Go see a band and come home with a painting.
Go see a band and discover a new place to eat.
Go see a band you like and get introduced to something you’ve never heard before.
When the 4752 Music Festival takes place in downtown New Bedford this Saturday, October 23rd, it will be an experience unlike anything the South Coast has to offer – a day of “free floating” music, culture and commerce with 13 bands playing mini-shows in six downtown businesses – all within a four-block radius.
The event is entirely free.
“This is completely unique for New Bedford,” says New Bedford musician Eric Baylies, who will be playing the event with the Baylies Band. “This is probably one of the coolest things to ever happen in the city.”
With music starting at 2:30 in the afternoon and running until midnight, Saturday’s opportunities are limited only by a visitor’s interests – guests can enter and exit a venue as they wish. All but one of the venues will be all-ages, the only exception is the No Problemo bar which will have music starting at 10 p.m. for a 21-plus audience.
There is a listing at the bottom of this story that includes all of the bands, venues and times of the performances.
“I want to cultivate the idea of something that’s free-floating,” says event organizer Devin Byrnes. “If you go and see a band and you really like them and you don’t like the next band that much you can go and have a burrito or a coffee. You can zip home to take a shower, whatever you want to do, and come back to catch up with some of the music being played later in the day.You can experience seven hours of continuous music or go see your friend’s band for one song and then leave.
“It’s cool to think that you may be having a drink with a friend downtown, hear music being played and pop in to check it out,” Byrnes says. “If you’re not listening to music you could go to an art gallery, a restaurant, or a store.”
The genres for the event are decidedly alternative, including noise, punk and acoustic. Half of the performers will be local while some bands will be travelling in from throughout the northeast, including Boston, New York and western Massachusetts. Byrnes will be compensating the artists for their performances.
“A lot of the music being played won’t be for everyone,” Byrnes says. “It’s underground and mostly a little weird. In my mind all of these bands are interesting, they all bring things to the table that will keep a listener’s attention for half-an-hour. When I see a band I want there to be something about that band that’s memorable. Music is totally arbitrary – somebody may love the lineup and somebody may think it’s garbage.
“You can always preview these artists online and decide if you want to see them in a live setting.”
And for Byrnes the settings are an integral facet to the festival’s experience.
“These are non-traditional venues that will have unique atmospheres,” Byrnes says. “We’re trying to create a novel experience. A lot of these bands are used to playing alternative venues, house parties and basements.
“The idea is that you’re getting people into these venues where they wouldn’t ordinarily see bands.”
“It’s cool to see musicians in spaces that don’t usually have bands and see a lot of people walking around downtown,” says Craig Paiva, who has owned the No Problemo restaurant for 19 years. “This isn’t about making money, it’s about the love of music.”
Paiva will be tapping into his own pocket to provide food for the artists playing the event. Throughout the years he has used his location to put on shows in a wide array of genres, from jazz and reggae to hardcore, hip-hop and acoustic.
“These venues are doing this basically because they’re cool and they’re buying into something that’s viable and interesting,” Byrnes says. “There’s no financial compensation for them whatsoever, unless somebody buys something from them.”
Venues for the concerts include the Centre St. loading dock for the Fiber Optics Center, the Communal Space on Union St., Destination Soups on Union St., The Mad Lila on Purchase St.,the Paradise/McFee Gallery on William St. and No Problemo on Purchase St.
“We’ve had unbelievable support from local businesses for this event,” Byrnes says. “The businesses that are doing this are so onboard. I put out feelers in July wondering if we should do it this year and they were all like ‘Let’s do this!’”
Masks are recommended but not mandatory for the shows,and there will be no proof of vaccination required. Tip jars will be available.
“These shows will be good advertising for these venues, and people can discover other cool things that the city has to offer. You can see a band you know and discover a band you don’t know. It’s a good opportunity for young people under 21 to see live music, something they can’t always do.”
This will be the second year for the festival. It was first held in 2019, but was nixed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first year was a great success,” Byrnes says. “I was so happy with the way it came out, it was an experiment that exceeded my expectations.”
A native of Salem, MA, Byrnes has owned Destination Soups for 13 years. He will also be playing the event with his band Picniclunch.
“The idea for this event was largely organic, it isn’t modeled after anything in particular,” he says. “I’ve been to festivals where there’s multiple stages with music at the same time and you can’t always see all the bands you want. This event is designed so that you can follow the action around the city, it’s got walkability.”
T-shirts from the event will be sold for $15, with a design created by Mike Ribeiro, a member of Picniclunch. Ribeiro also designed the flyers for the concerts.
“This event is about as local as local can be,” Byrnes says.
And perhaps this festival will lead to additional music and cultural events in New Bedford.
“I’d like to see more art spaces open up downtown,” Byrnes says. “Maybe this event will inspire people to open up more art spaces, but it would be a labor of love. There’s a lot of great people in this city trying to do cool things.”
Bands, venues and times for the 4752 Music Festival on Saturday, October 23rd
Fiber Optics Center, 23 Centre St.
2:30 – Scapeghost
3:15 – Sugar Death Whistle
Communal Space, 246 Union St.
4 – Myles Goulart
4:45 – Wreath
Destination Soups, 149 Union St.
5:15 – Blood Feeder
6 – Picniclunch
The Mad Lila, 741 Purchase St.
6:30 – Gordon Gritty
7:15 – Bridge of Flowers
McFee Gallery, 104 William St.
8 – Baylies Band
8:45 – Urojets
9:15 – Loud Hearts
No Problemo, 813 Purchase St.
10 – Black Beach
10:45 – Landowner
Sonic SouthCoast 