THIS Midtown (also stylized "THIS" and branded "THIS916") was a free, all-ages Second Saturday block party concert series held on 20th Street between J and K streets in Midtown Sacramento, recurring monthly through the summer.[1][2] It became a recurring fixture of the local summer event calendar, pairing nationally touring electronic/dance acts with Sacramento-area locals.[1] The THIS916 brand continues in use, describing its mission as "Bringing People Together through Music & Experiences."[3]
At a glance
- Free, all-ages block party on 20th Street between J and K streets, Midtown Sacramento.[2][1]
- Recurred on the second Saturday of each month, from June through September.[4][5]
- Booked national touring DJs/bands alongside local acts; beer/wine/cocktails for 21+, food and vendors on the block.[1]
- Submerge Magazine was a sponsor of the series for about three years (disclosed in 2016 coverage).[1]
- Summer series ran at least 2013–2016; revived as a one-off NYE event ("Midtown Mountain Get Down") for NYE 2016, and the block-party series was still running in June 2018.[1][6][7]
- Organized by the same team behind TBD Fest in West Sacramento, including Clay Nutting.[8]
What it was
THIS Midtown was a recurring free outdoor concert series and block party staged on 20th Street between J and K streets in Sacramento's Midtown.[2][1] Early coverage described it as "100 percent free," running 4 to 9 p.m. in 2013.[2] By later editions the format had grown into what Submerge characterized as "basically a rad music festival that happens once a month," with beer, wine and cocktails for those 21 and over, food up and down the block, and artists and vendors on site.[1] It was promoted as all-ages and free.[1]
The series tied into Sacramento's Second Saturday tradition; it was repeatedly called a "Second Saturday block party."[1][7] According to CapRadio, the 2015 season ran on Second Saturdays from June through September — the first event that year was June 13 — on the 20th Street block between J and K in Midtown.[5] The visiting headliner Pat Lok noted in 2015 that the party seemed "pretty regular throughout the summer."[4]
Timeline and editions
- 2013: YACHT (Los Angeles conceptual electro-pop group) headlined a free show on Aug. 10, 2013, running 4 to 9 p.m.; the series promoted itself via the domain Thismidtown.com.[2]
- 2015: Vancouver DJ/producer Pat Lok closed out the year's series on Sept. 12, 2015, alongside Colour Vision, Joseph in the Well and CrookOne; start time 4 p.m.[4] Earlier that summer the series hosted Parisian artist Cherokee.[4] The full 2015 season lineup also included Casino Gold, Kauf, SunMonks, Trails and Ways, 8th Grader, and a June edition featuring Cherokee, Exquisite Corps, Mr. Erik James, and DJ Epik.[9]
- 2016 (summer): German house act Satin Jackets played May 14, 2016.[10] The final block party of the 2016 summer was Sept. 10, 2016, headlined by Brooklyn house/disco duo The Golden Pony, with support from local band The Good Fortune and local DJs Shaun Slaughter and Adam Jay; music started at 5 p.m.[1]
- NYE 2016: The organizers staged a one-off New Year's Eve event, the first-ever "Midtown Mountain Get Down," again on 20th Street between J and K. Its lineup featured headliner Miami Horror (a Los Angeles-by-way-of-Melbourne synthpop group), plus Le Youth, Dusty Brown and MyKill. Unlike the free summer series, this was ticketed (tickets started at $50), 18-plus for general admission and 21-plus for VIP.[6]
- 2018: The "popular THIS Midtown Second Saturday block party series" returned June 9, 2018, with Viceroy, Pink Skies, DJ Greg J and others, running 4:30 to 11 p.m., still free and all-ages; promotion had moved to Facebook.com/this916.[7]
- 2021: On August 7, 2021, THIS staged a block party featuring headliner Wax Motif alongside a separate silent disco stage hosted by Silent Sundays/Silent Nights Entertainment, with local DJs including Hollows, Owell, and The Philharmonik.[11]
Lineups and booking
THIS Midtown's booking mixed nationally touring electronic and dance acts with Sacramento-area locals.[1] Submerge's 2016 recap listed past performing national acts including YACHT, Goldroom, Classixx and French Horn Rebellion, "plus many other credible touring bands and DJs," noting "there's always locals on the bill too."[1]
Documented touring headliners/acts across the corpus include YACHT (Los Angeles),[2] Pat Lok (Vancouver),[4] Cherokee (Paris),[4] Satin Jackets (Germany),[10] The Golden Pony (Brooklyn),[1] and, at the NYE spinoff, Miami Horror, Le Youth and San Francisco DJ MyKill.[6] According to CapRadio, the 2015 season also featured Casino Gold, Kauf, SunMonks, Trails and Ways, and 8th Grader.[9]
Documented local acts on THIS bills include The Good Fortune, and local DJs Shaun Slaughter and Adam Jay (Sept. 10, 2016);[1] Dusty Brown — described as "easily one of the best electronic acts to have ever called Sacramento home" — at the NYE 2016 event;[6] DJ Greg J at the June 2018 edition;[7] and local DJs Hollows, Owell, and The Philharmonik at the August 2021 edition.[11] Colour Vision, Joseph in the Well and CrookOne supported in 2015 (origins not stated in the sources).[4]
Organizers and related events
According to CapRadio, the team behind THIS Midtown also organized TBD Fest in West Sacramento, with Clay Nutting named as a THIS organizer; Sactown Magazine confirms Nutting and his partner Hargis as TBD Fest organizers.[8]
Current brand
The THIS916 brand remains active. Its website describes the mission as "Bringing People Together through Music & Experiences," with ticketed events listed as 21-plus and ticket links to both a Laylo page and Hive ticketing.[3]
Role in the Sacramento scene
The series functioned as a recurring local institution and was treated by Submerge as one of its "favorite local concert series."[1] Submerge disclosed that it had been one of the event's sponsors for the three years prior to 2016.[1] Visiting artists picked up on the city's emphasis on its local scene; Pat Lok was told during a 2015 interview that "Sacramento actually has a real strong local connection here too."[4]
Local status
THIS Midtown is treated here as a local Sacramento entity: it was a Sacramento-based, Sacramento-organized recurring event held in Midtown, repeatedly described as a "local concert series" and a Sacramento block party.[1][4] Note this refers to the event/series; many of its headlining performers were touring acts from elsewhere.[1]