FREE: UpBeat On the Roof Concert Series @ the Tang Museum

Summer must getting close because the schedules for those free summertime concert series are beginning to roll out…

First out of the gate is the fab UpBeat on the Roof series, which actually takes place outdoors on the roof of Skidmore College’s Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs.

And there’s a big change this year. The series has been held on Friday evenings since it was launched more than a decade ago, but this summer the concerts will shift to Thursday evenings at 7pm to coincide with the Museum’s new hours. The museum will now remain open til 9pm on Thursdays, giving concert-goers the opportunity to peruse the exhibitions.

In case of rain, the concerts will be held inside the museum.

Here’s the 2017 schedule for UpBeat on the Roof:

DECODA
July 13
Skidmore Chamber Music Institute: Decoda is a New York City-based chamber ensemble comprised of virtuoso musicians, entrepreneurs, and passionate advocates of the arts. The ensemble’s summer intensive at Skidmore College, now in its fourth year, offers young musicians multiple performance opportunities and occasions for meaningful community engagement.

ALEX TORRES & HIS LATIN ORCHESTRA
July 20
Amsterdam’s Alex Torres returns to the Tang with his 12-piece band to bring Latin sizzle and percussion-heavy music. The Orchestra showcases and teaches its own blend of Afro-Caribbean music at local schools, as well as writing and performing for film and television.

HEARD
July 27
Heard combines jazz, classical and world instruments to form a unique arrangement of sound. The band blends global styles and influences in a way that takes listeners on unexpected journeys. The band last played UpBeat in 2014.

GREAT MUTATIONS
August 3
Making their UpBeat debut, Great Mutations features Mitchell Masterson, Ian White and Matthew Thouin. The band’s crisp sound generates from the blending of rhythmic guitar, drums and winsome lyrics. The trio has arranged and recorded two albums, releasing their most recent, Many Battles, last summer.

CANNON THE BRAVE
August 10
Albany-based Cannon the Brave’s goal is to “connect listeners with the best versions of themselves” and do so through the positivity and self-exploration contained within their indie pop-rock. Led by identical twin sisters Allyson (vocals) and Whitney Smith (keyboard, vocals), the band includes Eric Margan (multi-instrumentalist), Mike Campana (guitar) and Brian Beverly (bass).

RAMBLIN JUG STOMPERS
August 17
Armed with a washboard, banjo, mandolin, guitar and an array of toys, Ramblin Jug Stompers whip up an amalgam of backporch bluegrass, gutbucket blues, moonshine twang and hobo jungle jazz. The band last played UpBeat in 2007.

PONY IN THE PANCAKE
August 24
The Albany-based Pony in the Pancake make their UpBeat debut, playing low-fi rock filled with melodies and experimentation, walking the line between surf rock, krautrock and shoegaze.

MORE OF TODAY’S NEW CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Three New Concerts Announced for Skidmore’s Zankel Music Center
Paul McCartney Is Headed to Syracuse’s Carrier Dome