I get invited back to do one of these concerts in the PP&L Plaza every summer, and though the turnout is usually slim, there are always some good moments. I also get to bang my music off of the city’s buildings. Several familiar faces came by and took in some tunes, but there were several kids that tickled me. One particularly precocious girl came right up and suggested Magic Penny. She said, “I’m still three.” We had several conversations throughout the afternoon, and she had no fear of coming up and starting a chat. It was amusing to the audience as well.

Another group of folks came up and requested Peanut Butter, and, though I had done it earlier, I complied. The dad came up while I was packing up and said that his daughter was in town from the West Coast, with her daughter and wanted to come out to see Dave Fry and hear some of the music she grew up on. This generational thing is fairly regular now, these days. That’s cool.

I was asked to do a 3:30 set at this benefit festival for the Quakertown Food Pantry at St. Paul’s Church in rural Quakertown/Springtown. It was a whole afternoon of music under a big tent, with a big sound system and a whole variety of music acts including my friends Two of a Kind, several local rock bands, a solo guitarist noodling behind loops, and a steel drum band that couldn’t make it for the last set. It paid well, and the church community does it’s best to put on a good afternoon of entertainment.

I made it in plenty of time and set up for my 45 minute set. Once again, I was booked to do family/kids music but there were very few kids when I started. I have to negotiate these sets, playing to the adults while trying to establish the fact that I’m doing kids material. I have to engage the adults as best I can.

I did get to start out with I Can See Clearly Now, a tune that I have recently worked up, but needs some public performance for me to start to own it.  Eventually a family settled in, finished the packed supper they brought in. They finished up and asked the dad, the young daughter and son to come up for Giants. It was a good way to engage them and the adult audience. It worked well and the rest of the set kept folks attention, with the help of the children dancing in front of the stage.

Once again, I played for twenty or thirty folks, worked them as best I could and entertained those who were there. It’s hard work, and, between the NJ gig and this PA gig, I was totally spent when I got back to Fourth Street.

I was amused by the other local bands who played before and after me. All the guitarists and bass players brought in incredible effects boards, some having eight or so pedals in front of them. It seems to be the state of the art to have “My Sound” available for these guys, with only secondary thought about the material or stage presentation. This is the world of entertainment, nowadays…. Curious.

This was the first of three gigs in 24 hours, and this was at a small town festival across the Lehigh River from Easton. I got there for a 1 pm set, headed to the stage with the big sound system. It’s then I found out I was off to the much smaller, pop-up tent stage in the kids’ area. No problem. I had a great sound system, and felt quite comfortable in this situation. So, nobody around but the sound guys, and I launched in, playing to no one in particular. I was playing the Cat Came Back when an older couple came into the tent, singing the words. This is a good sign. As they settled in, a young couple with a very cute boy toddler met them and pulled out a blanket. Seems they were aiming for my set.

As we played, I found out that the dad was raised on my music so was quite familiar with my material. I was particularly struck by the young boy. His eyes zoomed in on me and my guitar – one of those magic moments when a child discovers live music. Over the course of my set, the lad headed for the bag of instruments, glommed onto the maracas and started to play. There were some very fine moments with the grandchild, the grandparents and the mom and dad, taking some pics, playing with the child.

Often I play in front of next to nobody, but there are moments like these that define my craft. I finished up and headed out to my second gig in the afternoon, over in Applebachsville, PA for a Joyful Noise festival about 45 minutes away. Round one.

I had a two set afternoon with the kids and counselors at Camp Smile, a gathering for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley. It’s held on the campus of Cedar Crest College and the crew and kids were resplendent in tie-dyed tee shirts on this first day of the camp. There was some heavy storms on the way so we decided to move inside the Tomkins Center for the sessions. I was just part of the action today, with a water slide and several Star Wars characters roaming the facility, too, including the heavy-breathing Darth Vader.

As is always the case in these situations, I insisted that the counselors be integrated in the ‘show’, and they all got the message, though, several times I would stop the music and focus attention on one counselor to actively commit to the motions (with feeling!). It worked and they understood their role as mentors.

There were few kids who were somewhat hesitant to join in, and I had to remind myself of the situations some of the kids are in. Some have cancer, while others have members of their family dealing with the disease. But my job is to brighten things up, get them singing, laughing and moving. That’s what we did and the folks who hired me were pleased with the results.

During the shows, Darth could be heard just outside the doorway and would occasionally pop in to say hello. That was definitely a show stopper as the kids would go nuts, and I was unsure how to connect his visits with my music. Once, as he exited, I even mentioned that he was a party pooper for not sticking around. Eventually, he and two stormtroopers came in and one of the counselors called me out for saying that about him, and a big groan went up from the crowd. It was pretty funny. I then made the mistake of saying Star Trek instead of Star Wars, and I was now in pretty deep with the Dark Lord.

I figured I’d get Darth to dance, so I quickly introduced All Around the Kitchen, got the kids up, had several of the kids come up with some dance moves and soon Darth, the stormtroopers, counselors and kids were all boogying. The atmosphere was electric and incredibly funny. I really appreciate the actors in those costumes being loose enough to follow my lead and some rich theater popped up out of nowhere. There was so much joy in the room.

I was reflecting on this as I awoke this morning, and the symbolism is fairly obvious. These kids are wrestling with their own dark lords every day, with cancer in their lives, in their families. And sometimes you just have to dance with the devil in order to process it all. It was a very curious way to do it but it turned out to be a spontaneous and creative way to express such feelings. I was in awe of the process and proud to be a catalyst for a part of it. It was a glorious riot!