The Island welcomes Prune, Sun Parade, Ruby Lou, and Lucy, some great bands out of Western Massachusetts, this weekend. The fun starts at 8 pm on Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Ritz in Oak Bluffs. Island native Salvadore McNamara, drummer for Prune, helped pull the event together, and will be introducing some of his fellow musicians to Martha’s Vineyard for the first time this coming weekend.
“Some of them have never been to Martha’s Vineyard, so it will be cool to eat some oysters before the show, go on a nature walk … we can do that in Western Mass., but it’s better on Martha’s Vineyard,” McNamara said. “And also a part of me thinks that if this goes well, maybe it can happen again in the future.”
Prune did play at the Loft over the summer, but this off-season show gives Islanders an opportunity to hear bands that they might not normally see this time of year.
Cooper Handy, whose solo project is billed as Lucy, will play pop dance music. Prune is a female-led group, with music ranging from mellow to loud, McNamara says, “from dark to light.” Sun Parade is described as a pop/rock ’n’ roll band that’s been around for a decade, and has several recordings released. Rock ’n’ roll band Ruby Lou is a local favorite in Northampton, McNamara says.
“I just love the Ritz,” he says. “It’s the only place to have live music in the winter on the Vineyard, and I know a lot of my friends on the Vineyard want to hear some rock ’n’ roll music from Western Mass.” Saturday night is their chance.
