August 22 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Dock of Bay Festival is Vallejo’s music renaissance at its best

Average White Band, The Commodores, Lenny Williams, Heatwave. At first glance, the lineup for the fourth annual Mare Island Dock of Bay Festival — with artists who have spent their careers helping to define the funk genre — speaks for itself.

But the big names and the crowds they garner only tell a portion of the bigger picture.

Coming off last year’s success, where attendance jumped from 1500 to 4500, the Mare Island Dock of Bay Festival is one of the music events helping reclaim Vallejo as a vibrant music hotspot.

“It’s a story of success,” said Jeff Trager, one half of the duo Frazier Trager Presents. The Vallejo-based promoter has arranged concerts like Dock of Bay for decades, getting them from an idea to an annual appearance. Trager was in the industry during the Day on the Green events, working alongside Bill Graham. “We sold out two shows, 50,000 people,” he recalled of the enormous Bay Area festival.

Though Vallejo’s numbers pale in comparison, it’s not for lack of artists.

“There’s some great music history in Vallejo. Right now, we’re the only ones doing anything about it,” said Trager, adding that the diversity is what makes this possible. “People, if they had more places to go, they would go.”

Before the venue, artists and crowds establish it as a destination, promoters like Trager and his partner Kevin Frazier are busy unearthing and promoting Vallejo music. It’s an excavation process. According to Trager, the last five to 10 years have seen a music renaissance for Vallejo.

“I know from history that Vallejo has always been a hotbed of music because groups like E-40 and Sly and the Family Stone absolutely broke down barriers when they came out,” said Trager. “And then of course you have the unparalleled success of Gabi Wilson, of H.E.R.”

“The talented musicians have always been there, it’s just maybe there was a lack of venues,” said Trager. “With this (Dock of Bay Festival) it shows you what can happen in Vallejo. It’s never gone away, it took a vacation.”

By capitalizing on the outdoor Mare Island space with its view of the Napa River, events like Dock of Bay are able to invite the numbers that the headliners and the city deserve.

“This is really important for Vallejo to have something like this,” Trager said, pointing to Vino Godfather and Bambino’s as the city’s other popular venues with a far smaller capacity.

The annual funk festival is one snapshot in a broader trajectory for Vallejo as Trager looks for bigger venues. The lineup, on the other hand, represents a niche that he anticipates will continue to bring in fans.

“We can be very successful because there’s an older African-American community out there. It’s not the young stuff that they listen to, it’s this music and its nostalgic for them,” said Trager, referencing popular artists like Lenny Williams and Heatwave.

Trager isn’t discounting younger rappers like LaRussell, just waiting for the right time. “It’s an interesting dynamic,” he says. “You want to do something for everyone, just in it’s appropriate time slot.”

“San Francisco is known, Los Angeles is known, New York is known. What I don’t think people realize is Vallejo has a lot going on. You hear negative things which have nothing to do with anything,” said Trager. “Vallejo has always been involved with music. Vallejo is basically a mirror of San Francisco, just smaller.”

IF YOU GO:

• WHAT: Mare Island Dock of Bay Festival
• WHEN: Sept. 7, 1 p.m.
• WHERE: 860 Nimitz Ave., Vallejo.
• TICKETS: GA $120  – VIP $187, online at ftpresents.com

Originally Published: August 20, 2024 at 6:50 p.m.