Downtown Concord's Todos Santos Plaza turns into a Taylor Swift dance floor tomorrow when the tribute act Twist on Taylor headlines the weekly Music & Market series. Tomorrow's farmers market opens at 4 PM, with the concert kicking off at 6:30 PM, all part of a free summer program presented by Pacific Service Credit Union.
According to the City of Concord, California on Facebook, Twist on Taylor is fronted by singer Sara Jessica Rhodes and built around full-band instrumentation covering Swift's catalog from her country roots to her pop era. The Southern California and Las Vegas-based ensemble also brings choreography and era-specific costuming to its sets, per TSE Entertainment.
A 37th Season Rooted in Concord's Jazz Roots
This year's run marks the 37th annual season of Music & Market, spanning 17 straight Thursday evenings from June 4 through September 24. The format pairs an afternoon farmers market with an evening concert, a combination that traces its roots to August 1969, when local car dealer Carl Jefferson organized the first Concord Summer Music Festival and drew 17,000 people, later launching Concord Records in 1973, according to JazzTimes.
The plaza hosting it all has its own long history. Todos Santos Plaza was dedicated in 1868 as a 2.5-acre public square by town founder Don Salvio Pacheco and was named a Concord historical landmark in 1976, according to the Historical Marker Database. That civic core now anchors a city that has grown into Contra Costa County's most populous, with an estimated population of 123,261 as of 2025, per the U.S. Census Bureau data cited on Wikipedia.
Who Else Played This Summer
Twist on Taylor is only the latest act in a lineup that opened June 4 with Andre Thierry performing Cajun, zydeco and soul. Dead & Breakfast delivered a Grateful Dead tribute on June 11, Neon Velvet brought a high-energy dance party on June 18, and Tommy Castro & The Painkillers closed out the month with blues and rock on June 25, per the city's announcement.
July kept the tribute theme going. Funk Shui Band played funk, R&B and soul on July 2, Super Diamond delivered a Neil Diamond tribute on July 9, the all-female act Zepperella covered Led Zeppelin on July 16, Green-182 mashed up Green Day and Blink-182 on July 23, and Court n' Disaster played popular country music on July 30.
What's Still Ahead This Fall
After Twist on Taylor, the series turns to Carlos Reyes performing Latin jazz on August 13, followed by The 3 Queens of Motown paying tribute to Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin on August 20. Aja Vu covers Steely Dan and Chicago on August 27, and Strange Daze brings a Doors tribute on September 3.
Steve Snyder's Big Band closes in on the season's most historically loaded date, performing a tribute to the Concord Jazz Festival on September 10. That festival celebrated its 50th anniversary at the 12,500-seat Concord Pavilion in August 2019 after a 15-year hiatus, with headliners including Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding and Poncho Sanchez, according to Concord.com. Sacred Fire Band plays a Santana tribute on September 17, and House of Floyd wraps the season with a Pink Floyd tribute on September 24.
How the City Keeps It Free
Pacific Service Credit Union, the series' presenting sponsor, is a non-profit financial institution founded in 1936 with more than $1.3 billion in assets, serving over 70,000 members across 12 Northern California counties, according to The National Law Review. That backing is part of what allows the city to offer the full concert run at no charge.
The accompanying farmers market is run by the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association, a Concord-headquartered non-profit that manages markets across more than 30 Bay Area communities and generates over $5.9 million in annual revenue supporting California family farms, per PCFMA. The Concord market also takes part in California's Market Match program, letting CalFresh and EBT cardholders double their produce budget by up to an additional $15 per visit, with PCFMA distributing more than $1.39 million in Market Match incentives across its markets in 2024. Additional sponsors listed by the city include Ashby Lumber, Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery, Marathon Renewables, John Muir Health, Brookfield Residential Northern California, Hilton Concord, MCE and the Concord Police Association.
Getting Downtown
Todos Santos Plaza sits two blocks from the Concord BART station, giving attendees from across Contra Costa County and the wider Bay Area a direct transit option, with nearby multi-level parking garages also serving the downtown crowd, according to Contra Costa Live.
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