the sounds of summer

on the isthmus in madison in the summertime, there is an inescapable sound: music. music pouring from homes with open windows, stages at the festivals in our parks, from street corners, from the lakefront on campus. listen closely because it is everywhere.

this week, we found live (and FREE!) outdoor music on wednesday evening, friday night, saturday afternoon and evening, and mid day sunday. and you know what? i could ride my bike or walk to every single event. i love this city.

so here is the music round up:

wednesday night was the first concert on the square. for those not in the know (and let's be honest, readers, i have been reporting with the same wide eyed wonder and joy about the same little concerts summer after summer, so i KNOW that you know, but here we go again...) the concert is on the capitol square, with listeners settled on their blankets in the lawn, listening to a live performance by the wisconsin chamber orchestra. i always get a bit teary eyed at the first sound of those soaring strings cutting through the humid evening air. in this picture, you can see the new collapsible shell that is erected over the musicians. you can also see how close we are to the concert. this kind of proximity requires quiet listening, so obviously we got a babysitter and left the kids at home. next week, we'll be further from the action and will have 2 wild little people with us.

friday night was a free concert by dark star orchestra, a chicago area band that does spot-on covers of entire grateful dead shows. we were treated to october 30, 1971. it was good. reeeeally good. 

on saturday, our joyful neighborhood party and festival in a nearby park hosted 2 bands AND a drum circle. here is james, focusing on his egg shaker tempo. 

later, we went to the lakeshore fireworks festival (spoiler: we didn't last to show time. we didn't even last until sun down. these kids were tired). while petting baby lambs and watching a roller derby and eating yummy cart food and generally feeling good about life, guess who showed up and brightened our bright day? the uw marching band, of course! this time around, i think the chicken dance finally stuck with ramona. finally. 

and on sunday, the kiddos ducked out of the rain while we waited for our local reggae band natty nation to take the stage and make us dance. the rain stopped, the reggae started, and dancing commenced. 

 

i kind of wonder if heaven is really just a long summer weekend in madison.