Ruben Studdard, Music in the Park event gets Albany groovin’
Independence Day event features local acts, Craig Lewis Band, Ruben Studdard
By Chauntel Powell
ALBANY — The Southwest Georgia heat did not deter Albany and area residents Saturday evening as community members packed out the Veterans Park Amphitheatre for the city of Albany’s Music in the Park event.
Opening acts offered musical stylings from various genres, offering a little something for all musical tastes. Broken Glass, G&S Experience and the Ryan West Band all got the crowd up and excited for the main acts. Ryan West of the Ryan West Band out of Leesburg said it was great to be a part of the festivities.
“Man, I love it,” West said. “Just being a part of the community and seeing a lot of people out here, I’m just loving the turnout that we’ve got so far.”
The Craig Lewis Band, which advanced to the finals of last year’s “America’s Got Talent” TV show, took things to another level, passing the mic to audience members as they sang “I’m Going Down.”
Once such participant who got to show off her pipes was Cassandra Pettiford. She said the audience participation was a very cool part of the show and the concert overall was well worth braving the elements.
“I think this was awesome,” Pettiford said. “First of all, it’s free, so that’s always great. And it’s really cool to have something like this for the community.”
She added that she believes events such as the ones taking place Fourth of July weekend will help get the community to embrace the downtown area, which she said will hopefully lead to more events.
“I think it’ll help in a lot of ways,” Pettiford said. “I think it will keep people busy and keep them out of trouble. It also promotes a positive energy and a positive atmosphere, especially for the downtown area because they’ve got the park up, they’ve got the bridge going, there’s stuff down here. We’ve just got to bring entertainment for people to enjoy.”
The night ended with a dazzling light display as the backdrop for Studdard, who’s silky voice smoothly maneuvered through the amphitheatre and touched the audience.
Albany’s city manager, Sharon Subadan, said that despite the hot weather, the turnout was still good and had been thus far as they were on Day 2 of the three-day weekend activities. She noted that the Flint River Roll bike ride and events that followed went well Friday night, and the turnout for all events means the city will likely continue utilizing the downtown area moving forward.
Sunday night’s events featured a Movie in the Park at Riverfront Park, where “Hotel Transylvania 2” was shown. The city’s fireworks display will wrap up the actual Fourth celebration at 8:45 p.m. Monday.
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