A parking lot may seem like an unlikely place to find entertainment on a Saturday night, at least the family-friendly kind, but that's where it will be when the Shoppes at North Village begins its annual summer concert series starting from 6 to 8 p.m. May 30.

Favorite bands from around the area are scheduled to play every Saturday on the center stage across from Cold Stone Creamery. And it's all free.

"People bring their lawn chairs and coolers. They bring the kids, and the kids get up in front of the band and dance," says Jack Frost, a drummer with Friends, a '50s and '60s do-woop band returning for the third year. "It's a little unnerving showing up when it's 100 degrees outside and you are sitting up there on that hot concrete. But as soon as the sun goes down a little bit, it cools right down. You get a nice breeze and people really enjoy it."

You'll also see people sitting in or on their cars, or just driving by with their windows down. Tim Arnold, a guitar player with the classic rock band Bridges, says the concerts have come a long way from when his band first played on the patio of Panda Express.

"I think we got some free Chinese or something," Arnold laughs. "Then one of the shop owners suggested we play on the stage here so everyone could hear it."

They did, the Shoppes management liked it and now Arnold also books the bands through his part-time work with Omni Entertainment.

"They are all fun, if I had to describe them," Arnold says.

The lineup starts with Page 2 on May 30, followed by Exit 47 on June 6, Friends on June 13, the Jerry Forney Band on June 20 and The Bridge on June 27. Bands scheduled for July and August include A to Z, Oasis and the Norman Riley Steel Drum Act. The season ends with Swift Kik on Aug. 29.

Sylvia Anderson | Stjoelive staff