mallorys_camera | Free Summer Concert Series

Ellen & I drove all the way down to Chester to hear a Carole King tribute band.

The band was mediocre, but that didn’t matter very much. It was a fine fall evening with the tang of ghost apples in the air, and I was scrutinizing the logistics of the event—a crowd of what? 300 people? And a tiny pre-fab amphitheater built with grant money.

I was studying it so closely because VoW actually produces its own free summer concert series, considerably less professional than this event in Chester (which was by no means upscale or glossy.) I figured we should liaise with the group behind the Chester event: Was it produced by the village or the township? Who owned the property? How did they book the bands?

Free summer concert series are very popular in this part of New York State. Your tax dollars at work! Tax dollars you can hear.

Maximum attendance at the Wallkill concert series capped at around 100. This is not insignificant considering the hamlet’s entire population is only around 2,000. Still. I can’t help thinking of all the missed opportunities to monetize the event. Like why aren’t there food trucks? Plus the existing structure on the concert venue in Popp Park, the Lions Pavillion, is woefully inadequate and does nothing to take advantage of its fabulous setting, right along the Wallkill River, which is truly a fabulously beautiful little river:

This is the upside of living in a tiny village in a comparatively remote place. You can actually affect things, flex your agency, make a difference. New York City may be more exciting, but chances are in New York City all you’ll ever be is a passive consumer of other people’s initiative. The barriers to entry are just too high.

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I must have done something else yesterday, but I can’t remember what.

Requisite Carole King Tribute Band selfie came out well: