Saturday, September 6th, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, now celebrating its 100th anniversary, staged its annual Pops Concert with Michael Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh sang and played the songs of Billy Joel in the play “Movin’Out,”(which I saw in Chicago on my birthday some years back). Cavanaugh was also very good at involving the audience and joked about the train that inevitably came chugging through the area during the concert.
Centennial Bridge in the distance, near sundown, on September 6, 2014, Saturday.
This time out, the advertisements suggested that Cavanaugh would be singing the songs of Elton John, but Elton John was just one small part of his repertoire this cool, fall-ish evening.
We held off on buying tickets to the event because it rained buckets just the day before. (I know; I was caught in it as I entered the Jewel Food Store on Kennedy). When it became apparent that the evening was going to be dry and relatively warm (temperatures dropped to the high fifties at one point, but, for most of the evening, it was comfortable) we decided to drive over and give it a shot—-somewhat late.
Because we were late, the $40 ($20 per adult) price tag seemed a tad high. We first stopped at the Front Street Brewery and, eventually, wound our way over to the grounds. By this time, the concert was well underway and we were outside the fence, somewhere near the entrance to the Rhythm City Casino. Did we want to shell out $40 for the remainder of the concert, or would we be happy simply listening to the tunes, like all the boats pictured on this page?
We set up our lawn chairs near what appeared to be permanent rest rooms (which were inconveniently locked). For the rest of the concert night, we would advise various concertgoers that the doors were locked. It was somewhat amusing to watch both men and women attempt to enter, only to be stymied by the locked building (which does bring up the question, WHY would the city lock this building on the night of a concert that supposedly drew a crowd of 10,000 ?)
Impromptu football field immediately in front of the lawn in front of the band shell.
As we approached, we heard a Paul McCartney tune (“Live and Let Die”) and, as time went on and we enjoyed the new Ferris Wheel that has been erected near John O’Donnell Stadium (which, I realize, has a newer name now), we heard all sorts of melodies that were not Elton John tunes. I recorded one (“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”) which the soloist said was his favorite tune. The “Riff Raff” piece contained refrains from songs such as “I Love Rock and Roll” and “Eye of the Tiger,” so, no Elton John there, either. And the crowd request was a Billy Joel song, which seems apropos.
After the concert seemingly concluded, my husband was intent on getting out ahead of the traffic, so we missed (a) the 1812 Overture, a tradition (b) the cannons being fired over the Mississippi and (c) the fireworks that accompanied this finale. By that time, we were back in the patio section of the Front Street Brewery, listening to the cannons and enjoying crab cakes.
I had not been to this concert since the year they advertised a Motown program. The group that year wasn’t very good and an elderly woman with a walker fell on the uneven sidewalks right next to us inside the park. We ended up dialing 911 and helping her, so I don’t remember much about the concert experience, except that the singers were off-key. (I heard the Beatles one later was good, however.)
One bit of good news: Yo Yo Ma is coming to town to play with the Symphony. I saw him with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and he was wonderful.