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Downtown sounds

Concord First Friday 2026 unveils six months of music

The rich music scene in Concord will be on display through early November, with the help of a local musician who’s also a local business owner. Eric Reingold was inspired to volunteer for the monthly First Friday series after catching one of its events last year.

Sensing an opportunity to add his expertise to the mix, he reached out to Intown Concord, the organization behind First Friday, Market Days and other downtown events. Reingold has worked with Intown for many years, both as the owner of Endicott Furniture on Main Street, and as a performer in acts like JamAntics, Up and People Skills. Stressing the many hats he wears, Reingold offered his services.

“I’m basically a full-time musician, I know all the bands around here, I run sound, and I can put on a huge festival with equipment I’ve accumulated over the years,” he told them. “By way of shortening the story, they were like, ‘Well, if you think you can do it, why don’t you?’”

That was last summer, and he’s been booking bands since, assembling a lineup that serves as a love letter to the Capital City’s music community.

“I have seen every single one of these bands,” Reingold said. “My opinion is that the music in Concord is incredible. There’s so much good talent here that I’ve been both lucky to be part of and also just experience.”

On May 1, the inaugural First Friday of 2026 will offer live music on two stages. In Bicentennial Square, RGB Trio will kick things off at 4 p.m., followed by Chasing Ghosts from 6:15 to 8 p.m. Over at City Plaza, near the capitol building, Wandering Souls take the stage at 4 p.m.

RGB Trio consists of drummer Ryan King, Gary Smith on bass and a unique eight-string guitar, and singer/guitarist Bob Dwyer. They’re booked at this year’s Strange Creek Campout and are a favorite at Penuche’s and other local night spots. They mix originals and eclectic covers ranging from Phish to Hendrix.

Chasing Ghosts is a young, high-energy ’90s cover band out of Henniker whose drummer once stepped in last-minute for one of Reingold’s own gigs without knowing any of the songs.

“He was a real trooper; it was kind of a legendary move,” he recalled. “They’re young and fresh. They haven’t kicked around too much yet.”

With a setlist touching on the ’90s pop side with songs like Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me,” Wandering Souls is 10-member band that also hosts a weekly jam session at Christ the King Church. “They’ve been supporting Intown Concord for a long time,” Reingold said. “So it was important to continue using them.”

Upcoming in June are Kyle Erickson, Ashborne and Trade, one of two bands including guitarist Scott Solsky that are part of the series. The latter is organ-forward trio J3ST, on a jam-forward Sept. 4 quadruple bill with Supernothing, Bosey Joe and Superbug.

In deference to Intown’s citywide multi-stage street festival running June 27 through June 29, there’s no July event. “I think that’s kind of their big break,” Reingold said. “It’s kind of a mini-vacation after Market Days because they’re so straight out during that weekend.”

August’s First Friday welcomes the return of Senie Hunt, a local favorite who relocated to Tennessee a few years back but comes back every summer for local dates. Celtic rockers Rebel Collective join Hunt on the Bicentennial Stage, while a band of local doctors called No Copay play from 4 to 8 in City Plaza.

In October, Reingold does double duty, performing both in his band Up and with his old JamAntics mate in Lucas Gallo & the Guise.

“Intown told me I could play as much as I wanted, but I didn’t want to abuse my position, especially because I know so many bands that are better than I am around here,” he said. “But it was important to get my ‘Guise’ up there.”

Heather Smith & the Constants and Robin Gaming round out October’s First Friday, with Lee & Dr. G and Andrew North & the Rangers along with Martha Hubbard in November. Reingold’s overall goal is to reinforce downtown Concord as a go-to hotspot: “Cool and inviting to the locals, but also people that want to visit.”

Concord First Friday Music
When: Friday, May 1
Where: Bicentennial Square – RGB Trio, 4 p.m., Chasing Ghosts, 6:15 p.m. / City Plaza – Wandering Souls, 4 p.m.
Full schedule: firstfridayconcord.com

Featured photo: Chasing Ghosts. Courtesy photo.

