Okay, New Albanians: Let's hear it. Last evening (Friday, June 1) was the inaugural Live @ Five, the city's new summer concert series. The general plan is to place the weekly event at various downtown locations, usually with streets closed to accommodate the stage, and most often on Fridays from 5 to 8 -- but maybe on different days of the week, too. It is a work very much in progress, and the planners readily concede as much.
I heard an incredibly diverse range of opinions last night while vending beer. The Gahan administration decided early on that it would not do shows like these at the Riverfront Amphitheater, and preferred the urban streetscape. That's promising, although I heard more than one downtown business person express issues with traffic patterns altered by the street closing; last night, it was the intersection of State and Market, and the 100 block of East Market, and it will be next week, too. After that, Live @ Five will move to the 400 block of Bank Street for June 15 and 22.
What do you think? The conversation is underway at my Facebook page.
Since Facebook and I don't see eye to eye, I'll have to comment here.
ReplyDeleteLive @ Five will probably keep us away from downtown on those evenings. Not mad or upset about it. It's just not our "thing". There are other times that we can, and do, go.