Organizers of Bangor’s annual KahBang Music, Art & Film Festival announced plans Tuesday for a series of concerts this summer on the Maine State Pier in Portland.

So far, only one of the concerts has been announced – George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic on June 4 — but organizers hope to stage six or seven from early June into early September, said Chris Michaud, communications director for KahBang. The series will be called KahBang’s Music on the State Pier.

Additional Photos

George Clinton will play with Parliament Funkadelic in Portland on June 4 as part of a new summer concert series called KahBang’s Music on the State Pier. AP

It would likely be the first time that a summer-long concert series — involving more than a couple of shows – has been held on the Maine State Pier, said Arthur Stephenson, who oversees the pier as Portland’s director of public assembly facilities.

In the past few years, other groups have put on individual concerts at the pier, said Stephenson, who thinks that KahBang’s plan may get more groups interested in using the pier for outdoor music performances.

The pier can hold about 3,000 people for concerts.

“We’d certainly be interested in talking to more people about it,” said Stephenson.

At least one other concert has been planned for this summer on Portland’s waterfront, at the city-run Ocean Gateway marine terminal.

The concert, featuring Guster on Aug. 6, is being announced under the name Concerts on the Waterfront at Ocean Gateway, said its promoter, Lauren Wayne, general manager of Portland’s State Theatre.

Wayne said the State Theatre will likely present at least one other show at Ocean Gateway this summer.

The KahBang festival, which last year was nine days of music and film, was started in 2009 by a volunteer group that wanted to see an arts and music festival in the Bangor area. The group is still all-volunteer, but expanding to Portland is a step toward making it a permanent arts organization with paid employees, Michaud said.

This year’s festival in Bangor is scheduled to run Aug. 5-13.

“We went from getting 2,000 people (in Bangor) to 10,000 people last year, and so as we get bigger and get more contacts, we felt doing this in Portland was the logical next step,” said Michaud. “We’re all Mainers, trying to promote music and arts in our state.”

Michaud said his group will begin announcing the performers for the Portland concerts in two to three weeks. He said the list may include acts similar to those that have played the KahBang festival — last year’s lineup included rock band OK Go, rapper B.o.B, and hip-hop legend Biz Markie. It also may include acts that appeal to a different demographic.

To use the pier, the KahBang organizers will need City Council approval for each show, Stephenson said.

They also would have to pay the city a rental fee of $675 plus all of the city’s costs associated with the show, including labor, electricity and security, Stephenson said.

The typical concert ends up costing the promoter $8,000 to $9,000 for use of the pier, Stephenson said.

So far, the only show that KahBang has City Council approval for is Clinton. Organizers plan to bring other proposed shows before the council on April 25, Stephenson said.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at: rrouthier@pressherald.com

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