By Chip Chandler — Producer
Here's a quick take on your 10 best entertainment bets in the next 10 days.
1. Sounds of Summer
Outdoor concert season is heating up. Amarillo Botanical Gardens' annual Music in the Gardens series will continue with Amarillo rock band Moon Dog at 8 p.m. June 20 at the gardens, 1400 Streit Drive, followed by party band Insufficient Funds at 8 p.m. June 27. June Jams will feature Americana singer Eddie Esler at 7:30 p.m. June 20 and progressive Americana band Comanche Moon at 7:30 p.m. June 27, both in Neblett Park near the Randall County Courthouse in Canyon. The Starlight Theatre series will continue at 7 p.m. June 25 with Amarillo rock band Monarch at Sam Houston Park, Line Avenue and Western Street. The Amarillo College June Jazz season will continue with Amarillo Jazz Society Big Band at 7 p.m. June 25 on the AC Washington Street campus. Center City of Amarillo's High Noon on the Square will continue its 25th anniversary with music from Esquire Jazz and food from Youngblood's at noon June 26 on the lawn of the Potter County Courthouse, 501 S. Fillmore St.
2. Prophets and Outlaws
Texas soul band Prophets and Outlaws will perform at 10 p.m. June 21 at Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road. Other concerts of note: roots rocker Duane Mark at 10 p.m. June 20 at Leftwoods, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave.; Ruth Ellen Lynch and Jazz Plus at 8 p.m. June 21 at Metropolitan — A Speakeasy, 9181 Town Square Blvd., Suite 1201; Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute act Lone Star Skynyrd at 8 p.m. June 21, the CBH Bubbapalooza Music Fest headlined by Randall King at 6 p.m. June 22 and Amarillo native Kevin Fowler at 8 p.m. June 28 at Starlight Ranch Event Center; cumbia star Stefani Montiel at 8:30 p.m. June 21 at Tejano Wild West, 1200 S.E. 10th Ave.; indie rock band Amarionette at 10 p.m. June 21, Wichita Falls-based singer-songwriter James Cook at 10 p.m. June 22 and Americana rock band Vandoliers at 10 p.m. June 29 at Golden Light Cantina, 2908 S.W. Sixth Ave.; bluesman Leroy Miller at 10 p.m. June 22 at Skooterz, 4100 Bushland Blvd.; progressive Americana band Comanche Moon at 10 p.m. June 22 with The Lowdown Drifters and Americana singer-songwriter Adam Hood at 10 p.m. June 28 at Hoots Pub; indie one-man band The March Divide at 9 p.m. June 26 at The 806 Coffee + Lounge, 2812 S.W. Sixth Ave.; folk singer Randy Palmer at 6:30 p.m. June 27 for Sunset and Songwriters at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 N. Soncy Road; Austin alt-rock band The Human Circuit at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at Esquire Jazz Club, 626 S. Polk St.; and the Lovestock music and art festival at 4 p.m. June 29 at Zombiez Bar & Grill, 711 S.W. 10th Ave.
3. Summer Kick-Off Party
Welcome the new season with this 5 p.m. June 22 celebration at AirU, 5461 McKenna Square, featuring food trucks, a half-hour of free jump time and music from Chawn Cook & Sarah Adams. Plus, check out the fun at Palace Coffee's Welcome to Summer party at 6 p.m. June 21 on the Amarillo College campus, featuring a cornhole tournament, Six Car Pub & Brewery beer, and Purple Flamingo Pops, StiX and Porch Swing Kettle Korn food trucks.
4. Amarillo Venom
The arena football squad will wrap up its season against the Oklahoma Flying Aces at 6 p.m. June 22 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum, 401 S. Buchanan St. FC Amarillo Bombers will continue its season with a 6 p.m. June 21 bout against West Texas Rumbleweeds in the Civic Center Complex Coliseum. And the Amarillo Sod Poodles will return from the all-star break with the June 27 start of a four-day homestand against the Corpus Christi Hooks in Hodgetown, 701 S. Buchanan St.
5. Panhandle Pride Festival
Celebrate and commemorate 50 years since the Stonewall uprising with this community festival from noon to 6 p.m. June 23 in Memorial Park, 2501 S. Washington St. Plus, look for more Pride events from Panhandle Pride, The 806 Coffee + Lounge and RR Bar.
6. Love's Labours Lost
Members of the Texas company take on Shakespeare's twisty romantic comedy Love's Labours Lost at 8 p.m. June 24 in Pioneer Amphitheater, where performances of long-running outdoor musical Texas will continue at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays through Aug. 17 (including the special Comanche Summer performance June 22). Also on stage in the next 10 days: Merely Players' biblical drama Above the Sunat 7:30 p.m. June 21-22 and 28-29 in the Amarillo College Experimental Theatre, RR Bar's production of Martin McDonagh drama The Pillowman at 6 p.m. June 20 and 9 p.m. June 21 at the bar, 701 S. Georgia St., and Kwahadi Dancers' 75th anniversary performances of Song of the Eagle on June 22 and 29 (and running Saturdays through July 20) at the Kwahadi Kiva Museum, 9151 E. Interstate 40.
7. Snaps for Sinners
The eclectic trio returns to Amarillo for a pair of shows: 7 p.m. June 27 in the Panhandle PBS studios for the Yellow City Sounds Live concert series, and 9 p.m. June 28 at Esquire Jazz Club, 626 S. Polk St.
8. Yesterday
A young British man wakes to find that he's the only one on Earth who remembers the Beatles in this romantic fantasy opening June 28. Also opening that weekend are action film Anna and horror sequel Annabelle Comes Home. Opening the weekend of June 21 are horror reboot Child's Play and Pixar sequel Toy Story 4. Special engagements include the live summer kickoff for Drum Corps International on June 20, 25th anniversary screenings of Forrest Gump on June 23 and 25, and a filmed-live production of the musical Kinky Boots on June 25 and 29.
9. Summer Fireworks Extravaganza
Downtown Amarillo will explode with fun at the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce's annual not-quite-July-Fourth event, which will run from 4 to 10 p.m. June 29. Look for music in two areas: the Amarillo National Bank stage at Sixth Avenue and Polk Street, and the Happy State Bank stage between Sixth and Seventh avenues and Taylor and Fillmore Street. Food trucks will line up along Sixth between Polk and Fillmore streets, and a beer garden will be open on Taylor Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Fireworks will explode above Hodgetown following the Amarillo Sod Poodles Game.
10. Metallica
No, not the band. This Back Alley Gallery art show by Rachael Edwards will combine elements of street art and the gallery experience beneath the Taylor Street overpass on First Avenue at 7:30 p.m. June 29. (A previous installation was explored in a segment of The Handle, seen above.)
Chip Chandler is a producer for Panhandle PBS and a member of GALECA. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and on Facebook.
