Rev, White & Brew returns downtown, featuring classic cars and live music

LACONIA — The fourth year of Rev, White & Brew is set to bring classic, antique and other unique cars to downtown on Friday, Aug. 15.

The event, organized by Kristin Bastille of Defiant Records & Craft Beer and Mike Nealon of Lake City Autobody, will include live music, both indoors and outdoors, ice-cold drinks and possibly a food truck.

“It’s a cruise night for antique and classic cars,” Bastille said Tuesday. 

It’s going to coincide with the next Concerts on Canal event, a twice monthly program which brings live music to a temporarily pedestrian-only Canal Street. Concerts on Canal, organized by Dan McLaughlin of NH Vintage Vinyl, is a summer concert series which brings scores of visitors downtown to hear live music. On Aug. 15, the Michael Vincent Band will bring their unique brand of music to the masses. 

And this year, Rev, White & Brew organizers are trying something different — they’ll shut down Main Street to allow for pedestrian-only access and plenty of room for classic and unique rides.

Councilors, during their meeting on July 28, approved road closure for the event. Main Street is to be shut down beginning at its intersection with Hanover Street and continuing to its intersection with Church Street. A barricade will also be erected at Main and Beacon streets to prevent large tractor trailers and other oversized vehicles from having to negotiate sharp turns to detour onto Hanover.

Closure of Canal was previously approved on May 27, for the Concerts on Canal series. 

Rev, White & Brew will start at 4 p.m. and run until 8 p.m., though they’ll begin closing down the street at 2 p.m. Car owners don’t have to register, and they’ll have parking available up and down Main, and in most of the parking lot behind Wayfarer Coffee Roasters, aside from a couple of spots reserved for residents of apartments above the Colonial Theatre. 

“It’s just a little community event to change things up,” Bastille said. 

It’s gone well over the past three years, Bastille said. Billy Gibbons of rock band ZZ Top even attended once, while that band was making a stop to play onstage at BankNH Pavilion in Gilford. 

“It’s just been really strong,” she said. 

Before the first event, someone in the community captured a photo of a classic car parked in front of the Colonial Theatre. They suggested Defiant organize a classic car show downtown, and Bastille and Nealon ran with the idea. 

“It presents downtown in a different light,” she said. “We are definitely growing.”

And so it is. Earlier this summer, for example, Bastille opened a new business on Main Street, The Candy Bar, a combination candy store and speakeasy next to the Colonial Theatre. Architect Sonya Misiaszek began renovations to the Pemaco Building across the street, and, earlier, entrepreneurs opened a restaurant on Main Street called The Flip Side.

There’s no rain date this year, as inclement weather isn’t anticipated.

Besides creating an opportunity for residents and visitors to enjoy a nice summer night, it’s been good for business, too.

“It definitely brings new people to downtown,” she said. “It brings people to see what there is downtown.”