There is a brand new flea market concept coming to Madison on Saturday, July 19th, in the parking lot at 522 West Street next to the ambulance garage, across from the old downtown KDH hospital. It’s going by the simple sobriquet of “market”, and it promises to feature “vintage, arts, food, brews and more!”
It’s a production of a nascent partnership called Echo House, which is the brainchild of Nick Spray, Chris Webster, Zach Hackney, Mitch Marsh and Nash Grooms. This is their very first event, but they have more in the offing, including a music show at Electric Lady on August 30th. (By the way, Chris, Zach and Mitch are all members of the band Vaguely Familiar that plays around Madison on a regular basis.)
“Echo House is basically a production company with a focus on presenting events that appeal to a younger audience,” explains Chris Webster. “Madison has lots of entertainment and events that skew more to the middle-age audience, but we saw a way to maybe cater more to Gen Z and Millennials.
“This ‘market’ event on Saturday is a good example. Our generation has this powerful affinity for recent vintage clothing from the 90’s and early 2000’s, stuff that was well made and classically styled. Like older Levis and Wranglers and Carhartts. We’re kind of obsessed with the quality and the nostalgia it represents.”
Nick Spray chimed in, “There will be quite a few booths featuring the vintage clothing, plus home goods and decor from that era, too. In addition we’ve lined up some artists, like Gabby Hammersly, plus food trucks and a coffee truck. Off Broadway Taproom will be providing beer. Lucky Dog Tattoo will be there, and Stephanie will be doing permanent jewelry.
“Admission is free, and it is a kid-friendly event. For music we developed a playlist that matches the vintage vibe of the era, so we’ll be keeping the energy upbeat and fun. Oh, and we have a cool and unique T-shirt thing we’ll be doing at the event. You can bring your favorite T-shirt with whatever artwork on it, and Nick Meacham from Madision Made will add the “market” logo to your shirt, to update the look and give your shirt a fresh lease on life.”
“We really want to thank Todd Boone for the use of the parking lot,” adds Chris. “He is basically making the space available for any creative or popular uses, just as a way to make Madison a more interesting place to live. He’s looking to support anything that elevates the quality of life here. We really appreciate what he’s doing for us and for the town.”
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK:
When I first started collecting and publishing the weekly music calendar, it really was focused on the weekend. But that has been changing in the last year or so. Now Wednesdays and Thursdays usually have multiple options, from bands to open mics to karaoke. Sundays have a couple of shows to choose from. And now that we have the regular Monday Singo Bingo up at Tailgators, we essentially have some variation of fun musical experience 6 days a week here in Indiana’s Music City. This Friday we have something especially trippy and cool happening at Red Bicycle Hall that you may not want to miss. It’s a “rave” style dance party, with a surrealist Salvador Dali theme encouraging fun costumes and a mind-bending atmosphere. This is gonna be something totally new and unique for Madison, and you want to be able to say “I was there!” when the stories are eventually told.
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