Music on the Half Shell

Each summer, my fair city plays host to a musical performance every Tuesday night. The performer plays on the half shell, a band shell erected in a park on the Umpqua River. Folks reserve their seats by spreading blankets in front of the shell on the morning of the concert.

This Tuesday was Bruce Hornsby. I arrived at the park at 5:15 a.m., and mine was about the 400th blanket there. I swear, there was no parking at that hour at the park to get out and place a blanket, but we were still in visual range of the stage.

We packed a picnic and drinks and headed for the park an hour before start time. Maybe it is just the ice cream talking, but in the warm sunlight of the early evening, it was a tremendous experience.

I'm ordinarily not much of a pop concert guy. My experience consists of Chicago (1988--and clearly missing Peter Cetera), the Rolling Stones (1990--Ruby Tuesday was the only song that played well) and ... well, Music on the Half Shell (2005).

That said, Bruce Hornsby presented the greatest pop concert I have ever attended. That's just the way it is.