Scroll down for this week’s free concerts lineup.

Featured on St. Louis Public Radio’s Cityscape

by Romondo Davis
During the noon hour on Friday, June 27th, I was Steve Powell’s guest on the St. Louis Public Radio program, Cityscape. When Cityscape producer Mary Edwards escorted me into the studio, I sensed that host Steve Powell had a genuine interest in what we do with the website. My sense was confirmed when he proceeded to ask relevant questions with excellent followup. He’s a pro, no doubt about it. Here I’ll paraphrase and expand on portions of the interview.

Steve: You spent time in broadcasting a long time ago.
Me: I am proud to have worked at KWMU for nearly six years beginning in 1976. I worked as a program host, a news reporter, and a production engineer. KWMU was the first in a series of radio and TV jobs that ran 15 years before I had a career change. The experience and skills I gained at KWMU contributed greatly to me becoming a promoter of musical entertainment.

Steve: How did you end up creating a website that promotes free concerts?
Me: I left broadcasting to survive; in the late 80s and early 90s, broadcasting jobs were going to robots and computers. Computer multimedia was just getting started. I got in on the bleeding edge, as my friend and mentor, Peter Meng, would say. That software development work exposed me to two very important concepts related to computers: marketing and technology. As I continued as a developer, I became more and more interested in the technology that enables marketing. The fact is, I was creating training and marketing materials delivered on CD-ROM before the Internet became the standard delivery platforms for such material. Indeed, the growing popularity of the Internet drew me out of development and into marketing. With my love for attending concerts and my awareness that no one website was doing what we do as well as we do made the founding of FreeConcertsSTL.com natural.

Steve: It is almost two years to the day that you launched FreeConcertsSTL.com.
Me: I think we had already been attending more free concerts than the average person. If you’re my Facebook friend you know that I try to post when Deb and I are out and about. Several friends, knowing I do websites for a living, suggested that we create a website about all these concerts we attend. So, on June 6th, 2012 at the Botanical Garden’s Whitaker Music Festival, waiting for Vince Martin to take the stage, I decided to check to see if the domain name was available. I purchased it on the spot and within three weeks we publicly launched the site. It’s been growing in popularity ever since.

Read Cityscape producer Mary Edwards’ synopsis of the interview titled Website Highlights Free Local Concerts And Festivals

Photos of Recent Free Concerts

June 17: Trilogy at Faust Park
June 24: Spectrum at Faust Park
June 28: Dragon Boat Race at Creve Coeur Park
June 28: Freddie Washington at Chesterfield Wine and Jazz Fest

Here’s what is happening this week on the Free Concert scene.

Note: Please check our calendar for the up-to-date listings.

4th of July Fireworks

Check the FreeConcerts calendar for a listing of communities offering fireworks as part of their Independence Day celebration. To date, we have found over 25 different locations in the St. Louis metropolitan area. In addition, some of these venues will be offering 4th of July festivals that include live music. Those will be listed, too.

If your community is not represented, please let us know so we can add them to our list.

Free Concert Events This Week

Click the items below for times, locations, and more details.

Monday, June 30
Melissa Neels Band at South St. Louis Square Park
Coleman Hughes Project featuring Adrianne Felton at Heman Park in University City
Compton Heights Concert Band at the Bandstand in Tower Grove Park

Tuesday, July 1
Miss Jubilee Band at Fanetti Park in South St. Louis

Wednesday, July 2
DJ Nune at Citygarden in Downtown
Old Salt Union at the Missouri Botanical Garden
Children’s Concert at Piper Palm House in Tower Grove Park

Thursday, July 3
Side Tracked at Grove Memorial Park Market Street in Grafton
Alton Muny Band at Riverview Park in Alton
The Band Perry and other bands performing at Fair St. Louis on Art Hill in Forest Park
St. Charles Municipal Band at Frontier Park

Friday, July 4
Joe Dirt and the Dirty Boys at Arnold City Park
Dr. Zhivegas at Progress Park in Wentzville
Trilogy at BMAC in Bridgeton
Northwinds Concert Band at Florissant Valley Park
Bonnie Raitt and other bands performing at Fair St. Louis on Art Hill in Forest Park
Sh-Boom at Paul A Schroeder Park in Manchester
Galaxy Red at the St. Louis Zoo
Smash Band at Bluebird Park in Ellisville
July 4th Fireworks all over St. Louis metro

Saturday, July 5
Ralph Butler Band at Lafayette Park in St. Louis
The Fray and other bands performing at Fair St. Louis on Art Hill in Forest Park
Funky Butt Brass Band at Benton Park in South St. Louis

Sunday, July 6
Alton Muny Band at Haskell Park in Alton
Gateway Festival Orchestra at Brookings Quadrangle, Washington University
Manchester Community Band at Paul A Schroeder Park in Manchester
Air Force Band at Carondelet Park in St. Louis
Ragtime Rendezvous in the Rosebud Cafe at Scott Joplin House in St. Louis

Be sure to check our website for more events. We hope to see you at a free concert soon.