From Staff Reports

The Asheville All-Stars will begin performing about 5 p.m. May 18 for the opening of the 30th anniversary season of  Asheville’s Downtown After 5 outdoor concert series. The shows run until 9 p.m.

The concerts, — on the third Friday from May through September — are held on a section of North Lexington Avenue (at the I-240 overpass) in downtown Asheville that is closed off for the events, which are free and open to the public. 

Also, local beers on tap will be served — and food trucks and vendors will be offering a variety food and water.

The Asheville All-Stars band is billed as being “comprised of some of Asheville’s best musicians... Attendees can expect original songs mixed with fun covers, with a nod to 1988” — DA5’s first year.

The remainder of the schedule includes:

• June 15 — The band Town Mountain will perform what is billed as a “unique bluegrass sound (that) is spiced with country, old-school rock and boogie-woogie. The opening band will be Sanctum Sally, which plays rock, bluegrass, funk, psychedelia, country, folk and blues.

• July 20 — Performer Fantastic Negrito, who is billed as “the incarnation of a musician who is reborn playing songs from a long, hard life channeled through black roots music. The opener will be The Get Right Band, which a DA5 press release described as performers who combine “catchy, clever, honest songwriting with musical expertise and fearless improvisation.”

• Aug. 17 —  The band Southern Avenue, a fiery young Memphis quintet, will perform soul, blues and gospel music. The opener will be the band The Fritz, which is billed as “a soul-driven dance rock band with an aggressive approach to funk, soul and rock.”

• Sept. 21 — The band The Pharcyde, a West Coast hip hop outfit, will perform. Its debut album sold more than a million copies and was widely praised as one of the most influential hip hop albums of the 1990s. The opener will be the band Free, the Optimus. The Asheville-based band is a hip hop collective focused on bringing improvisational lyricism to jaz-influenced boom bap soundscapes.