This year, Discovery Green partnered with local concert curators Wonky Power to put a fresh take on the weekly event. “There's been so many great things happening all around and this Discovery Green series is definitely one of those big ones that we've been really excited about,” says Wonky Power founder Mario Rodriguez.
The series begind Thuesday, April 20 and runs weekly until June 1. “We wanted it obviously to start off with a bang and end with a bang,” says Rodriguez. The concerts will quite literally “start off with a bang” with a funky performance by the New Orleans based Tank And The Bangas and Houston based reggae band Sunami Force.
The UHD Thursday Night Concerts will also host Austin based cumbia artist Kiko Villamizar with the Mexican-American sister trio The Tiaras and Houston based cumbia supergroup Cucucuy on Thursday, May 4.
The following weeks bring more rounds of perfectly paired performances by the amazing Kam Franklin of Houston’s The Suffers with Micah Edwards for what is sure to be a soulful night in the park.
The series continues with Cha Wa and Mind Shrine, San Antonio country rocker Garrett T. Capps with Austin based soul band Ms Mack And The Daddies and wraps up with Austin mega group Golden Dawn Arkestra and Houston punk rockers Jumprope.
“We have a pretty cool system where we could really pair artists up in the best way possible with genres and styles and actual fan base numbers,” explains Rodriguez of the group's approach to selecting the lineup.
For the series Rodriguez and his team intentionally paired bigger, out of town acts with local bands working towards their constant intention as event organizers to support and promote Houston talent by showcasing them and providing them with opportunities to perform on larger stages.
“We use what we know to help out local musicians and catapult them with big headliners, big shows and big artists. We want to keep ourselves rooted to Houston music,” says Rodriguez.
Since it began in 2014, Wonky Power has not only nurtured local artists by producing and promoting a wide range of musicians but also by booking shows and bringing in larger names to perform in venues all around Houston.“We use what we know to help out local musicians and catapult them with big headliners, big shows and big artists. We want to keep ourselves rooted to Houston music.”
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Wonky Power not only has their own, mid-sized venue located in the East End where they host events but also take care of the full programming at Axelrad hosting live music weekly from Tuesday to Sundays.
“We really have a very strong connection with Axelrad where it's almost like our venue. We call it our sister venue,” explains Rodriguez.
It is because of their years of impressive work and amazing eye for talent that Rodriguez and his team were offered the wonderful opportunity to organize the lineup for the UHD Thursday Night Concerts.
Though they jumped at the chance to work with Discovery Green, the offer came with a catch, the group only had one month to book the shows at the end of 2022. “We set ourselves up for the challenge and thankfully we delivered,” says Rodriguez.
“It was a little intense but once it was all said and done Discovery Green and the University of Houston couldn't stop talking about how amazing the line up is. We couldn't be any happier with them, they've all been super supportive and thankfully they are happy with what we brought them.”
The UHD Thursday Night Concerts will begin on Thursday, April 20 and runs weekly until Thursday, June 1 at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney, 7 p.m, free.
