concerts

It’s hot, it’s sunny, it’s summer. If you’re like me, spending summer in the neighborhood this year, then you’ll need to know what’s going on in your neighborhood… or else you won’t be able to take good advantage of this time of year’s weather. You don’t want the summer to pass you by, do you?

So this summer - check out your city’s website for local neighborhood concerts. I did, so I got to spend my Canada Day at a FREE neighborhood park concert featuring Jully Black.

The great thing about these type of concerts is that you can go with old friends, new friends, kids, your partner, the whole family… pretty much anybody. Bring a lawn chair or a towel to sit on, some food (or you can buy it), a soccer ball or something for the kids, and everybody has fun! You may even meet new people.

For me, thanks to the flyers in the mail, I found out that there would be a Canada Day concert at a Mackenzie Glen District Park in Maple (it’s okay if you don’t know where that is) about a 10 minute drive from my house. And unlike previous neighborhood concerts, there would be no tributes to the ’80s.

This year, they got Jully Black to come. Jully Black, this year’s winner of the Juno for R&B/Soul Recording of the year. I guess you could call her local talent, she calling herself “just a little girl from Jane & Finch [the infamous neighborhood of North York, Toronto], but she’s local talent that got somewhere.

In case you don’t know her, here’s “Seven Day Fool” from her latest album, Revival. This song was first performed by Etta James.

She has been signed by a major label and that has worked with Destiny’s Child, Kardinal Offishall, Missy Elliot, Sean Paul, the Black Eyed Peas and more (I’m stealing from the woman who introduced her at the concert, just so you know).

Jully Black wasn’t the only one that performed at the concert, there was also some local talent before her. I didn’t watch it though, I only came for Jully. The concert started at 4pm and Jully came at 6, singing til 7. I came at 5:30. Not because I wasn’t interested, I was out with friends for a late lunch. (or early dinner?)

Anyway, check out some pictures I took:

Kids in the neighborhood park. Hello summer!

Gee, those people really do want ice cream. That’s a long line. So long I couldn’t get all of it in the photo.

It looks like the concert’s about to begin. And I can’t find a good spot to sit. Darn.

Some woman introduces Jully Black by reading off a script likely copy-pasted from Wikipedia. Hurry up already!

Jully Black sings with power… for about an hour. Wow.

That little boy sure was excited, waving his arms and those flags.

They had an inflatable playground with Spiderman (there was more stuff, I just couldn’t get it all in one picture, once again) just for the kids. And those kids sure loved it!

They had the water area (playground? park? what do you call it?) up and running, for the kids as well.

Overall, the concert was really good. There was good music and even an area where you could dance, if you wanted to! Lots of people showed up. And a lot of businesses showed up too… three ice cream trucks, Boston Pizza, a truck selling fries, and more.

This summer, check your city’s website for any community events happening. Find if there’s a local ‘community calendar’ for things to do. Get the friends and family together for a local event and explore what your neighborhood has to offer! Get the kids away from their television and computer screens and get them outside with the family and some friends. As I mentioned earlier, bring lawn chairs or towels, some money or food, slap on that sunscreen and have some fun in the sun.

You may say that you don’t know of any decent-sized places in your neighborhood and vicinity for a decent event. Well, I didn’t either, until I saw a map. If the local events in your community don’t sound very fun - that’s okay, go there and make what you can out of it. If you don’t have any local events happening, well, consider creating your own! Or just get outside and have some fun.

Because that’s what summer’s all about.