VISTA -- Downtown business leaders are whistling a happy tune over the growing popularity of a free downtown concert series that ended its second season Friday night with a snappy performance by the Boogie Woogie Trio, a local jazz and blues group.

The weekly concerts, held at the corner of Main Street and North Indiana Avenue, are modest by most standards, but drew consistently more people than they did last year, said Karen Clay, executive director of the Vista Village Business Association, which sponsored the events.

Crowds of between 50 and 100 people attended the weekly shows to see performances ranging from rock and country music, to blues and funk, Clay said. The shows began June 30 and ran for nine weeks.

"It was a good season," Clay said.

On Friday, the crowd was a little smaller than usual. A couple dozen people had arrived by 6:30 p.m., sitting in plastic chairs and tapping their toes to the tunes wafting through the quaint neighborhood. The trio that performed was a last-minute stand-in for Celtic rock band Highland Way.

"We've enjoyed this," said Paula Montagna, a Vista resident attending her second concert in the series, with her daughter, Katie.

"It's a relaxing way to spend a couple hours on a Friday night, just listening to the music," Montagna said.

"And the price is right," she added with a laugh.

Jim Baumann, chief executive officer of the Vista Chamber of Commerce, said he thinks the concerts have helped to revitalize the older downtown area.

"I think it's a great idea, just to make downtown a vibrant place, an active place where things are going on," he said.

The shows also brought more people to the area's restaurants, especially those with outdoor seating, Baumann said.

Salvador Jimenez, a manager at nearby Village Cafe, said he sees about 15 percent more customers on nights when the concerts are going on down the block.

"When they come in, they're talking about the music, so they've been there before they come here," he said. "I think it brings a lot more people."

Though the downtown Vista Village Art Gallery typically closed before the concerts began, the events have been beneficial to the whole area by bringing more of a sense of community, said MaryAlice Quimby, president of the Vista Art Foundation.

"As far as the community is concerned, it's a great idea," she said. "When people take to walking down the street, it benefits all of the shops along the way."

That's just what organizers were hoping to hear when they started the event last year, as a way to bring more attention to the area, said Stephanie Jackel, the business association's former executive director.

"It seemed it would be kind of a nice way to end a week," she said, "just to sit and listen to good music."

Jackel said she is glad to see the event growing. That first year, only 15 to 20 people attended most of the concerts, she said.

Hennessy's restaurant owner Leroy Tardy booked the performers for this year's series and said he was pleased with the talent and the diversity of the lineup.

"We tried to mix it up as much as possible -- we tried to get something for everybody," he said.

"I think we really improved over last year and, hopefully, next year will be even better," Tardy said.

Clay said that next summer she is considering moving the concert series a few blocks west to the Creekwalk in Vista Village shopping and entertainment complex.

The small, linear park -- which runs along Buena Vista Creek just south of the Krikorian Theater -- would allow people to have picnics and a bit more room, she said.

"Summer music, to me, means lounging around," Clay said.

More information on the concert series or Vista Village Business Association's other events is available on the group's Web site, www.vvba.org, or by calling (760) 414-9391.

Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 631-6622 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.