Blustery outdoor concert was a great attempt

You can’t blame a guy for trying.

Lovell Middle School music director Keath Fenton held an outdoor concert in the park Monday evening – a truly cold and blustery evening.

It was worth a shot. What’s better than a spring concert on a balmy evening – complete with food trucks? Bring your lawn chair, grab a bite to eat and enjoy the music. It was also a chance to use the brand new amphitheater at Armory Park.

But Mother Nature had other ideas.

The day was windy and cold, and the chilly conditions continued well into the evening. During the concert parents and grandparents huddled under blankets, wearing winter coats, and the music educators supplied lots of metal clips to hold music on stands. Remarkably, no music went flying in the wind, though the stiff breeze wreaked havoc with the page turning for the piano accompaniment.

Should they have moved the concert indoors? Perhaps, but it was all set up, the food trucks were scheduled and the wind was supposed to die down that evening. Didn’t happen.

And so everyone soldiered on – for an hour and a half, one of the coldest concerts most folks have likely experienced. But again, it was a worthwhile effort, a great idea on a better night. I like Mr. Fenton thinking outside the box.

Michael Asay stopped by the office on Tuesday, and we laughed at the mothers recording the concert on their cell phones, likely just hearing “whoooooooosh” on playback.

The kids appeared to be unfazed. Several didn’t even wear a coat, though they were a bit protected with a tarp erected on the east side of the amphitheater. I just wish we could have heard their beautiful voices better during the choir portion of the concert. Stronger amplification would have helped. 

All in all, it was a good attempt at an outdoor spring concert, and I like the idea. Next year the school should maybe bribe Mother Nature somehow to have a nice, balmy evening. We can only hope.