The Music Roundup 26/04/30

• Laugh learning: Many comics began in education. Share It with the Class – A Teachers Comedy Show showcases four of them. Mark Riley is an ex-teacher and hockey referee who spent a week in the NHL before realizing he enjoyed the stage more. Dan Crohn and Mr. B (Jim Bowes) both still teach by day and tell jokes at night, as does middle school science teacher Bill Douglas. Friday, May 1, 7:30 p.m., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $34, palacetheatre.org.

• Rock show: More than 25 years after the release of their eponymous first album, post-grunge stalwarts Tantric are still on the road. Led by front man and lone original member Hugo Ferreira, who founded the act with what was left of Days of the New, they hit the Billboard Mainstream Rock Top Five with “Breakdown” in 2001. Chunky Love, Thumz Down and Dead Time open a local show. Friday, May 1, 7 p.m., Bungalow Bar & Grill, 333 Valley St., Manchester, $26, dice.fm.

• Kiss goodbye: Discovered in the mid-’70s by KISS bassist Gene Simmons, Angel is in the midst of a farewell tour that stops in Derry. Blending hard rock, prog and a glamourous white satin image, the Washington, D.C., band rose with songs like “Tower” and their cover of “Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore.” Founding members Frank DiMino and Punky Meadows lead the current lineup. Saturday, May 2, 8 p.m., Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry, $45, tupelohall.com.

• Sun country: Based in Tempe, Arizona, emo pop punk band Sundressed are in town with fellow Take This To Heart Records labelmates Thanks! I Hate It and nu-punk band 40 Lashes opening the all-ages show. Lead singer, guitarist and lyricist Trevor Hedges started the group as therapy for his addiction and a path to sobriety, as detailed in the band’s first EP, 2015’s Dig Up A Miracle. Sunday, May 3, 8 p.m., BAD BRGR, 1015 Elm St., Manchester, $10 at the door, badbrgr.com.

Album Reviews 26/04/30

Khun Narin Electric Phin Band, “Sut Sanaen”/“Poet Wong Pt. 1” (Innovative Leisure Records)

This multi-generational psychedelic ensemble from rural Thailand is known for ecstatic performances that have accumulated the group a global cult following of sorts. Their forté is electrified phin music, that is to say its lead instrument is a sort of electric phin, which is similar to a lute but with a distinctive-looking head (the upper part where the tuning keys are). A full album, titled III, is due out May 15, but the two YouTube-accessible singles covered here will give the curious a fine idea of what their sound is about. The most recent, “Sut Sanean,” is the band’s take on one of the foundational melodic patterns in the musical tradition of the Isan people from Northeastern Thailand, which will probably ring no bells to readers, but suffice to explain that it sounds like it’d be right at home soundtracking an opium-den scene in a 1970s episode of Hawaii Five-O; there’s a perpetuity to the meandering soloing that’s comforting in its way. “Poet Wong Pt. 1” is slower, more tribal and melodically enchanting, characterized by soloing that would turn Jimmy Page green with envy. Fascinating stuff. A+

April + Vista, Traditional Noise (Third & Hayden Records)

Formed in Washington, D.C., in 2014, this electronic duo has refined a sound “rooted in curiosity, experimentation, and emotional candor,” this promo sheet tells me, whilst refusing to assign them a genre. Such elite-level publications as Newsweek and The Fader have also punted on classifying these guys, with the former going with “[they meld] electronic, classical, hip hop and ambient influences into something distinctly their own.” Now, I’d like to try my hand, since I don’t see any difficulty: It’s new-jack bleeding-edge trip-hop. There’s some classical in there, sure, and some Sadé and a whole host of different influences, but altogether it honestly doesn’t spell a new sound, just a (truly amazing and gorgeous) fricassee of sound that recalls such usual suspects as Zero 7, Portishead, Tricky and Massive Attack. To be sure, these two are master chefs at it, using only the best ingredients they can find, from soft bubble-dynamic incidentals to exquisite, subtle loops, all of which are pure heaven when April’s vocals weave into them. It’s electronic music for humans, a stuff that everyone needs to know about (and hopefully will). A+

