Summer Sizzle

We’ve reached the halfway point of summer. Maybe it’s the heat, but public summer concerts are finally starting to rock.

Last weekend, we had the annual Cruise Night in Glendale with several local bands providing four-plus hours of continuous rock. And Santa Clarita presented the ever-popular Doo Wah Riders at Canyon Country Park.

This Sunday, Burbank presents longtime favorites Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries at the Starlight Bowl.

Cardiac and company perform rock hits of the 1950s and ‘60s, and they’ve been doing it for more than 25 years. Since its inception at Monroe High School in North Hills in 1972, the band has appeared before audiences in Hawaii, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Additionally, it has performed at three Super Bowls, plus numerous gigs in Las Vegas, New York, the Caribbean and many other places.

To really get into that ‘50s-’60s spirit, the Starlight Bowl is also conducting a Hula-Hoop contest and a Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello look-alike contest that night.

Don’t forget your beach blanket!

The Valley Cultural Center will present its second annual Blues Festival on Sunday. This second installment will feature two of the same acts featured in last year’s first edition--Joe Houston and Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band. New this year to the Warner Park stage will be Chris “The Hammer” Smith and his band.

Houston has been around. The saxophonist-singer first came out of his native Texas in the late 1940s playing jazz. He scored a top 40 pop hit in the 1950s with the instrumental “All Night Long.” These days, the Long Beach resident is strictly singing and playing the blues.

Santa Clarita will present the music of the Louisiana backwaters when the Zydeco Flames take the stage Sunday at Newhall Park.

Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries perform at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Starlight Bowl, 1249 Lockheed View Drive, Burbank. (818) 238-5400 $1-$2.

Joe Houston, Jeannie & Jimmy Cheatham and the Sweet Baby Blues Band and the Hammersmith Band perform from 4-7:30 p.m. Sunday at Warner Park, 5800 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 704-1587. Free.

Zydeco Flames perform from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Newhall Park, 24933 Newhall Ave., Santa Clarita. (805) 254-6437. Free.

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Club Update: Nightclubs follow trends just as other businesses do. The Crest Lounge on Reseda Boulevard has been a fixture in the Valley for over 30 years. A few years back, the club underwent some major renovations, increased the size of its dance floor, and then went Country. Now, the club is going Swing.

The Crest has been the home of Sonny Watson’s Swing Dance classes on Tuesday nights for over five years now. The class has routinely attracted big crowds paying $5 a head to be put through their dancing paces by Watson.

So now the club is changing its name to Jitterbugs and presenting Swing music Saturday nights as well. Performing this Saturday will be Flattop Tom and his Jump Cats. Others scheduled to perform in coming weeks include Erik Erkstrand and Billy Sheets. The club will have country music DJs on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Also, a new club, El Jardin, presents Brazilian music on Saturdays and Sundays. The shows will be produced by the same people who have presented the annual Brazilian Summer Festival at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. Saturdays will feature Samba and Lambada shows by the Gala Brazil Dancers. Sundays will have dance lessons and then social dancing. Both nights will feature live music.

Smokin’ Johnnie’s has also introduced some new music at the “Blues, Booze and Barbecues” place. “Samba de Carnival” will hold forth Tuesday nights in August and Latin Jazz will be presented Aug. 6 and 20.

Flattop Tom and his Jump Cats perform Saturday night at Jitterbugs (the Crest Lounge), 6101 Reseda Blvd., Reseda. (818) 342-1563. $10 cover.

El Jardin Club, 17021 Roscoe Blvd., Northridge, (818) 567-0641. $10 cover Sat., $5 cover Sun.

Smokin’ Johnnie’s, 11720 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 760-6631.