The birth of a new music festival is always cause for some excitement, especially when the king of music festivals chooses San Antonio to start a new musical extravaganza. "San Antonio is a special city that doesn't always get [as much] love [as it] should," said Austin-based Gary Clark Jr., who has seized a lot of attention with his virtuosic, fuzzed-out guitar mastery and his adept mixture of blues and contemporary pop influences. Named by Spin magazine "Summer Festival King" of 2012 (he played in more major U.S. music festivals than anyone on the planet), Clark's the perfect driving force behind the first edition of the all-ages Maverick Music Festival to be held at La Villita's Maverick Plaza on Saturday. Besides being a personal dream come true for Clark, the Maverick Festival is his attempt to reinvigorate the San Antonio music scene by bringing us some of the excitement and prestige marked by other annual regional music fests, thus closing the distance between Austin's legendary reputation for live music and San Antonio's underrated status as an emerging cultural force. As with most other festivals, Clark and his team have assembled something that's more than just a series of concert performances: the daytime segment of the show will be free to the public and feature local bands, cultural displays, and opportunities to sample the best of San Antonio's divergent cuisines. The evening portion, while still all-ages, is a paid attraction featuring a lineup of national bands aimed at drawing a varied crowd. Here they are: Gary Clark Jr. (Maverick stage, 10:30pm); Toadies (Maverick Stage, 9pm); Girl in a Coma (Maverick Stage, 8pm); Henry + the Invisibles (Maverick Stage, 7:15pm); and Arum Rae (Maverick Stage, 6:30pm). The Day Stages: Maverick Stage: Elora & Gasoline Alley (noon); The Heroine (2pm); and T Bird & The Breaks (4pm); Juárez Stage Trees (12:30pm); Este Vato (1:30pm); Hour Band (3pm); and Villela (4:45pm). Excerpted from "Gary Clark Jr. gives a little Austin love to SA's music scene." Click here for the full story. $28-$33, noon-11:45pm, Maverick Plaza, 408 Villita, maverickmusicfestival.com. Check out our full online calendar of upcoming events here: calendar.sacurrent.com.
