Crossroads Summer Festival; rockin’ ladies night

By Dave Heikkinen and Frank Wright
Jun. 23, 2010    ·    4:37 p.m.

A special Ladies Night was held Friday at the 2010 Ypsilanti Crossroads Summer Festival in conjunction with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Just Jill, a popular acoustic folk-rock ensemble, opened the sultry evening by entertaining their fan base with originals and covers alike. Displaying their stage-honed skills, Just Jill immediately engaged the Crossroads crowd with their wit and banter and made more than a few new fans, as witnessed by the smiles on the faces of both young and old alike as they danced at the front of the stage.

After a brief but informative presentation by Relay For Life spokesperson Colleen Holtzman, Barbara Payton & The Big Boss Trio began the next music set a few minutes earlier than scheduled and were the cool before the storm.

Barbara took little time in showing that her voice had completely recovered from the successful surgery for thyroid cancer which necessitated her 2009 Crossroads cancellation. Performing only a few R&R tunes like she sung while touring with Kid Rock and Bob Seger, the repertoire was heavy with blues and a few soul-searching originals in support of her newest release, “Enjoy The View”.

They were a great treat for the rain-shortened 45 minute set.

The rains came around 9:15PM and chased off the crowd, estimated at 325 people, but the vendors and staff were again well-prepared and shut everything down in a quick and safe manner.

Many of the visitors, still wanting more, adjourned to one of the several restaurants and bars in the immediate area.

The unique feature of Crossroads is that it is held right in the heart of the historic downtown entertainment district, which features Savoy, Pub 13, Keystone Underground and the Tap Room. Within a short walk more can be food and drink can be had at Haabs, J Neil’s Monogolian Grill, Beezey’s, the Wolverine Grill, Abe’s Coney Island and Korey’s Krispy Krunchy Chicken.

This week, the music and Open Marketplace start early, at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and features Crossroads inaugural city-wide Folk/Roots Festival with two stages running concurrently – the traditional stage on North Washington Street and a second stage at the Library Plaza on the two hundred block of West Michigan.

Eight different groups will be featured, including Back Forty, David Rossiter, Julianne and Dave Boutette at the North Washington Stage – and BJ Walraven/VIEW, Michael Lipson, Eric Moore and Norm DeAngelis at the Library Stage. AfterGlow parties will follow at Savoy, Tap Room and the Keystone Underground with the Macpodz headlining the Savoy bill.

The Downtown Association of Ypsilanti (DAY) is proud to host Crossroads for a fifth year with a focus on providing a free, safe, fun, family-friendly event. Crossroads is proven to be a great value with good people and a wide variety of things to do. For more information, please visit www.ypsicrossroads.org