In front of 30,000
- Concerts
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I landed in Boston on July 2nd just before midnight. I had spent the prior 3 days in Oklahoma and my phone said that due to the heatwave my July 3rd rehearsal in Salem, 45min north, would be at 9am.
Photo by Steve Henry
I arrived at the outdoor stage at historic Derby Wharf in Salem and napped on the grass while waiting for soundcheck. After switching between microphones and getting levels, a quick lunch with musicians from the Hillyer Festival Orchestra and its conductor Dirk Hillyer, I returned home to sleep.
July 4th arrived with lots of heat and hints of rain. Bands had been playing since 3pm and I met the evening’s collaborators back stage around 5pm. Due to heat, I happily played on my Lubos Naprstek guitar.
Kids were playing soccer and tossing footballs between eating fried dough and ice cream. American flag overalls, shirts, and dresses filled the crowd. Various forms of USA 250 eyewear and hair pins sparkled the early evening sun.
A parade of political officials spoke, all pointing out in various forms that though this was the 250th of the USA it was Salem’s 400th anniversary.
Finally, Dirk started conducting and the concert began. Kids danced and conducted. Fanfares rang out. Families cheered and fried dough was eaten.
After the theme from Superman by the venerable John Williams, I was invited to the stage.
Dirk introduced me with some words I wrote about:
With that, I came to my seat and started playing from Guitar America 250:
- God Bless America by Irving Berlin
- Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe
- Star Spangled Banner by John Stafford Smith
It was eight hot, sticky, and very exciting minutes.
After I finished, I joined as back up dancer and vocalist for a couple of songs, as the rockets red glare filled the sky and a light and welcome rain started to fall.
As we walked to a hotel to celebrate and wait out traffic, I mentioned to Dirk that it was the biggest crowd I had played for, figuring 2000-3000 people.
He looked at me with a look of confused surprise.
“Aaron, what do you mean? There were 30,000 people.”
I’m glad I didn’t know prior. It was a lovely time.
Happy 250 USA and 400 Salem!
