One of the powerhouse ironies of Opening Night tomorrow for the Summer Concert Series in the Courtyard of City Hall is the presence of the main attraction, Los Pinguos, an Argentine rock group, making its third Culver City appearance.
Two members of the Cultural Affairs Commission — a cantankerous advisory body that wanted to blindfold the entrepreneur Gary Mandell, drive him to a distant outpost and then throw his shoes off a tall mountain — asked for Los Pinguos.
That is news for two reasons:
• The Commission, which suspects Mr. Mandell’s taste abandoned him decades ago, constantly has chastised him for repeating acts from year to year
• As Los Pinguos warms up, both sides of this annual adversarial shoving match agree that the Argentine musicians are terrifically entertaining.
Every off-season, the soft-spoken, subtle joke-spinning Mr. Mandell’s skin looks as if a BB gun team mistook him for target practice, so pockmarked is his epidermis from unrelieved months of personal, intense criticism from the Cultural Affairs Commission and assorted self-style entertainment mavens.
Nevertheless, for the 11th straight summer season, Mr. Mandell will open the 8-week series Thursday night at 7 — with seating for the popular series available by 4:30.
Unlike the goosebump weather of last July and August, the present heat spell is a welcome counter to temperatures that prevented Courtyard crowds from reaching the sidewalk every week, as they had in years past.
The owner of Boulevard Music shrugs when asked if he is excited to be launching a new season. He will arrive at City Hall as he does every week in season at 4:30 and swing seamlessly into his supervisorial duties.
By 7, Incendio, a Spanish flamenco and percussion group, will mellifluously open the 17th summer of the series.
And yes, this summer is different from all others because for the first time, after a bitter winter battle, Mr. Mandell is sharing the production billing, sort of.
A muscular, many-sided campaign to unseat Mr. Mandell — it seems as if for the 11th straight year — was defeated.
But, as a concession to members of the Cultural Affairs Commission and City Councilman Scott Malsin, Ruth Price of the prestigious Jazz Bakery, will produce the final two concerts next month, weeks Nos. 7 and 8.
See culvercity.org
