Joan Baez may be as well known for introducing a young, upstartish Bob Dylan to an audience that didn’t know him from Adam at the Newport Folk Festival in the early ‘60s as she is for her own strum and croon hippie music. She of the warbly bird voice, long brunette locks and righteous political activism, Baez has nonetheless remained a beloved icon of the post-affluent counterculture, staying engaged in political causes to this day and, apparently, still making music. Bellingham’s Mount Baker Theatre is the perfect place for her to show up this Thursday — a leftist college town located in the gorgeous boondocks and with a substantial population of sandalheads, patchouli-sniffers and aging yippies. At a cost of about $25 a ticket, of course, some of the more unwashed and ungainfully unemployed among modern neo-folksters might have a hard time getting past the gate, though maybe they can plead their case with the management. We’ve come a long way since Woodstock, for sure. Call (360)7 34-6080 for tickets, or go to www.mountbakertheatre.com.
Only four shows remain in the summerlong series of concerts presented by Concerts in the Barn Olympic Music Festival near Quilicene, with this weekend, Aug. 17 and 18, featuring a “Romantic Jewels” show with selections from Janacek (Sonata for Violin and Piano), Chopin (Sonata in G Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 65) and Brahms (Quartet in A Major for Piano, Strings, Op. 26). The concerts themselves are held inside a 100-year-old dairy barn located on a 55-acre farm on the Olympic Peninsula, so, heck, even if the music stinks, the setting is cherry. They say the acoustics in that old barn are great, so there’s that, too. Get tickets by phone (206-527-8839) or on-line at www.ticketweb.com. You can plunk in the barn, or outdoors where seating is unlimited and cheaper.
The penultimate presentation in Coupeville Library’s Summer Reading series is this Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 2:30 p.m., with a theatrical mask show called Animal Quest, hosted by Greg Bennick. This is an audience participation type deal, complete with juggling and a special puzzle for the kids. Best of all, it’s free. (Public libraries are surely the highest and most underappreciated achievement of Western Civilization).
Port Townsend artist Diane Ainsworth currently is showing her new oils in various styles — landscape, floral and nautical — at Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes (360) 293-6938. Also on display are watercolors by Larry Mason, acrylics by John Robbins, abstract oils by Wattana Wattanapun (what a name!) and sculptures by both Gus Gosanko and Leo E. Osborne. Show runs through Oct. 2. You can glimpse the gallery on-line at www.scottmilo.com.
What would summer be without an obligatory appearance by the decimated remnants of the Beach Boys, a once-brilliant band bent on pillaging every last shred of integrity by cashing in on the false currency of nostalgia at crusty county fairs and geriatric festivals across the continent. Talk about “endless summer.” The only thing that exceeds the Boys’ greed for carny cash is their audience’s inveterate ability to be flim-flammed by their own good vibrations. Without a brainsick Brian Wilson at the helm, the Beach Boys are just karaoke of themselves, and it’s a shame someone doesn’t have the cajones to pull the blanket and put the board in the rafters. Of course, if you disagree, you can drop 40 clams and see this rotating line-up of goombahs at Seattle’s Pier 62/63 on Friday (Aug. 16) for a lovely “Summer Night at the Pier.” Just call (206) 628-0888, or go to www.summernights.org.
If the Beach Boys aren’t exactly your cup of fug, you might have a more authentic oceanic experience at the 30th annual Seattle Boat Show at Shilshole Bay, which runs Wednesday through Sunday. For only $8, you can scope out more than 150 “in-the-water” boats and 120 more on trailers shoreside, representing 73 makes in all. Yachts, trawlers, sailboats, fishing boats, water ski boats, aluminum boats, inflatable boats and kayaks will all be on hand, plus all kinds of high-tech gadgets to excite the American male’s insatiable desire for things that go “beep.” World-reigning high-diving champions Dustin and Becca Webster will be plunging into tanks from as high as 80 feet on Friday and Saturday, every hour from noon until 6 p.m. Add food and a beer garden to the mix, and you’ve got a perfect way to blow a late-August afternoon.
To contact Rick Levin, call 675-6611; rlevin@whidbeynewstimes.com
