Like all good things, everything must come to an end. That was the case in Santa Clara’s Central Park on Friday night, August 19, as The Usual Suspects performed at the last concert for the season. The city’s Cultural Arts Commission sponsored the concert series and this season was easily one of the best ever.
Even though Friday was the last concert of the season, you couldn’t tell by looking at the crowd. In fact, if crowd size and the number of people dancing are any indication, then concert series could continue for a few more months – or at least until the rains that will hopefully blanket the area return.
The Usual Suspects returned to Santa Clara for the last concert of the series. If the name of the band sounds familiar to the Santa Clara community, that’s because Suspects are a favorite local band. Based out of the south bay – the band members hail from Los Gatos, San Jose and Campbell – The Usual Suspects provided a nice crescendo and send-off to the concert series. Suspects have performed numerous times over the years at concerts sponsored by the City of Santa Clara including the Concert for September 11 to the Blues Bash to the Concerts in the Park.
Listening to the band over the years, it’s easy to see and hear why the band is asked back again and again. The Usual Suspects has been performing together since 1997 and has been described as modern-rock with a grudge edge, with inspiration from and called comparable to Aerosmith, Foo Fighters, Stevie Ray Vaughan. That is just a complicated way of saying the band knows how to play rock and how to play it well. This isn’t a band where you hear them cover a song made famous by another band and think “Oh… I know that song… I guess I can dance to it but other than that, thanks but no thanks.” Instead Suspects plays the music as if it had been written for them or they had written the song themselves. The band’s intensity makes it difficult for people listening to just sit in their seats as the crowd dancing near the stage was able to attest.
The Concert Series in Santa Clara will return next year with another concert series. For more information on The Usual Suspects, please visit their webpage: www.rippinband.com/Rippinband.com