On the Waterfront

 It is now the end of Summer and in my  little ol' town that can only mean  only one of two  things; either  the Apples are in season
or it's  The Waterfront Festival.
 The Waterfront Festival is Our city's 3 day long music extravaganza.The hugest outdoor festival ( outside of Chicago) in the state of Illinois. Situated right in the heart of Rockford along the mighty Rock River.It covers the whole  downtown &  every Labor day weekend our town actually becomes  exciting.
Which usually is not the case.
When this festival first started I lived & worked in the downtown area. There wasn't a lot going on around here back then. I was 24 and bartending a very cool underground bar. A great hangout for all of us outcast punks, artist's and other  hip cats. Nobody messed with us. . Nobody was around.
This was not a place for the polo shirted Huey Lewis wanna Be's  who hung out  up on the East side.  Most of those cats were afraid to come downtown.
Until one fateful Summer's end when our city leaders decided to stage a festival. all was welcome.. One of the stages was right outside our front door, I didn't need to buy a ticket ... our hangout became part of the festival.. and I had front row seats. Cool.
We  all loved it, at first.
Massive amounts of partying and music and crazy people everywhere.
At least we were going to  show those other  Rockfordian's how we rock down here.
Three full days of music, food, & people watching  In our usually culturally  deprived  little town...this is awesome!
 The first couple of years it was awesome.
But after awhile it started to suck. A lot of the same old State Fair rejects.. and last year's metal bands.  You know that whole "stuck in the  70's &  80's hair band" still reigns  supreme in our Midwest town.
This is the first year since the beginning that I am back  living in the downtown area. I am within walking distance to three stages.
Ahhhh... memories.
But instead of hanging out by the stages  I am going to set up a booth in my own  front yard and sell bottled water and mini pies. Why not? Make a buck. Besides I can hear all that music for free again, too bad it's not anything I really want to hear, but hey it's a party and all is welcome.