Thursday on Front Street: Crone and XYZ and the Boomers Open the July Run
The best deal in Yakima this week costs exactly nothing and takes place in the middle of a street. On Thursday, July 9, Yakima Federal Downtown Summer Nights returns to historic North Front Street with Crone and XYZ and the Boomers, the third of six free Thursday-night bills the Downtown Association of Yakima has programmed this summer.
Here's the rhythm of the evening, because it rewards people who show up early: the cash-only beer garden opens at 5:30 p.m. (there's an ATM on-site, but bring bills and save yourself the line), the opener plays 6 to 7, and the headliner takes it 7 to 9. It's all-ages, it's outdoors, and it's built to be the kind of night where you run into three people you know before you've found a taco.
The bill itself is a nice bit of contrast programming. Crone is the heavier, moodier draw — the sort of Washington-state act that also turns up on Single Hill Brewing's Single Hill Sessions calendar this summer, which tells you the bookers around here trust them to hold a crowd. XYZ and the Boomers bring the looser, good-time energy that a street party wants at golden hour.
Context worth knowing: this series nearly didn't look like this. After a scaled-back 2025 that ran only three concerts, the Downtown Association rebuilt the schedule to a full six nights for 2026 and moved it back to North Front Street after experiments with other downtown footprints. What you're walking into on July 9 is a tradition that was deliberately reassembled, not one that simply coasted along.
Why it matters: free all-ages shows are the connective tissue of a local scene. They're where a 15-year-old sees a real band for the first time, where a touring act tests a new market, and where the guy who books the brewery down the street scouts his next opener. A healthy Thursday in July is an investment that pays off in January.
Bring a chair, bring cash, bring somebody who thinks Yakima has nothing to do on a weeknight. Prove them wrong at 6.
Sources: Downtown Summer Nights series returns to North Front Street — Yakima Herald-Republic; Yakima Federal Downtown Summer Nights 2026 — Visit Yakima; Downtown Summer Nights — Downtown Association of Yakima