Friday's event went well. . . except for the radio signal that permeated the entire sound system and made Rob crazy trying to track down the source. . . Turns out there was a radio tower about 1/4 mile away and the building we were set up in front of has constant radio presence in their phone lines and intercom system. . . Other than that little glitch early in the day, everything went pretty smoothly. . .

Gloria enjoyed herself. . .

We enjoyed some fine performances. . . I can't remember this guy's name, but he did mostly original tunes and had some really good material. . .

Gayle Chapman is always amazing. . .

Joshua Tree was the band for the evening. I hadn't heard them before but I really enjoyed their performance.

Gloria had a great time. . . she usually disappears early on at an event like this and re-appears with her face painted or some kind of treasure in her pocket. . .

This event was a medical fair with a LOT of vendors giving out everything from band aids to candy to hand sanitizer. Gloria's bag was filled to overflowing with loot by the end of the day:

The event was held at the retirement home that Rob's grandpa lived in for a short time after Grandma Bert died. I chatted with a sweet, old lady early in the day that just needed to talk, I think. She told me about moving out of her house and her kids having a big yard sale and how nothing was the same and that she was worried about nobody wanting her beautiful baby grand piano. . . She didn't seem bitter, just matter-of-fact. . . She said she was onto the third phase of her life and she was going to try to make the best of it. She told me about how she was planning to put a chair outside on her patio to listen to the concert. She made me laugh when she said she was going to have a hot dog but she "wouldn't relish it". . . It kind of made me sad and hopeful at the same time. Getting older is hard and there's nothing you can do about it but I hope I can find some fun in the journey and continue to experience life instead of giving up. . . Rob made a new friend, too. This man used to be in radio broadcasting in his younger days and he was extremely interested in the sound system and in what we do for a living. Rob took him over to the side of the stage and explained everything, as only Rob can do, and I think the man enjoyed every minute of it!!

The final act for the evening was Kirstie and Marcos. We have run sound for her on several other occasions. She is a local girl who is trying to make it big and is now living in Nashville. Her mom works at the retirement home and helped to put this event together.

This was the first time I had met Marcos and I was very impressed.

The concert ended earlier than expected due to the weather. It had sprinkled off and on during the event but the wind was picking up and there was a bit of thunder and lightning. I called Gary to come and help and we all got to work tearing it down. Even Gloria helped. . . a little. . .

By the time the sound system was loaded and the canopy put away, it started to pour!! We had to rush around and get the stage covered before the rain could cause too much damage.

It was pretty miserable. . .

We got it all down in record time and, hopefully, the next time we open up the stage trailer, the decks will all still be intact. . .