Last night's decision (7-25) by our tech crew and V1 staff to cancel was a difficult one. While it did sprinkle a bit around 5:30pm and it actually did rain a pretty decent amount around 8pm (which validated our fears to some degree), in general it turned out to be a nice evening downtown that probably should have had a concert. We're sorry about that.  Believe us, we don't take canceling lightly – especially when so many other people and organizations are affected by the decision. We actually have a decent track record with this sort of stuff, but it's the weather and you can never be certain about anything, and last night was tough.

All day yesterday and into the 4pm hour radars and forecasts were shifting very rapidly, at several points it was suggesting a 70% chance of thunderstorms throughout the evening. Then 40%. Then 10%. Then back to 40%, and so on all afternoon.  When we actually called it off around 4:45 and spread the word, much of the sound gear had already been unloaded (but not set up) and some of the vendors and sponsors were already getting ready. But the best information at that point said to get out of there. The sky looked terrible (see the above photo), the thunder had started, and the weather websites weren't looking good. Between the musicians and sound guys, tens of thousands of dollars worth of sensitive equipment is out there every night. And of course we need to keep people safe. But while it may be easy for individuals to high-tail it out of there if bad weather starts quickly, it's not so easy when it takes you two hours to set up and another hour to take it all down.

Despite the official cancellation, an informal concert did go on without official involvement from any of the organizers. Of course not everyone got the word it was canceled, so a few hundred people did stay (as did a couple vendors) and one of the scheduled acts, Sarah Lou Richards, decided to set up with a small speaker and play solo. So there was a very small and intimate concert that did go on, which we think is really cool and a testament to this community and the cultural strength of the event.  But sadly, the Sue Orfield Band (with a new album!) and the Larry Past Trio didn't get their shot at playing this year – but we'll be certain to invite them back in 2014!

But what about the Pavilion?

A lot of people ask why we don't have a rain location, or why we don't move to the Farmers' Market pavilion in the case of rain. In general we're of the opinion that if you simply moved the performance indoors to a local venue, it obviously wouldn't be the same in many ways and thus not really worth it – the magic of the event is totally gone.  And to some degree its the same thing with the Farmers Market. It's just not set up for that sort of thing and the event would be considerably diminished and kind of awkward, especially if it was in fact raining or storming. So with it being a concert series, we feel it's OK if one or two get cancelled each season. Frequently the bands do play at local venues after 8:30pm, like at The Firehouse, so we figure people can go there if they still want to see a show.

So that's the behind the scenes scoop. We hope you understand (and will if it happens again!). We'll see you next week!