By PAT MUIR

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Playing the Moxee Hop Festival one day, opening for the Beach Boys the next -- it's nice work if you can get it.

Bob Tomberg, rhythm guitarist for the hop festival's Saturday beer garden headliners, Shelley and the Curves, is looking forward to both.

Tomberg, who founded the band with his wife, (you guessed it) Shelley, is thrilled to play the Beach Boys gig Sunday at the Tulalip Casino.

But he certainly isn't looking past Moxee, where the band has played each of the past four years. There's something about this festival, which opens tonight, that makes it an annual highlight for the band, Tomberg said.

"We just try to be fun and entertain, play something everyone wants to dance to," he said. "There's a lot of beer, and it's a hot summer night. People dance for three hours straight."

Shelley and the Curves plays a mix of tunes going back to the '60s, with fun being the common theme. They do everything from Alicia Keyes to Led Zeppelin, so long as people can dance to it.

On the other side of the musical spectrum is Moxee's own Toby Bradley, whose country crooning made him one of the final four in Country Music Television's 2007 "Music City Madness" contest.

Bradley is a genuine, long-haul truck driving country boy, who plays the hop festival each year.

"It's pretty cool because I know most of the people in the audience," he said.

Though he's playing the main stage, not the beer garden, Bradley said you may find him there once his set is done.

"Normally I don't go to the beer garden," he said. "But I might this year, because it's our 20-year (East Valley High School) reunion."

Known for giving away an acoustic guitar at the end of his set each year, Bradley epitomizes the hometown community flavor of the event, said Stan Fortier, the festival's entertainment chairman. Bands like Shelley and the Curves -- "the hottest band in Seattle," Fortier said -- or the Wayman Chapman Band featuring Grammy winner Larry Nechtel, show the event's reach.

More than 10,000 people attend the festival each year, Fortier said, so there has to be something for everyone.

"That's my job as entertainment director, to make sure the palate of musical entertainment is broad and varied," he said.

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

If you go

WHAT: Moxee Hop Festival.

WHERE: Moxee City Park.

WHEN: 5 p.m. to midnight today, 7 a.m. to midnight Saturday.

HOW MUCH: Free.

MORE INFO: www.moxeehopfestival.org.

Schedule

Today

* 5 p.m.: Beer garden, food and craft vendors, kids' games open.

* 5 p.m.: Reflections, '60s and '70s pop/rock, main stage.

* 6:30 p.m.: Mariachi music, main stage.

* 7:30 p.m.: Festival royalty presentation, main stage.

* 8 p.m.: Sliver, classic rock, main stage.

* 9 p.m.-midnight: Karaoke with Steph, main stage.

* 9 p.m.-midnight: The Shreds, rock 'n' roll, beer garden stage.

* Dusk: fireworks in the park.

Saturday

* 7 a.m.: Breakfast in the park (ham, juice, coffee).

* 8:30 a.m.: 5K family fun run/walk.

* 9 a.m.: Stan Fortier and Jim Parker, guitar and vocals, five decades of hits, main stage.

* 9 a.m.: Food and craft vendors, kids' games open, "General Grant's Train," pony rides.

* 10 a.m.: Parade through downtown Moxee at Charron and Iler streets.

* Noon: Banda music, main stage.

* Noon: Mr. and Mrs. Giggles, in the park.

* 1 p.m.: Nightwind Jazz Collective, pop and jazz standards, main stage.

* 1 p.m.: Dave Ettl, magic, in the park.

* 2 p.m.: Ranger and the Rearrangers, gypsy jazz, main stage.

* 3 p.m.: Gold Creek Station, bluegrass, main stage.

* 4 p.m.: East Valley High School Alumni Band featuring Angie, Jack and Jim Parker with Stan Fortier, main stage.

* 5:30 p.m.: Wayman Chapman Band, R&B, main stage.

* 6:55 p.m.: Toby Bradley, homegrown country, main stage.

* 7:30 p.m.: Outstanding Service Award, main stage.

* 7:45 p.m.: Raffle drawing, main stage.

* 8 p.m.: Eleven 69, classic rock, main stage.

* 9 p.m.: Shelley and the Curves, Top 40 show band from Seattle, beer garden stage.

* 9:15 p.m.: Karaoke with Steph, main stage.