Wed 8/3 @ 7:30PM
Wed 8/10 @ 7:30PM
One of the most fun events around is the Cleveland Museum of Art’s City Stages, free outdoor concerts taking place in the street outside its sister location, the Transformer Station, in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood. They bring to Cleveland (again, for free!) artists from around the world, performing engaging music infused with the sounds and beats of global cultures that generally evokes a street dance party.
This year, there’ll be two concerts taking place the first and third Wednesdays in August. On August 3, Dobet Gnahoré from Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire will bring her singing, songwriting, percussion and dancing skills to the stage as she performs her contemporary Afropop, breaking through the wall of resistance that’s long inhibited women from becoming stars in African music. Known previously for acoustic-based sounds, her latest (her sixth) album Couleur, released last year, features more electric guitar and danceable electronic beats.
On August 10, Cimafunk arrives from Havana, Cuba with its music that combines an Afro-Cuban base with funk, hip hop and soul from around the world, demonstrating how Black music has traveled internationally and crossed borders.
If you aren’t up to dancing, bring your canvas beach chair and set it up in the street. The area is packed with eateries and bars if you need food or drink and the Transformer Station, which is the central staging area for the FRONT International Triennial, will be open if you want to get more information on what FRONT is offering for the next two months.
clevelandart.org/city-stages-2022