Despite warnings of evening rain, you couldn’t miss the crowd that formed at Brookfield’s Kiwanis Park on Friday, June 19, for the first Friday night concert of the summer season.
The annual series of Friday night concerts brings a different headliner to the park to cap off every week from the middle of June through the end of August. The June 19 show featured the Jolly Ringwalds, a 1980s cover band that played hits like Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl,” Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” and R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”
The full lineup includes local bands of different genres, from pop rock and country to ’50s and ’60s classics and Celtic music.
“I could probably schedule 10 straight weeks of classic rock and be OK from a draw perspective. I think people are going to turn out every week for that type of genre, but, personally, I’m a big music lover. I collect records and vinyl,” said Matthew Odom, Brookfield’s director of parks and recreation, which organizes the shows. “It was super important to me to get a good, balanced group, genre-wise, and try to draw people that might not necessarily come out [otherwise].”
Deirdre Power, a Brookfield resident, said Friday’s show was better attended than usual.
“It’s a beautiful night. We love live music, and we love being around our neighbors and the community,” said Power, who’s been a regular attendee with her partner, John Matuszek, for the six years they’ve lived in Brookfield. “We have [the dates] listed on our refrigerator.”
“It’s the first event of the year, so it’s nice to retouch with people. We see our neighbors [regularly], but we don’t see our distant neighbors,” Matuszek added.
Spouses Pat and Ali Reidy said they’ve been coming to Brookfield’s Friday night concerts for the past eight years and that attendance has slowly increased over time.
“It has grown exponentially even in the last eight years,” Pat Reidy said. “Here’s the reason we come: We can hang outside, have a communal experience with our community members, our friends and neighbors. Our kids can run free and go do their thing. We’re right next to the police station, so everyone feels safe and together.”
In today’s world with personal technology and individually catered online algorithms, he said free events like the Friday night concerts are “the last bastion of a community.” He described the community feel of the event as “Americana.”
“There’s a baseball field right there. There’s music being played here, and freight trains bringing goods all over the country are coming right by us as we sit here. It’s the coolest. If Brookfield’s putting on something for free, my family will be there,” Reidy said. “One, I want to support. Two, it’s free! In this economy, I’m looking for everything I can do for free.”
Having started with the village at the end of February, Odom said he immediately got to work reaching out to local musical acts with the help of a spreadsheet compiled by Noah Rife, a management analyst for the village.
“I had to put it all together very quickly. Personally, I like to be way out ahead of things, and I would probably be booking those bands six months out or further, but I was booking bands early-to-mid March, even almost into April by the time I had the whole series scheduled,” Odom told the Landmark.
He described the work of selecting dates for each band as “a juggling act.”
“You’re trying to book for all of these different dates. We’re trying to do a good blend and mix of bands,” he said. “Budget’s a consideration, too. You have a certain budget you’re working with, and obviously our Music on Grand series, which is our Saturday series, that’s got a bigger budget for bigger bands. For the Friday night series, we’re targeting more budget-friendly bands because you have more dates.”
He said the series involves coordinating with members of several different village departments to pull it all off successfully.
“I’m working with public works to make sure our park, and specifically the bandshell, is nice and clean … You’re getting extra garbage cans placed everywhere. I was working with Bob [Uphues] in marketing and communications to get info on our website and on social media,” he said. “I even worked with our community development office. We had a few businesses, local vendors, that were interested in attending … Not to mention my own department and staff, being there and working with the band, helping them get set up.”
