I remember watching it on TV maybe six or seven years ago when it was actually pouring down rain for quote some time during the show, and they soldiered on.
I dimly remember Barry Bostwick (possibly best known among FReepers as the Mayor in “Spin City” with Michael J. Fox), soaked to the skin in whatever button-down shirt he was wearing, slogging across the stage with a big push-broom between acts, kicking electrical cords out of the way of The Pointer Sisters, and dancing (around puddles) and singing himself in the finest “show must go on” tradition.
I don’t know if it’s quite worth lamenting what seems to be a widespread loss of national will, but I will: I have to say that it saddens me to read this article and see yet another overly timid response to something that could be dealt with just a few years ago.
one of my best friends was at the concert you spoke of with his little kids....didn’t Bostwick start off the show mentioning how it was pouring all day but they planned on moving on with the show???
The sad thing is that a number of the reflections will not be presented.
Damn there he is holding an umbrella over his head as he announces The Pointer Sisters, right here on youtube, Capitol Fourth, 2001:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntc7dV4IE6Q
At 2:45 or so, the shot from the back of the stage shows obvious recent rainfall; by 3:30 you can see lots of wet hair and shirts everywhere, and by 4:00 the rain is pounding down so hard that The Pointer Sisters are not just soaked but holding umbrellas as they sing.
Especially when you are dealing with the size crowds at the Capitol concert, there’s a huge difference between pouring rain and thunder/lightning, which is what the DC area has been experiencing tonight. Had there been thunder/lighting in ‘01, that concert would have been canceled, too.
Under the circumstances it is not a ‘timid response’ any more than moving Reagan’s 2nd swearing-in indoors and canceling all related events because it was ‘too cold.’ Sometimes nature just calls the shots.
Mr G has been on a stage when it was hit by lightning..... NOT fun! While electrocution isn’t fun in any form, lightning ups the stakes considerably. It was wise to cancel the rest of the performance.