The Amps and Ales Festival comes to Prince Georges Stadium on September 16. The festival will feature 27 craft breweries and seven bands!
The first ever Amps and Ales Festival will be held on September 16 in the parking lot of Prince Georges Stadium, the home of the Bowie Baysox minor league baseball team. The inaugural event is being put on by Crofton’s Humdinger Productions, in conjunction with Annapolis’ Symmetry Agency, with the goal of creating an event that features local craft beers as well as local and regional bands. 27 craft breweries will be on hand, while seven local and regional bands will perform, five of which have been announced thus far. The breweries include Flying Dog Brewery of Frederick, Atlas Brew Works of the District of Columbia, Charm City Meadworks, DuClaw Brewing Company, Founders Brewing, Union Craft Brewing, Otter Creek Brewing, Jailbreak Brewing Company, and Stone Brewing Company as well as countless others. Ticket holders 21 and over will also be given 10 sampling tickets which can be used at any of the Brewery vendors on the festival grounds. Attendees will also be able to purchase additional pint servings for $5.Musical Entertainment
People's Blues of Richmond As for the musical entertainment, People’s Blues of Richmond has been announced as the headliner. Their sound and style has been described by Relix magazine as “a psychedelic dreamland of mysterious sirens, flophouse destruction and good old drug-fueled rock and roll mayhem.” Creative Loafing describes the band as a “cross between The Black Keys and Black Sabbath with a healthy dose of Led Zeppelin.” People’s Blues of Richmond has played countless shows in the region and beyond while having shared hippie jam band festival stages with well-known jam circuit bands and performers. Festival goers can expect a loud and high energy performance by the band. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="819"]
People's Blues of Richmond[/caption]
Higher Hands
Also on the bill are the Annapolis-based Higher Hands, who describe their music as “Funky Soul Fusion with a Twist of Rhyme.” Higher Hands has played countless shows across the mid-Atlantic region alongside renowned performers such as The New Mastersounds, Trombone Shorty and the man who is known as the late Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown.
Higher Hands’ performance will feature a James Brown tribute set, so fans of funk music are sure to be pleased.
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Higher Hands[/caption]
Kit and the Chardonnay Boys
Kit and the Chardonnay Boys will be bringing their brand of original roots blues, psychedelic pop and hearty rock and roll to festival audiences. While Amps and Ales is a daytime-into-evening event, the band lineup suggests that the event will be more of rock show and party rather than a family get-together, the event’s website promises that the bands in the lineup are “seven of the region’s most thunderous bands.”
Because Amps and Ales is a day-long event lasting from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., the $30 ticket price isn’t bad. Regular admission also comes with 10 free sample tickets. If you are only interested in the music, General Admission, with no sample tickets, are just $20. 10 additional three-ounce sample tickets will be available for purchase for $15 and festival goers can purchase five-pint tickets for $20.
Prince Georges County Stadium is located on 4101 Crain Highway in Bowie, just south of Route 50 John Hanson Highway. For tickets and more information, visit the Amps and Ales website.
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