Tuesdays in the Plaza Wraps it Up Tonight with Musselwhite Finale

Seems like only yesterday that summer began – school let out and the concert series premiered with Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings.

Now, school’s back in, and this next Tuesday marks the end of the Tuesdays in the Plaza series for 2011, with the biggest headliner since the May 31 kick-off when blues-harp legend Charlie Musselwhite plays for his local crowd on Aug. 30.

Musselwhite lives in Geyserville, just a few miles up the road, but this is the first time he’s guested at the Tuesdays in the Plaza. in January, when he was getting ready to perform at the for a Geyserville Education Benefit.

“He was on tour with Cindy Lauper in Australia,” said Dan Zastrow, who lines up the acts for the annual series. “On a whim I emailed and asked if he’d like to play the last date this year. The answer came right back: 'Sure!'”

Between slide guitar whiz Roy Rogers and series closer Musselwhite, the 2011 concert season was always a reliable party time in the Plaza on Tuesday nights, with 14 acts providing good music that was, for the most part, fun to listen to and more fun to dance with.

Unseasonable weather caused the cancellation of one of the shows, the Patsy & the Bobcats scheduled for June 28.

"As far as I know, I believe it was the first time we've cancelled a Tueday concert," said Elizabeth Haskell, recreation supervisor for . "Certainly the first as long as I've been here." Haskell started with the Parks & Rec in 2007.

"We're asking them back to be part of the line-up next year," she added, referring to the well-reviewed tribute show of Patsy Cline material featuring Mary Gannon Graham.

Overall, however, "I thought the season went very well, quite well."

A capacity crowd is expected for this final concert of the 2011 series, and for the first time streets will be closed to through traffic to accommodate a larger-than-expected crowd. Beginning at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, both Plaza and Center streets surrounding the plaza will be closed to traffic, and converted to event seating areas.

The food vendors, who have been setting up on Plaza Street, will be moved to Center Street, behind the bandstand area. Matheson Street and Healdsburg Avenue will remain open.

Once again, the Parks and Recreation department would like to remind you that in order to protect Plaza Park and ensure the enjoyment of the concert for everyone, please note the following rules:

• If you choose to set up chairs and blankets for the concert, please do so after 4 p.m.  on the day of the concert.
• Chairs and blankets left unattended prior to 4 p.m. will be removed.
• Please leave pets at home.

The Healdsburg Parks & Recreation Department would appreciate your feedback on this summer’s series, and have provided a Concert feedback form online for anyone to download, fill out and fax or mail in.

Since they’ve asked for feedback, this writer's personal highlights included the Pulsators (June 14), whose blend of rock’n’reggae with a soupçon of New Orleans is right up my musical alley; Vinyl with special guest Ernest Raglin (July 5), a Jamaican guitarist with studio cred four decades long; Culann’s Hounds (July 26) who proved once again that the origins of the country hoe-down are Celtic; and Stompy Jones (Aug. 23), whose classic jumpin’ jazz set was a welcome break from the push-the-decibel-limit of some previous shows.