May 11, 2019
Big changes for Concert of Colors as fest reveals new home and expanded lineup
Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press; Published 5:30 p.m. ET May 9, 2019 | Updated 5:45 p.m. ET May 9, 2019 There were fraught moments during the past year when Ismael Ahmed feared that Concer
There were fraught moments during the past year when Ismael Ahmed feared that Concert of Colors might not return in 2019. Amid financial peril, the eclectic music festival he founded was on the brink of disappearing after three decades as a unique fixture on Detroit’s summer calendar.
Instead — thanks to a red-alert, all-hands-on-deck effort from a host of Detroit arts and culture institutions — Concert of Colors will roll out in July with the most extensive lineup of venues, partners and events in its 27 years.
“We’re poorer, and we’re bigger,” Ahmed said after a Thursday news media event at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which will become the festival’s new home base.
The free Concert of Colors is expanding to eight days — July 10-18 — with 10 stages in nine venues within Midtown’s Cultural Center Historic District. They include the DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre, which will host signature CoC events such as the Detroit All-Star Revue led by Don Was, who will enlist his ace house band and homegrown performers such as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mitch Ryder, the Velvelettes and Melvin Davis for a night of Motown 60th anniversary music on July 13.
More: See full lineup for Concert of Colors (PDF)
Concert of Colors has made its name through the years with its world-music offerings, and performances this year will range from Nigerian Yoruba music (Toby Foyeh, July 13) to Jamaican reggae-fusion (Third World, July 14). Exiled musician Ramy Essam, whose hard rock was banned in his Egyptian homeland, will perform on July 13 and participate in a July 11 free-speech forum at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn.
This summer’s festival is the latest iteration of an event that grew from neighborhood street parties to a single-day fest at Chene Park into a multi-day series centered on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, where it migrated in 2006.
Organizers describe the 2019 installment as a reboot of sorts for Concert of Colors, and say they’re pulling it off only because of donated space, staffing and resources from the DIA and neighbors including the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Scarab Club and Detroit Historical Museum.
Grants from several foundations — including a two-year injection of $100,000 from the Knight Foundation — also helped save the day.
“I don’t think there’s a collaboration like this in the entire city,” said Ahmed, the former ACCESS executive director who founded Concert of Colors as a grassroots community festival in the early ’90s.
“It’s hard to say no to Ish” was a frequent refrain during Thursday’s announcement, where representatives from participating institutions stepped up to declare their support for the fest.
The DIA’s Lawrence Baranski said the museum and Ahmed “began flirting” about a year ago, ultimately leading to the game plan that will activate four spaces on the DIA grounds: the 1,100-seat film theater, the Rivera Court, the Kresge Court and the outdoor North Lawn.
The new setup — largely centered at the DIA and adjacent sites — will help Concert of Colors become a more cohesive, walkable event, organizers said Thursday.
Concert of Colors founder Ismael Ahmed speaks at a media event at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo: Detroit Free Press)
The Fisher Music Center is still in the mix: CoC will kick off July 10 with an evening of music at the DSO Sosnick Courtyard, including a “Tiny Desk”-style concert featuring the winning Michigan act selected in a vote by WDET-FM (101.9) hosts and the public.
The following seven days will bring a variety of performances and events, including a mobile electric-guitar procession by Tilted Axes and screenings of films such as “Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami” and “God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines: The Story of Detroit Techno.” The festival will wrap up July 18 with its only ticketed event — a 78th birthday bash for Martha Reeves at the Wright museum, including performances by the Motown star backed by Was and his revue band.
Like last year, Concert of Colors will share some of its performers with the simultaneous Unity Festival in Jackson, including a version of Was’ all-star revue.
While the CoC ship has been straightened for the time being, Ahmed and his team are taking steps to shore up the event for the long haul: A new advisory board, made up of executives and other leaders from Detroit’s business and culture realms, has been assembled to sketch out long-term funding and infrastructure plans.
Ahmed was beaming Thursday as he sang the praises of the sponsors, partners and arts institutions that came together to save — and expand — his annual labor of love.
“To them, what we do is meaningful. We’ve never just been about the music,” Ahmed said, adding that the festival’s big-picture mission can be found in its slogan, “Detroit Arise”: “We need to all work together across colors, ethnicities, religions and community divisions to make Detroit a better place.”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
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