PLAYLIST

A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases

• Awesome, we’ve already escaped the month of April with our lives, so it’s time to look at the first Friday-load of albums to be released in May, on May 1 to be precise! But first: I was a bit remiss in not mentioning the 25th Coachella music festival that went on during mid-April, which I mostly ignored, not because I wasn’t seeing any news about it (quite the contrary, since late March, half the stuff in my emailbox’s recycle bin has been from promoters, bands and public relations hacks telling me about Coachella appearances — like the one from disposable techno singer Lisa that I got trolled into talking about in the April 16 issue) but because I had almost no interest in the artists whatsoever. This year’s Coachella was — um, eventful, in case you missed it; Justin Bieber dragged an uncomfortable-looking Billie Eilish onstage to lip-synch “One Less Lonely Girl” at her; there was an appearance from Nine Inch Noize (i.e., Trent Reznor & Co. with Boys Noise, the latter of whom added nothing more interesting to goth anthem “Closer” than an over-extended electro-drop), and Karol G become the first Latina to headline one of the main stage’s nights. Other than that it was a Nylon-directed clickbait affair, with two headlining nights from Hollywood’s 2026 Nepo Baby Of The Year Sabrina Carpenter, whose 15 minutes should hopefully be up soon (she had awkward guest appearances from a bizarre array of A-List actors that included Will Ferrell, Susan Sarandon, Samuel L. Jackson, Geena Davis and, um, Sam Elliot; the whole thing came off like it was cooked up by the entire editorial staff of Billboard sitting around plotting in a smoke-filled hall, eating nothing but leftover cafeteria meatloaf until they came up with the right names). Sets from Röyksopp, Armin van Buuren and Yamagucci would have interested me, though not enough to give up my snacks for two weeks, so I didn’t attend, not that the trust fund crowd would have left me any VIP passes anyway (those sold out in minutes, which tells you about the bougie crowd that shows up at that thing and buys $12 Cokes), and P.S., I’m not expecting to be there next year either. And that brings us to North Carolina mixed-genre-pop-folkies Hiss Golden Messenger, whose new album I’m People spotlights the single “Shaky Eyes,” an AOR-geared tune that sounds like Guster possessed by ’70s-era Fleetwood Mac, or vice-versa; it’s the sort of tune someone would fall asleep to while waiting for their kid to try on new jeans at K-Mart, if there were still K-Marts around.

• Speaking of music to nod off to, Akron, Ohio, fedora-hatted bar-pop duo The Black Keys are at it again with a new album, titled Peaches, which opens with “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire,” a tune that will make you think of Calexico if they had no pulse at all.

• Next it’s certifiably crazy ’90s alt-pop queen Tori Amos, whom we last encountered in 2025 when she surprise-released the Music of Tori and the Muses album as a companion work to her illustrated children’s book Tori And The Muses. Her new LP In Times Of Dragons includes the single “Shush,” which is of course composed of loud, overly bombastic piano cranked to 11 and a funereal vocal line that sounds like something Wednesday Addams would sing if her tarantula died. Allll set with this.

• Lastly it’s Fort Worth, Texas-based grunge-punk band Toadies with their first album in nine years, The Charmer. You young whippersnappers probably know as much about Toadies as you do Everclear, and no one could blame you. The new album’s title track is rugged, noisy, punkish and basically as unlistenable as ever.

Featured Photo: Khun Narin Electric Phin Band, “Sut Sanaen”/“Poet Wong Pt. 1” and April + Vista, Traditional Noise

Tom Collins

  • 2 ounces botanical gin – This time, I went with Collective Arts Plum and Blackthorn Gin, and I do not regret it.
  • 1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ ounce simple syrup
  • Club soda to top

Fill a tall, straight-sided glass — appropriately enough, this is called a Collins glass — about three quarters full of ice, then add the gin, the lemon juice and the simple syrup. Stir the mixture with a long-handled spoon or a chopstick.

