Back to band concerts

One of my first jobs in journalism was at the Allentown Morning Call. Besides helping an entertaining columnist, Ted Mellon, think up a snappy/quippy lead for his daily weather column, i also covered community evening band concerts.

That all came back to me last night as we attended ”A Tribute to Aretha Franklin” concert in Bluffton.  The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of John Morris Russell, played some of Aretha’s greatest hits to the delight of an estimated 500 hundred people enjoying the music and their picnic dinners under the stars and a brilliant quarter moon.

The symphony performance was supplemented by several soulful special guest singers, including a few with Broadway experience. I only saw one couple dance during the concert, but many people came to their feet with the orchestra played several patriotic songs.