Colorful
The Cleveland Orchestra's annual Fourth of July celebration, a free concert on Public Square, drew a big, big crowd this year. The Terminal Tower became more part of the show this year, bathed in varying colors to accompany the music. From our vantage point it was beautiful.
The event is becoming much more of a "scene" than in the past, which is both good and bad.
The good part is that you could look around and see a hugely diverse collection of Clevelanders, old/young, black/white, well-dressed or not. It's become truly a community event.
The bad is that big crowds bring out bad behavior on the part of some, especially when inconsiderate late-comers block the view of those who arrived earlier.
And over the years as the crowd has gotten bigger, the proportion of people who come to actually listen to the orchestra has gone down. Too many are more interested in their own conversations. This is a problem on the lawn (the cheap seats) at Blossom Music Center, the summer home of the Orchestra, as well.
Still, the concert is a great event even if some take it a little less seriously than others. The good news is this guy didn't sell many blinking devil's horns to this crowd.
