Riverfront Music Festival a Sucess in Spite of the Rain

Friday evening was a steamy prelude to a wet Saturday of concerts in Waterfront Park. Sarah Harmer opened the Riverfront Concert with a performance at The Firehouse Center for the Arts. Harmer’s sincere banter with the crowd and folksy lyrics seemed to resonate with everyone in the filled theater. With songs like One Match where Harmer laments about her relationship that needs a little fire… “If I only had one match left I would try to light it between us”. The funky lighthearted beat was a fun foil to the seriousness of the topic of a relationship that may not be all it should. Her song Lodestar is took us with her “da da da da da da you sang to the moon” and she softly transported us, “intensity of stars reflected in the water silently ignite, the oar dips into oil like water, and we are away…” And we were. The room was silent as she showed us through the Bay in the “great black night”. Harmer and her band received a standing ovation and they gratefully retook the stage for an encore of three additional songs.

Just add water… There is a long history of concerts in the rain and young enthusiastic fans who slosh through mud and muck to hear their favorite bands. It wasn’t quite Woodstock, but Riverfront 2010 did have a fanatic kind of feel… with a family twist. Rain parkas and tarps seemed to be mandatory attire, as were smiles! In spite of the rain whole families flocked together under makeshift shelters and swayed and sang. Unfortunately, the rain seemed to begin just as The Candles took the stage at 1:00 PM and continued straight through with varying intensity through preformances by Sarah Harmer, Stephen Kellog and the Sixters, The Lemonheads. Newburyport- Today made a search of the crowd and really could not find anyone who was unhappy!

Thank you to the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and 92.5 The River, as well as TD Bank for hosting such a fun event. It was great to see so many folks out enjoying Waterfront Park.