Free Township Concerts
Music in the Meadow. Concerts in the Park. Tunes on the Lawn.
Seems like they are everywhere these days. A veritable explosion of free music in the summertime hosted by various townships.
Where has this been all my life? And by all my life I mean when we were raising little kids. What a perfect no cost activity to do with the children that gets them, er us, out of the house for a little bit.
Works out great though for this stage of our empty nester/retiree life too. In fact, that’s pretty much who you see at these things. Old people and people with young kids. Nothing in the middle. Nobody in their twenties or thirties is going here for date night. If so, that might end up in the file under How Not To Impress on a Date.
Ernie and I have approached these free township concerts with the organized flair of people who have worked in jobs that had required some degree of such skills.
At the beginning of the summer, we google the free township concerts for all the townships within a 5 mile or so radius of us.
We cross check the various townships’ concert days, identifying which are on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
We then evaluate the type of music or band that will be playing. Grateful Dead tribute bands? Well that goes on the calendar for sure. Zydeco? Blues? Rock? Yes, yes, and yes. Loving all kinds of music, pretty much everything passes our muster. Except maybe EDM or Heavy Metal. But pretty much everything else goes.
Once we have identified the pool of locations and bands, cross-referenced against other activities we have planned, as well as against some of the local breweries that also host free concerts, we then fill in our calendar.
Who says you can’t have fun while on a budget? And travel too! Opportunities aplenty to experience a variety of township park settings. So far, most have been lovely. Except for the one that was covered in goose poop. I struggled to find one square foot to sit and be able to place my feet without them being in goose poop. And of course I was only wearing flip-flops that night vs sneaks. I was also rather appalled at some of the parents who let their toddlers roam around barefoot. I showered immediately upon getting home. We won’t be going back to that one regardless of who might be playing.
Another possible hazard, if you are scent-sensitive as I am, are the people who pull out their bug spray and start coating themselves in it like they are preparing for a trek through the Amazon. Depending on the direction of the wind and where you are sitting relative to them, you run the risk of being enveloped in a cloud of smelly deet. But again, small price to pay for some free entertainment.
And speaking of free entertainment, it’s not just the music that qualifies as such, but also the dancing.
A lot of the older people, I’m talking like 80’s or close to 80’s folk, love to dance. They don’t care what’s playing. They can turn Springsteen’s Born to Run, into a dance that looks like it belongs in the gymnasium of a ‘50’s sock hop.
We are in awe of their dance skills. These are couples who look like they have been dancing together for years. Maybe even took professional dance lessons? They are movin’ and groovin’ and lookin’ great.
Last week, one gentleman was the hit of the evening. He may have been there with his wife initially, if that’s who she was. They danced together for the first several songs. She didn’t move as good as him. He was suave, smooth, and had great rhythm. He wasn’t afraid to swing those hips. What hip replacement?
Eventually, other women wanted to dance with him. So his wife or whomever that was, sat down and he danced with one woman after another. At one point he had a three-some going on as one woman just couldn’t wait and joined in with him and the woman he had been dancing with at that moment. He was in demand that was for sure. And having a great time.
Summer’s here
And the time is right
For dancing in the….parks (my apologies to Martha)
Anyway, free summertime fun awaits you at your local or near-by township park. Check it out!