Tonight’s outdoor concert was at O’Fallon Civic Park, about 15 minutes from our house. It was a cloudy day and it started raining after 4:00 p.m., so Ted and I didn’t know if we’d go to the concert or not. The rain stopped at 6:00, and the concert started at 6:30, so off we went.
This was probably the friendliest, most laid-back venue we’ve gone to. The swimming pool closed for the season last Sunday, but there was a playground on the left side of the bandstand and a track around the park where we saw some people walking before settling in for the musical part of the evening. It was a small crowd–maybe 500-600–but that was more than twice as many people as we saw at the Municipal Band concert. There were actually five food trucks, as opposed to the two or three we’ve been seeing, and Ted opted for the wood-fired pizza. It was delicious! He asked the vendor if they also have a restaurant where we could enjoy more pizza. He was told that, at this time, they have only the food truck, so I guess we’ll have to chase down the truck if we feel an urge for their pizza.
Here’s the bandstand and the early crowd. Part of the walking track is visible across the center of the picture.
Some of the kids enjoyed the playground more than the music throughout the evening.
Tonight’s band was Platinum Rock Legends, self-described as “the most exotic and awesome rockers” in the Midwest. Their theme is “Live the Legend.” They obviously have a positive opinion of themselves. The program tonight featured their supershow with a boy band tribute.
Live the Legend!
As soon as the band came onstage, Ted and I recognized the first dancer to hit the floor. We had seen him at The Meadows concert in late July. He swapped out his blue shirt for a white one and added a new dance move tonight: on the fast songs, he double-timed his one-foot-other-foot step. He had plenty of partners–a number of women sought him out and danced with him.
This guy literally danced to every beat of music for 2.5 hours. I wonder how many calories he burns at concerts.
Tonight’s security force was Cops in Carts. They toodled around the area a little bit, but were out of sight most of the time.
The crowd filled in nicely and so did the dance area.
That’s a sturdy little ice chest!
Platinum Rock Legends regularly sings covers for 20 rock legends, complete with signature costumes. I lost count of how many we saw this evening.
Here’s Queen, singing “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.”
Michael Jackson had the best costume, but it was hard to see him. PRL loves the smoke effect and regularly clouded the stage with it.
Of course Prince sang “Purple Rain.”
This is the first summer concert at which we’ve seen one of the performers go into the audience while singing.
Because of the rain, traffic on I-70 was slow and the band arrived a few minutes late. To make up for it, they played past the scheduled 9:00 p.m. finish. Because school starts tomorrow in O’Fallon, at 9:00 p.m. it was time to pack up the kids, take them home, and go to bed. The audience was significantly smaller by 9:05.
When it’s time to go home, it’s time to go home. It was another enjoyable concert for Ted and me.