Art Show | written by: CARL TRAUTMANN | photos by: KYLE NORTON
If you are doing some “staycationing“ in Darien this summer and have a hankering to hear some music, there are plenty of great local options, too many to call out in this space, but here are a few you may want to check out.
In-Town Darien
Grove Street Plaza: Friday evenings 6pm to 8:30pm through September 15, Grove Street is the place to be for music in Darien. An outside, chill, family-friendly vibe, facilitated by The Corbin District, these summer Fridays feature great Darien bands such as Gunsmoke and Wingmen, as well as talented local area bands. Goodies from Flour Water Salt Bread and Neat are usually available. A new restaurant is in the works over the next year to replace The Melting Pot. For more details, visit: https://thecorbindistrict.com/events/
There are a couple great eateries in Darien including Rory’s (rorys.net) and The Goose (thegoosedarien.com) that feature local area bands on or around the weekends.
Around The Corner
Rowayton/Norwalk
RCA Summer Music Festival at Bayley Beach and Pinkney Park in Rowayton. The Rowayton Civic Association does a great job assembling a lineup of local and national touring up and coming bands. Back in the day they featured local phenoms Goose and Billy Strings before they hit it big. Family-friendly and lots of fun. Generally, every Sunday until Labor Day. For more info, check out: rowaytoncivicassociation.org/summer-music-festival
Wall Street Theatre: This beautifully renovated theatre (and nonprofit organization) in downtown Norwalk features a diverse list of touring headline artists. Coming up this summer are the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Steve Earle. For a full schedule, go to wallstreettheater.com/
The Bandstand at Calf Pasture Beach is worth checking out every Wednesday, (visit norwalk.org/events/summerconcert-series-2023-at-calf-pasture-beach/); Ripka’s Beach Café there is a chill spot too (ripkasbeach.com)
Throughout Norwalk, there are a nice variety of restaurants that regularly feature good local area bands every week. A few highlights:
- Sunset Grille, music on the water in the Norwalk Marina, right next to Calf Pasture (sunsetgrille.net)
- Sails Bar & Grill in Rowayton (sailsbarandgrill.com)
- Ponza Italian Kitchen & Pizza, lively music scene. Just over the Darien border on Connecticut Avenue (ponzaitaliankitchen.com)
- 314 Beer Garden, outdoor facility with food trucks and wood-fired pizza. Just past Wilson Point
(314beergarden.com) - O’Neill’s Irish Pub, a staple in SONO with music inside and outside (oneillsono.com)
New Canaan
Waveny Park Summer Concert Series. A longtime New Canaan favorite. Music every Wednesday, 7:30pm to 9:30pm through August 30th (search events at newcanaanct.myrec.com)
Two nice spots in downtown New Canaan that regularly feature local bands: Gates (gatesrestaurant.com) and the White Buffalo, with music outside (thewhitebuffalo.net)
Stamford
Alive at Five: Stamford’s signature summer music happening, Thursday evenings in Mill River Park
(stamford-downtown.com/events/alivefive-5-2)
Nice venues/restaurants to hear great local music:
- On the water: The Crab Shell (crabshell.com) and Cisco Brewers at The Village (thevillagestamford.com/cisco-brewers). Boat-friendly. Also on the river, the Beer Garden at Shippan Landing (beeratthelanding.com)
- Downtown: Tiernan’s (tiernansbar.com), and a bit further north is Coal House Pizza that just put in cool doors that open to the outside (coalhousepizza.com)
A Few Minutes’ Drive
Levitt Pavilion. A Westport favorite, outdoor bandshell (levittpavilion.com)
Fairfield Theatre Company (FTC). Two stages that feature a wide variety of great music and national touring artists like Robert Cray on 8/25 (fairfieldtheatre.org)
Park City Music Hall. New and nicely renovated in the heart of Blackrock (parkcitymusichall.com/#/events)
Ridgefield Playhouse. Newly renovated featuring national touring artists (ridgefieldplayhouse.org)
