For those of you who love Midtown Beach Music Series, make that LIVE for Beach Music to fire up each week so you can dance the night away on the largest outdoor dance floor in North Carolina, have we got a story for you!
Think about what it takes to have 30 or 40 friends over for a backyard get together - the details it takes to pull off a fun evening for everyone - and then try to picture what it would take to do that for 10,000 people every week. For 18 weeks. Imagine doing that with a small but avid group who have a passion for making the music come alive, who literally hand walk tables, chairs, stage pieces, planters, benches, tents, signage and more across the property to set up and then again in reverse to tear down.
Between 1:00 – 6:00, the Commons is blocked off; planters, benches, and terrace tables and chairs moved; the stage arrives on a 40-foot trailer; 37 tables, 40 tents, 43 chairs, and 160 sandbags are delivered; sponsor banners are hung from the stage; private party area on the Arbor is set up; the band arrives; power is run; equipment unloaded and hooked up; yellow jackets go down (not a fashion item); equipment is connected to the distribution box; two tents are set up behind the stage for the sound guys; the dance floor goes down (1,080 pieces installed); and the kids’ dance floor with mats and fencing is set up; barricades and entry points are set up; tents go up for the emcee, North Hills Gives Back, and merchants; all signs are in place; food and refreshments are delivered to the Arbor; beverage stations open; announcements are given to the emcee; merchants set up; sound is checked; and the band changes into costumes. At 6:00, it is SHOW TIME!
At 9:00, when the party is over, out comes the small, but dedicated army to pick up the dance floor, pack up the band, take down the tents, fold all the tables, take signs down, pack the barricades and wheel them to storage; cut the power; unhook the distribution box; pick up the yellow jackets; load beverage stations back onto the trailer, take down the stage; and remove trash. The Commons is swept with the “Goat” – a type of vacuum that restores grass (don’t most goats eat grass?) and hand sweepers are also used; concrete is power washed; benches and planters are moved back into position; and tables and chairs returned to the terrace. Without a trace, the show has come and gone.
For this team, the work is sheer joy because they do it for you, for the Midtown community and beyond who wouldn’t miss Beach Music for anything in the world.
