We get lots of questions about the free concert community in St. Louis. Inevitably, our insight comes back to that one word, “community.” We have found that the free concert attitude is much more than a chance to hear good music. It is a culture of concert-goers who appreciate the music, the interaction with friends, the food, the dancing, the venue; the community.
This was made clearer to me this week at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Whitaker Music Festival concert. On our arrival, the sky was darkening and the clouds looked ominous, but there was no rain and the radar indicated it would not arrive before 9. We parked, entered, connected with our friends, and set up our gear under the canopy of a tree. Having time to spare before the concert began, we decided to walk around the Garden a little. By this time, a light rain had started to fall, so we grabbed our oversized umbrella and took a stroll, noticing that wherever we went, people were setting out their blankets, chairs, and picnics. They didn’t seem worried about the rain coming down, whether or not they had brought something to protect them from the dampness. We returned to our chairs and wondered if the concert would be cancelled.
Starting right on time, the band seemed to give 110 percent in their performance, perhaps in appreciation of the thousands of people sitting in the audience, umbrellas overhead, not letting a little rain stop the party. The drizzle would stop, the umbrellas would lower; the rain would begin, the umbrellas would go back up. Yet, very few were leaving discouraged by the rain.
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While the music is important, I realized that night this city’s free concert scene is about so much more than what is happening on the stage. It is truly an attitude of people who are willing to leave the comfort of their homes and venture out into the community to hear that one band in that one place at that one time. Usually, they will leave with happy hearts, knowing that the circumstances of that event can never be duplicated, and remembering it will always bring a smile. Having taken the risk of rain (or heat) they belong to the free concert community.
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