SINGING IN THE RAIN--

A bruising thunderstorm drifted over Mansfield's South Park pavilion where the ensemble, Paradigm,  was just beginning to perform a concert that recent evening.

When a gully washing rain began hammering the venue, the musicians scrambled to reverse their orientation and invited the outdoor audience members to join them under the somewhat dubious protection of the newly constructed pavilion's roof.

Turns out the musicians and audience squeezed nicely under the modest sized roof area but the torrential downpour easily penetrated openings all around the walls and began to flood the "stage".

You can see water just beginning to creep under the drummer's cymbals (above) while a few stalwart audience members choose to ride out the onslaught outside; their umbrellas visible behind keyboard artist and ensemble leader Steve Brown's head.

It wasn't long until the rising tide covered the performance area drenching the wild array of power cords feeding the show.

Nervous band members expressed hope the ground fault equipped electrical service would actually work while an audience member borrowed a broom from a nearby food vendor and tried to sweep the water away.

Imagine trying to use a tea spoon to bail a hull-punctured charter boat.

Finally, while Brown was discussing the pathetic failure of the little pavilion's poorly constructed floor to simply utilize gravity to drain the encroaching water away, the GFI circuit protection did it's job and shut off the power flow.

Grateful band members found the failed connection, reassembled the power cords somewhat away from the menacing water and reset the GFI protection thus honoring the mantra of the business that the show must go on.

The performance was part of a popular, summer concert series offered by various ensembles of Local 159 of the American Federation of Musicians and this evening's group featured two guitars, a trombone, Brown's keyboard and a drummer.