Fifth Street Live starts off the summer in downtown Gilroy

The inaugural Fifth Street Live concert drew lively crowds to downtown Gilroy on Friday, June 19.
Families, babes in arms, singles ready to mingle and couples enjoying a hot, summer night out packed Fifth Street – closed to traffic – and the Spice of Life Farmer’s Market held across the street in the Greenhouse Coworking parking lot.
Fearless dancers took to the street to move and sway to the rock and roll rhythms of Bobby Love and Sugar Sweet, one of an entire roster of regional acts that will play the Fifth Street Live stage this summer. Next week, the four-piece band, Soulfoot from Salinas will perform a mix of rock, funk, blues, pop jazz and country. 
Mayor Roland Velasco was caught smiling and laughing with members of the community as he served beer and wine at the beer tent set up next to the stage, while folks placed their lawn chairs or sat on the Moveable Feast’s bright red buckets, listening to the music and tearing into a plate of gourmet street food. 
“This is a very nice, family-friendly event and a great night out,” said Velasco, who will be volunteering some nights during the summer. In response to some concerns in town that the influx of food trucks on Fridays may hurt trade at downtown restaurants, Velasco said the overall aim of the Friday night events is to get more people downtown and create a rising tide that will end up helping all businesses downtown. 
“What we are trying to do is get people going downtown and there can’t just be one strategy – it has to be a multi-pronged approach. We are in it for the longterm and as soon as this starts picking up speed we can look to see if Friday is the best night to have the event.”