Local Music Festivals

[Prettymaid]

Here in Central Illinois we have the Decatur Celebration in Decatur, IL. It's billed as the largest street festival in Illinois with 11 show stages taking up 22 city blocks. It is the only festival in the world with a dress code of no shirt no shoes no service. It is always the first weekend in August and this is its 24th year. And it's all free (except for food and drinks). I have been going since 1996 and have only missed a couple of years due to the heat. It is a 1 1/2 hour drive for us so we usually pick one day of the weekend to go.

Some past performances I have seen there (I just can't remember them all!)

Cory Wells (from Three Dog Night)
Seals and Seals (brothers Dan and Jim)
Little River Band
Marshall Tucker Band
Kansas
The Turtles
Bay City Rollers

This year the performers are:

Richard Marx
The Spinners
The Romantics
The Miracles
Joe Diffie

Here is the link:

http://www.decaturcelebration.com/


What are some of your local festivals?

[DonFan]

Our festival is called City Stages and traditionally it has been held on Father's Day weekend in June. It usually encompasses about a dozen city blocks in downtown Birmingham and although it isn't free, a weekend pass is very reasonable, in the $25-35 range. I have seen dozens of great acts there over the last ten years, including James Brown, Three Dog Night, Bo Diddley, Maria Muldaur, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Cash, Gladys Knight, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ricky Skaggs, Patty Loveless, Alabama, Santana, The Village People, Kool & the Gang, Charlie Daniels, Phil Collins, Chicago, The Knack, Rick Springfield, Taylor Hicks, Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, The Beach Boys and the Steve Miller Band.

Since this year is a very slim year for me, concert-wise, I am really looking forward to going to the festival in two weeks. The 2009 lineup includes the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, Styx & Reo Speedwagon.

[Prettymaid]

This weekend was the Decatur Celebration and we went yesterday. It was, of course, the most hot, humid day we've had so far this summer, but that's the way it goes!

Our main goal was to see Richard Marx. He performed for just over an hour (the standard time for these free performances), and started with Endless Summer Nights. Not having been a huge fan, I couldn't remember his hits, so I was pleasantly surprised when occasionally he would play a song I knew, (Now and Forever, Should've Know Better, Right Here Waiting.) One of the highlights was when he introduced a song that he wrote "right here in Illinois with Keith Urban", and went into Better Life. I'm not a big KU fan either but I know that one! It wasn't until this morning when I looked online that I saw a huge hit that he didn't do - Don't Mean Nothing. That's probably my favorite of them all and he didn't perform it!!! I'm glad I wasn't disappointed until this morning.

To me, there's not much better in life than an unexpected pleasant surprise. We had a couple of hours to kill before the Richard Marx show, so we looked at the schedule and saw that The Spinners were going to be performing and decided to have a look. I've done some research this morning and learned that there is also a U.K. band called The Spinners, so to differentiate between the two, this band was also known as The Motown Spinners. Anyway, I couldn't remember anything they had done, so my expectations were low as the show started. Well, I was blown away, to say the least! One hit was followed by another. Here's a list of some of them:

Could It Be I'm Falling In Love
I'll Be Around
Cupid
Then Came You
They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play)
Working My Way Back To You
The Rubberband Man

They still have two of their original members, and they rocked!

There's something to be said for standing in front of a stage on a summer day with the breeze blowing and listening to an original artist do an original song that you remember from growing up listening to the radio. I've had this same experience at this festival several times, most notably listening to Summer Breeze, sung by Jim Seals, among others. You can understand why I enjoy going to The Celebration so much!

[sodascouts]

These festivals sound terrific!

I haven't been to one locally, but I've been to Summerfest in Milwaukee twice. It lasts 11 days and there are LOTS of bands as well as comedy acts. It only costs $15. It's SO crowded though! Good luck getting anywhere near the band you want to see unless you set up shop in front of their stage pretty early (assuming they're popular, of course)! I've seen the The Ben Folds Five, the Goo Goo Dolls, Slaughter, Lifehouse and Lewis Black. Not as impressive as you guys but as I said, I've only been twice!

The only thing is the big acts play the Amphitheater, which costs the same as a regular concert. While Lindsey Buckingham was included in the $15 when I saw him in 2006, in order to see Stevie Nicks on the 4th of July in 2005 I had to shell out normal ticket price. Fleetwood Mac also played the amphitheater in 2003 but I didn't get to see them then; However, seeing Stevie's show in the Amphitheater where I had a ticket allowed me more time to enjoy the rest of the festival that day, whereas staking out my place for Lindsey Buckingham's concert meant that I spent most of that day in front of his stage.