Gently add club soda until it reaches almost to the top of the glass, then stir everything again.

Hold your drink up to the light and take a couple of deep cleansing breaths. Watch the bubbles rise to the top of your drink. Take a moment to remember a time in your life when you were proud.

In my case, I think of a time, many years ago when I finished waiting tables late at night and decided to treat myself to a quick drink before I went home. As I walked to the door to the bar, I loosened my tie, wrapped my apron into a small bundle, and stuck it under my arm. I opened the door and walked into the bar, only to remember that it was College Night, and the place was packed to the rafters with kids. There were easily 15 college students between me and the bar.

I was just considering turning around and just heading home, when Curtis — a legend among bartenders — shouted at all the college kids.

“Hey! Make a hole! Workin’ man comin’ through!”

The kids fell silent and opened up a path the bar. You could tell that they didn’t know what to think:

“How strange! Who is this old guy? And, what is this ’working’ that he speaks of?”

I got to the bar, and Curtis already had my drink waiting.

I gave Curtis a crumpled handful of bills from my tip money.

He didn’t do anything cheesy like fist-bump me, but he gave me a nod.

Just a nod, but the memory of that nod has stayed with me throughout the years since and has stiffened my spine.

So, that’s what I think about as I watch the bubbles in my Tom Collins bounce their way up through the ice in my glass, and then I take a sip.

It isn’t sweet. It isn’t super-fruity. It is extremely refreshing. It’s the sort of thing a grownup might drink.

What a working man might drink.

Featured photo: Tom Collins. Photo by John Fladd.

Food trucks on Friday

Concord’s First Fridays kick off another season

Beginning Friday, May 1, Main Street in Concord will host a celebration on the first Friday of every month until November.

“Except July,” Berit Brown said. “We’re skipping July, because the first Friday falls right on the Fourth of July, and that would be a little too intense.”

Brown is the events and marketing manager for InTown Concord, the nonprofit organization that sponsors First Friday events as well as other celebrations, like Concord’s Winter Festival, Market Days, Halloween Howl and a holiday celebration in December called Midnight Merriment. First Fridays feature live entertainment and special activities, and downtown businesses stay open until 8 p.m. Art galleries open late with special viewings, wine and cheese, and so on. And, of course, there are food trucks.

Brown said food trucks are a natural fit for First Fridays.

“It’s a good way for somebody to kind of try out their food truck idea,” she said. “They can test out menu items and see what people respond to the best and do it on a much lower budget than opening a brick and mortar restaurant. For a lot of the food trucks that we work with, [First Fridays] are their first forays into selling their food. A lot of their stories are pretty similar. They tell us that family members and friends have always said that they’re good cooks and then they end up opening a food truck. For a lot of them First Fridays in Concord are their first ever food truck experience.”

The food trucks offer the public a variety of types of food to choose from on any given First Friday, Brown said.

“It’s definitely a nice vibe while you’re waiting for your food. You’re able to listen to live music on City Plaza. We’ve actually expanded the number of food trucks,” she said. “Last year we were doing two per event, and this time our goal is to have three to four per First Friday. We’ve definitely opened it up a little bit more and we’ve also tried to find a balance between sweet and savory foods. So you can get a cupcake or a brownie, and you can also get a hot dog or a hamburger.”

“We have a new vendor this year who’s coming in November and they are a gluten-free food truck,” she said. “We have Teenie Wienies, who serve sausage sandwiches. I love their food. They’re fantastic. They have the largest sausage sandwiches you’ve ever seen. This year they’re actually coming to the October First Friday, so they’ll be serving Oktoberfest-inspired sandwiches. I think some of the first events that they ever did were at our First Fridays and they kind of were able to troubleshoot and see how much sausage they needed to bring to different events. And now they’re permanently stationed at one of the breweries around town.” See page 22 for a look at the music planned for First Fridays.

