July’s Third Saturday event at the Downtown Plaza, courtesy of Sacramento News and Review had a full schedule of music, dance, fashion, comedy, art and most important booths from local vendors selling arts and crafts. Tais and Adam Saake hosted the event. This is the first time I’ve seen both of these guys together and they seemed to have developed an almost stand –up comedy act working off each other. They helped the event go smoothly as they introduced act after act and gave vital information about the vendors and the show. I think Adam and Tais have a good stage presence together.

Musical performances for the show were put on by Walking Spanish and Michelle Waugh. I got a chance to watch Walking Spanish at the Concerts in the Park the first Friday of the month. The more I listen to them the more they come across as one of the better bands in Sacramento. They have a good mix of instruments that they use. Besides the usual guitar, bass and drums (which are excellent by the way) they have a violin and accordion in the mix making a rich all around sound. They have a good variety of cover songs and original tunes. Walking Spanish has a few more shows around town before the month is over view their myspace site for more information.

Michelle Waugh, a 15 year old local singer, performed after a dance performance by Zumba Joe. I have to give Zumba Joe kudos for dancing on stage for a series of Latin rhythm dances during this very hot day. Lately I’ve seen quite a few teenage bands and singers spring up in Sacramento. They’ve probably have always been around but thanks to venues like Second and Third Saturdays, Hot Lunch Concerts, Concerts in the Park and Third Saturdays they are able to showcase the talents of young musicians. Michelle Waugh showed off her talent by singing a series of original songs.

DJ Rated R was also on hand spinning in between sets and played on after all the acts were gone. Also on hand was Jonas Lynch, a Long Beach native. This artist was representing The Studio Tattoos and Art Gallery. He worked on a piece all day and was still working while everybody was getting ready to go home. His art is being exhibited at the shop in Roseville (634 Vernon Street).

A Summer Fest Fashion Show for the evening included fashion by Tiana Vega who will be having their Designing Dreams Charity Fashion Show next month. Also on hand to showcase fashion was the Crimson and Clover Boutique and Phoenix Reign.

After the show I made my way to the Hot Italian for a bite to eat. Next door to the Hot Italian restaurant is the Crimson and Clover Boutique on 16 Street across from Fremont Park. I went in to Crimson and Clover, with the Tommy James and the Shondells song playing in my head, to take a look at their shop. I took a quick look around at the clothing and jewelry they had on hand. Behind the counter was Nicole Honeyeater who is part owner of the store she had just come back from the Third Saturday show. Kara Perez is the other owner of the boutique and she was there as well. I only saw women’s clothing when I came in but Nicole pointed out that they also carry men’s and children’s clothing in another room towards the back. Their vintage and handmade clothes they sell are mostly from what Nicole calls their “Treasure Hunting”. The models used to showcase their clothing were non professional except for maybe one. They are located on 1617 16th Street. They also have a blog that you can follow. I must say that Kara and Nicole have very pleasant personalities that they showed not only to me but more importantly to their customers. You can’t help but admire their determination to do well at their boutique and hope they succeed.