebte Op. 98 (To the distant beloved).” Jesse Plessis will conclude the evening by performing Beethoven's last “Piano Sonata, no. 32 in C# minor, Op. 111.”


The last concert of the festival, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. features selections from Brahms' chamber music. The evening begins with “Zwei Gesänge Op. 91 (two songs)” sung by mezzo-soprano Bethany Yon with cellist Tyler Stewart and pianist Ryan Kolodziej. It will be followed by Brahms' youthful and epic first “Piano Trio in B major Op. 8, ” played by violinist Leslie Ting, cellist Tyler Stewart and pianist Ryan Kolodziej. The second half of the concert features the sublime “Liebeslieder waltzer Op. 52, (Love song waltzes)” with soprano Lisa Mulgrew, mezzo-soprano Bethany Yon, tenor Jason Ragan, baritone Ian Fundytus and piano four hands duo Ryan Kolodziej and Jesse Plessis.

 It is an excellent week for Edmonton based musicians. Edmonton indie rock band Morewine play the Slice, July 5 with Toronto based indie rock/garage rock band Ghost Women and Robben Lent of the band Sweat. There is a seven dollar cover for the show, which begins at 9 p.m.
And , Edmonton rock trio Tallest to Shortest return to the Slice, July 7 with fellow Edmontonians Pine Barrens. There is a  $10 cover for that show, which will begin at 10 p.m.

If you just want to laugh, Yuk Yuks comedy is at Average Joes on July 7 with Kevin Stobo and James Moore performing beginning at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance $20 on the day of the show.

 The other big weekend event is also in Galt Gardens on, July 8 where Shelter Me! Party in the Park will be happening from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. There will be vendors, live music, a dunk tank, bouncy castles, kids games and fun for the whole family, all in support of the McMan Homeless initiative which helps provide affordable housing for those in need.
Also happening, the Slice features Pincher Creek born, Calgary based singer songwriter Tanner Riedel, July 8.
 On Monday, the Slice features Chicago born, New Orleans based jazz pianist/singer Stephanie Nilles, July 10.
 And Vancouver Indie-pop band Royal Oak visit the Slice on Tuesday, July 11.