Can’t Miss with Chip Chandler July/August 2023

Diamond Rio: The ’90s country band wants you to meet them in the middle … of Starlight Ranch Event Center, 1415 Sunrise Drive, where they’ll perform July 13. Other concerts of note include Rock & Roll Over, a KISS tribute band, on July 1, Blake Shelton tribute singer Blake Nation on July 8, and Van Halen tribute band Next Halen on July 22, all at Shark Beach Burgers, 1505 E. FM 1151; the ever-popular Tejas Brothers on July 2 and Jason Scott & The High Heat on July 7, and rising local stars Travis Roberts & The Willing Few on July 29, all at The Golden Light Cantina, 2098 SW Sixth Ave.; indie acts Garrett T. Capps and Heavy Meddo country band on July 2 at Caliche Co., 2311 SW Seventh Ave.; Treaty Oak Revival on July 7, Texas country star Jon Wolfe on July 8, rock band Giovannie & The Hired Guns on July 21, and Elton John tribute artist Kenny Metcalf on July 22, all at Starlight Ranch; rocker Jonny Craig on July 9 at Hoots Pub, 2424 Hobbs Road; Austrian post-hardcore band Lehnen on July 24 at The 806 Coffee + Lounge, 2812 SW Sixth Ave.; metal band Bondbreakr on July 15 at Zombiez Bar & Grill, 711 SW 10th Ave.; and Godsmack tribute band Whiskey Hangover on July 29 at Skooterz Bar & Grill, 4100 Bushland Blvd. Plus, don’t miss the continuing slate of summer outdoor concert series: Starlight Theatre on Tuesdays at Sam Houston Park, Line Avenue and Western Street; High Noon on the Square on Wednesdays at the Potter County Courthouse, 501 S. Fillmore St.; Music at Wellington Square Courtyard, 1619 S. Kentucky St., on Thursdays; and Music in the Gardens on Thursdays at Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive.

28th Annual Original Harley Party: Rev your motors up for Family Support Services’ popular fundraiser, set for July 29 at the Amarillo National Center on the Tri-State Fairgrounds, 3301 SE 10th Ave. Included in the fun are food, beverages and music from The Buster Bledsoe Band, Touching Voodoo and Too Far Gone. Other events to mark on your calendars include the Do Portugal Circus performances from June 30 to July 9 at Starlight Ranch; the traditional First Thursday activities on Historic Route 66 on July 6; the Amarillo Community Market on Saturdays through Sept. 9 around the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, 1000 S. Polk St.; the Nazareth German Fest on July 8 in Nazareth; continuing performances of Songs of the Eagle on July 8, 15 and 22 at the Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian, 9151 I-40 East; Moto Xtreme Circus on July 14 in the Amarillo Civic Center Complex Coliseum, 401 S. Buchanan St.; the annual Las Fiestas de Amarillo celebrations on July 15 and 16 around Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 1210 SE 11th Ave.; Randall County Sheriff’s Office’s 14th annual Mud Volleyball tournament on July 15 at the sheriff’s office, 9100 S. Georgia St.; the Paddle Battle for Kids pickleball tournament for Amarillo Area CASA on July 22 at the Amarillo Country Club, 4800 Bushland Blvd.; Texas Panhandle Relief Foundation’s Crawfish Boil on July 28 at Cactus Gun Club, 9999 Brickplant Road; the Khiva Shrine’s Cajun Shrimp Boil on July 22 at the Shrine, 305 SE Fifth Ave.; a Family Care Foundation fundraiser on July 29 at Starlight Ranch, featuring Amarillo Americana band Comanche Moon; the eighth-annual La Mission Christian Car Show on July 30 at the Amarillo Civic Center Complex; and Amarillo Sod Poodles action in Hodgetown, 715 S. Buchanan St., against the Tulsa Drillers from June 28 to July 3, versus the Frisco RoughRiders from July 14 to 16 and versus the Wichita Wind Surge from July 18 to 23. Keep your eyes open for Fourth of July activities around the Panhandle, including Kickin’ It in Canyon featuring William Clark Green on July 3 in the First United Bank Center at West Texas A&M University.

Puffs: Amarillo Little Theatre Academy hopes to cast a spell with this cheeky musical, subtitled “Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” which should help you discern what it’s parodying. It’ll be staged July 13 to 16 at the ALT Adventure Space, 2751 Civic Circle. Other arts events include continuing performances of outdoor musical Texas throughout the month in Pioneer Amphitheatre, including the traditional Comanche Summer festival on July 1, a staging of a William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on July 10 at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, and the Texas Opera production of The Pirates of Penzance on July 23 and 24 in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Branding Iron Theatre at WT; the First Friday Art Walk on July 7 at the newly reopened Arts in the Sunset, 3701 Plains Blvd.; and West Texas Drums, featuring top Drum Corps International ensembles from around the country, on July 17 at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium on the WT campus
in Canyon.

Barbie: C’mon Barbie, let’s go party July 21 with this delightfully garish, modern-day take on the classic doll, starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and a whole doll cabinet full of other actors. Also opening this month: horror sequel Insidious: The Red Door and raunchy comedy Joy Ride on July 7; action sequel (and ridiculously punctuated) Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One on July 12; horror flick Terrifier on July 19; historical drama Oppenheimer on July 21; and family comedy The Haunted Mansion and thriller Talk to Me on July 28. Plus, watch for special screenings of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on July 9 and 11, Castle in the Sky on July 10 and 12, and National Lampoon’s Vacation on July 16 and 19.