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Lewiston summer ends with wild weekend by Joshua Maloni
With the sun setting earlier and school on the horizon, Lewiston threw perhaps its biggest party ever to mark the end of summer. More than 50,000 people were in the village on Friday and Saturday for the Jazz Festival and a free performance Sunday by Hootie and the Blowfish at Artpark. On Saturday night, thick rows of lawn chairs lined Center Street from Fourth Street past the Village Bake Shoppe as people assembled to hear Jazz Festival headliners John Pizzarelli and the United States Air Force Band of Liberty. Event emcee Keith Radford, a well-known WKBW television news anchor, said it was the biggest Jazz Festival audience he’d ever seen. Porter Councilman Tom Baia echoed that statement, saying “I’ve never seen a crowd like this before. It’s almost like the Peach Festival.” As people crammed into every nook, cranny and periphery, the headliners took the stage. The band began the set and performed crowd-pleasing numbers dedicated to the U.S. Armed Forces. Pizzarelli followed, playing original numbers and covers – a mix of songs for fans and newcomers. “There’s the fans – and those who came with them,” Pizzarelli joked. “It’s my job to convert the non-John Pizzarelli fan.” All in all, the crowd was into the set, tapping its feet and dancing in front of the stage. Moreover, with his radio program on Toronto’s 91.1 FM, Pizzarelli found a large Canadian contingent on hand to watch him. On Sunday, Hootie and the Blowfish performed to more than 10,000 inside Artpark’s Amphitheatre – a musical fairy-tale of a place, where it never rains and there’s always an encore. Singer Darius Rucker, whose previously staph-infected knee forced the Blowfish to reschedule its July 3 Lewiston date, was mobile – even dancing – and in fine vocal form. His band was introduced by a taped recording of Samuel L. Jackson reciting his memorable “Pulp Fiction” Bible lesson. Before breaking into “Go and Tell Him,” Rucker, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and a cowboy hat, said, “We have to pay quick respect to the beautiful sunset.” Performing in front of nine video screens, Hootie and Co., bandmates for 22 years, performed their own hit songs – including “Time,” “Let Her Cry,” “Hold My Hand” and “Only Wanna Be With You” – and hits from Cheap Trick (“Surrender”) and Oasis (“Champagne Supernova”). The Blowfish played for 90 minutes and offered the crowd three sets – a feat unheard of by a national act.
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