First Friday
The first First Friday of 2026 will take place along Main Street in Concord on Friday, May 1, from 4 to 8 p.m. The theme will be “Petals and Pedals.” The food trucks will be Carly’s Kitchen (a mobile bakery), New Hampshah’s Mini Donuts, and Stacy’s Grill, which will serve hamburgers, hot dogs and other grilled favorites. Visit firstfridayconcord.com/may.

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Teenie Wienies food truck.

Plant-based May

The Vegan Chef Challenge returns to Manchester

During the month of May a number of Manchester restaurants will compete in the 2026 Vegan Chef Challenge. Each restaurant will feature one or more vegan dishes on its menu. These might be existing dishes or new experimental dishes developed for the competition. Customers will vote on which dishes stand out the most. Similar competitions take place in cities across the country.

Joan O’Brien is the president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, the group organizing Manchester’s Vegan Chef Challenge. She said last year’s Challenge, the first in Manchester, was an eye-opener for the city’s restaurant community.

“Last year was the inaugural challenge,” she said. “It was very successful. It was fun. It brought in a new customer base for the participating restaurants.” Even now, a year later, several of last year’s participating restaurants still have last year’s vegan dishes on their menus, she said. “That was the goal, to bring more vegan options to Manchester and show people that the food can be delicious, and the fact that they kept some of these dishes on their menus is proof of that, that there’s actually a demand for it. It’s been really, really good feedback.”

“[The Vegan Chef Challenge] is an event that was created by a national organization called Vegan Outreach,” O’Brien said, “and their goal is to raise awareness around vegan lifestyle. They host these challenges in cities across the country, including Manchester. The overall winner, the best overall in Manchester was Stashbox. They had a miso-glazed avocado dish, and their cashew cream gnocchi was outstanding. I’ve been looking through some of the things that diners said last year, and people said things like, ‘Delicious!’ and ‘We wouldn’t know it was vegan. I’m not someone who eats vegan. This is the best gnocchi I’ve ever had.’ — comments like that.”

The 2025 Vegan Chef Challenge in Manchester was a bit of a revelation for the city’s restaurant community, O’Brien said — first, that there is a demand for plant-based dishes, even in a traditionally food-conservative state like New Hampshire.

“I can’t confirm it yet,” O’Brien said, but I know that Manchester is attracting more young people, more young professionals, and those people are usually looking for healthier food, and more inventive, creative food.” The success of last year’s challenge is an indication of a change in Manchester’s food culture, O’Brien said, showing that Manchester can participate on a level with much bigger, more cosmopolitan cities in other parts of the country.

Another lesson O’Brien has taken from the success of last year’s Challenge is that a non-confrontational exposure to vegan cuisine is a gentle and persuasive way to change people’s conception of vegan food.

“I think that the whole [vegan] movement is realizing, is learning that most of us were not born vegan,” she said. “So you have to be welcoming and not judge people. And sometimes what happens is when people realize that they can still get delicious, satisfying food that happens to be meat-free, then they’re open to considering the other benefits of a vegan lifestyle. People have a lot of things in their lives that they’re trying to get done, and to think that, ‘Ugh! Now I have to change my whole diet!’ is daunting.”

“May will be a big month for going out to eat, for Mother’s Day and graduations,” O’Brien said. “So we do hope that those people who are going out will visit the participating restaurants, try some of these vegan offerings and see that we have some new players, some very talented chefs.”

2026 Vegan Chef Challenge
Manchester’s Vegan Chef Challenge will take place throughout May. For a list of participating restaurants, visit veganchefchallenge.org/manchester.

Featured photo: Jeremy Hart, co-owner of Stashbox, last year’s overall winner of the Vegan Chef Challenge, with his trophy, the coveted Golden Spatula.

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