By JOHN STAPLETON
If you throw a party and all your friends, and their friends, and their friends show up, things might get a little crowded.
That’s pretty much what happened last year when Lake Street Dive and Signature Sounds presented a one-night music festival, “Amourasaurus,” at Look Park in Florence. So many folks came to listen to the music that the event sold out.
Well, they’re at it again, but this time, for “Amourasaurus II,” organizers say, they’ve learned a thing or two: This time around, they are planning ahead, says Jim Olsen of co-sponsor Signature Sounds, and are clearing more space for audiences by moving the local food vendors outside the viewing area.
But, it’s not just the space that’s growing: There will also be more music, Olsen said. For this year’s two-day event, on Saturday and Sunday, members of Lake Street Dive — Michael Calabrese, drums; Bridget Kearney, bass; Mike Olson, guitar; and Rachael Price, lead vocals — have put together a show featuring many more of their own favorite bands.
“We got some of our favorite bands,” said Price in a recent phone interview. “We started with bands that we were just loving right now and bands that our audience will want to come and see.”
Putting together the festival last year was an experiment, and a successful one, Price said. Now she wants to keep that ball rolling.
“We’re going to try and keep it going as long as we can,” she said, “I feel very proud and very fortunate that we’re able to stand in front of an audience and say, ‘Listen to this band!’ ”
In addition, she says, the band members are committed to making the festival diverse, so will feature a 50-50 split of male- and female-fronted acts.
The title, “Amourasaurus,” means “vicious lizard of love,” which fits perfectly with the band’s vision for the festival, Price said.
“It’s all about the community, and we want to give back to that community.”
Lake Street Dive formed in 2004, after its members met as students at the Boston Conservatory. Eventually the group was signed to Northampton’s Signature Sounds and now has a deal with Nonesuch Records, which is the label that distributed the band’s most recent album, “Side Pony.”
The band derives its sound from a variety of American-music influences, including rock ’n’ roll, country, soul, jazz and disco.
Lake Street Dive will headline each day of the festival, and will be supported by a different musical lineup each night.
On Saturday, Mavis Staples, the soulful voice from the Staples Singers, will take the stage at the Pines Theater, along with Chris Collingwood’s Look Park (“It’s like if a band called Iron Horse was playing the Iron Horse”); classically trained multi-instrumentalist Christina Courtin, whose solo act features New York Jazz-inspired pop; and Son Little, who blends elements of soul, blues and hip-hop.
Sunday features Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, a female-fronted heavy-indie rock act; folk-rock singer/songwriter Erin McKeown; the all-American southern rock of Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band; and Matt Lorenz’s one-man band, The Suitcase Junket.
A small world
When it’s your party, and you get to invite who you want, it’s not surprising that many of the musicians on the guest list will have run into one another other at some point.
For example, Lorenz of The Suitcase Junket, says he’s encountered plenty of other “Amourasaurus II” performers, like Thao & The Get Down Stay Down and Josh Ritter, at roots festivals all over the country.
But this one, he says, promises to be different.
“It’s Lake Street Dive’s party,” Lorenz said. “They have such a good vibe and good fans. I’ve played with them a couple of times and I can’t imagine them ever not having fun.”
The gates open at 2 p.m. on the Saturday and Sunday, with live music starting at 3 p.m.
Food will be available to purchase from a number of local restaurants, including Local burger, La Veracruzana, Hattapon’s Thai Kitchen, Bart’s Ice Cream, the Tea Guys, and the food truck Good to Go.
Tickets cost $49.99 for a single-day pass and $89.99 for both days. To purchase, visit www.amourasaurus.com.
Look Park is located at 300 North Main St. in Florence.