“The first Brits and Brews was a tribute to John Lennon, then expanded to the Beatles and this year it’s been expanded to the British music invasion of the 1960s and beyond,” said Stensaas, the event coordinator. He is the Marquette city planner and zoning administrator by day; after hours he plays guitar with the Pelestras, a pop/rock variety band that also includes Mark Hamari, Eric Gort, Rex Havoc, Greg Sandell, Marci Krupski, Peter Zenti and Solomon Kronberg.

Other Marquette-area bands performing were The Iron Oreos, Vinyl Tap, Ramble Tamble and LARC, plus open mic performers.

“A tribute to heavy metal and punk bands really got people up and dancing,” Stensaas said. “We had a really good crowd. It’s not a stretch to say the place was packed.”

Stensaas said they broke out beyond ’60s and early ’70s music with new wave, punk, heavy metal and reggae.

Spectators begin to file in at the Ore Dock Brewing Company in Marquette during the Brits and Brews concert fundraiser. (Photo courtesy of Dan Weingarten)

“It was a real mashup,” he noted.

“Just being able to play in a band has propelled me to keep learning. Music is truly the pulse of life,” Stensaas said.

His early inspirations were Rory Gallagher — the first Irish rock star, as well as George Harrison and Jimmy Page.

Stensaas said he’s been lucky enough to have seen the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in concert.

“I wish I had seen George Harrison on stage,” he said. “I was only 15 when John Lennon was assassinated.”

Stensaas said the event raised around $2,500 for JJ Packs, a nonprofit that provides local children who need food at home with nutritious food on Fridays to fortify them over the weekend when they do not receive school lunches and breakfasts.

“Our goal was to raise at least $2,000, and we exceeded that,” he said. “I think it helped that it wasn’t a packed weekend (with activities) like sometimes in Marquette. There were a couple of other things going on, but not six other things like some weekends. I think we may try to schedule in April again instead of in the fall. Spring is a little less hectic. People got there early and stayed late.”

He felt it was a real testament to the final act, Ramble Tamble, a young trio that plays mostly instrumental music in the vein of surf rock.

“Their base is primarily Gen Z but lots of Baby Boomers and Gen X people stayed for their set,” he said.

Stensaas said he couldn’t give enough kudos to all the bands.

“One band did just Beatles tunes,” he said.

The rest of the evening ran the gamut from Led Zeppelin to Depeche Mode to Beach Boys to the Sex Pistols.

“We had such a great mix of music,” he said. “And some of the bands do this for a living. They gave up an opportunity to make money to come out for this.”