Riverside and area residents took to Big Ball Park earlier this month for the village’s third Concert in the Park, the last of the series this summer. The show, which was free to the public, featured Chicago-based rock band Fletcher Rockwell playing original songs and popular covers on Friday, Aug. 7.
Megan Siska, the assistant director of Riverside’s parks and recreation department, which is responsible for the Concerts in the Park, said the crowd was solidly sizeable.
“We had a really good crowd, a good turnout, which we always hope for that last concert,” she told the Landmark. “It’s kind of the last thing before everybody ends summer and goes back to school.”
She said most of her time on concert days is taken up by coordinating the efforts to set the shows up.
“Usually, our stage arrives by around 1 o’clock. I meet them out there to angle them properly in the park,” Siska said. “Our sound and lighting company typically comes later in the afternoon, around 3:30 or so, and they’ve got all of their equipment that they’ve got to unload. I put them in touch with the band prior to the concert … The band is able to come with just their instruments and get themselves set up.”
Despite the busy days, Siska said preparations for the series of three concerts — one at the start of each month of June, July and August — begin far earlier in the year.
“We usually secure our bands, our stage and our sound and lighting company right after the first of the year because there are obviously a lot of moving parts,” she said. “There are some communities that may have a gazebo or a concert area where they don’t need to rent a stage or might be able to do some of that in-house, but being where we are, with the limited space that we’ve got, we have to put all those different pieces together.”
When looking for talent to entertain attendees, Siska said she and Ron Malchiodi, the director of Riverside’s parks and recreation department, do their best to vary the genres represented from concert to concert and year to year. Last year, for example, Riverside featured a country band, so this year, they opted not to include country, she said.
“As the person who books the concerts, I’m getting emails throughout the year from different bands that are interested … Sometimes, we find them that way. That’s actually how we found our June concert [headliner], Whiskey Misfits, who’s a local band,” she said. “Other times, we work with booking agencies that are in the area. I typically give them what our budget is, the type of genre that we’re looking for, and they’re able to get back to me with some options.”
Siska said she and Malchiodi try to book bigger names for the July concert, which makes up part of Riverside’s Independence Day celebrations. This year, the concert on Friday, July 3, at Guthrie Park featured Wedding Banned, known for their ’80s covers.
While Siska said she couldn’t make it to the concert on Aug. 7, she said she’s attended many concerts in the park over her nine years with Riverside.
“My favorite part of the concert is really seeing so many people in the community come together. It’s obviously a nice way to enjoy a beautiful night out. I know from my experience in my personal life that it’s nice to be able to take some lawn chairs, pop them out and be able to enjoy a concert,” she said.
“It’s free. You don’t have to plan anything. You can come and go as you please,” Siska added. “This is local. It’s an easy thing for you to do if you have the time available to you. You get to see neighbors that maybe you don’t live right by. The other piece is you always see the kids out in the field. They’re playing football. They’re enjoying their time. You’ve got this sense of community at these events that brings people together, which I love to see.”
