Sister Sledge Brings Back Memories at Erie Arts Festival

Last night, Husband Jim and I thought we might like to see what was happening at the Erie Festival of the Arts 2012 at the Erie bay front. During events at Liberty Park, it’s next to impossible to find a parking place the lot there, but we tried anyway. No luck. So we went on down to the Intermodal Transportation Center to catch the shuttle. We didn’t have to wait long for a bus to show up. It was empty when we got on with about seven other people, but we picked up some others at the Blasco Library and the Erie Civic Center, filling the bus.

With our folding chairs slung over our shoulders, we took a walk along the vendor booths until we got to the one we were looking for. Kettle corn. Showing restraint, we only bought the second largest size and took it with us to the lawn where the Sister Sledge warm-up act, Stiletto, a local band with three female singers, was playing. Jim went to buy us some beer, and we settled in for the night. They had a nice selection of beer, wine, and mixed drinks. We drank your run-of-the mill brands, so much so, that I don’t remember what they were, but connoisseurs, there were a few more to choose from.

We both brought our cameras, and since we are people watchers, we began shooting the interesting subjects around us. I posted mine on Facebook. Here’s the link:

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/media/set/?set=a.4211326011128.217163.1524335878&type=1

After Stiletto (and my beer) were finished, we still had an hour before Sister Sledge was scheduled to take the stage. Since Jim knew I would get bored sitting for so long, he suggested I walk around and he would hold our seats. And that’s what I did.

I was neither excited nor disinterested in seeing Sister Sledge. I vaguely remembered a band by that name from the 1970s. Then Jim reminded me of their signature song, “We are Family,” which the Pittsburgh Pirates used to play to enthuse the fans. Now that the concert is over, I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed Sister Sledge, and I’m glad we went. The only sister of the Sledges who was there was Kathy, but her voice is still going strong after all these years. Her daughter and cousin are the backup singers/dancers, and her husband plays the drums. They really are family.

Even though there was only one Sledge there, I didn’t feel cheated. Kathy is delightful and enthusiastic. You can tell she really loves the crowd. At one point, she mentioned that she had heard how good Erie people were at dancing, and some of her people went out in the crowd to invite fans to come up on stage and dance. It was really was fun and entertaining to watch everyone up on their having a good time.

When the concert was over, of course there was an encore, but we packed up right about then to catch the shuttle. We hopped the bus back to the Intermodal Center, and when we were getting into our car, we could hear that Kathy was still singing. What a performer.