Silver Lake Book Tour pt 6

By coralmccallum on August 26, 2024

At the end of Rehoboth Avenue, at the turning circle, there's a bandstand. I think I've mentioned it in the Silver Lake series but I've never used it in a scene (yet).

Early in the first book, Stronger Within, I created a fictitious rock festival called Surfside, based on Surfside Park at the north end of the boardwalk. Having visited the park during my trip, its tiny and if such an event were to exist its more likely it would be in one of the larger parks or at the bandstand itself.

During the summer months, there are free concerts at the bandstand on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8pm for around an hour or so.

The first one I went to was one of the US Army Concert Bands. It was fun and reminded me of going to see Boy Child's school band concerts back in the days when he still played the trumpet.

The second one was a classic rock band from New Jersey. They were great!

The third one was a Jimmy Buffett tribute band. They were fun.

On 4^th July, there was a special concert for the Independence Day celebrations. It was a US Navy Jazz Band. I stopped to listen for a few minutes but decided to pass…not my taste this time.

The final one that I managed to attend was on my last night in town, 5^th July and was a Southern Rock/Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band called High Noon. I wasn't missing that one! So, having bought myself an ice cream, I grabbed a seat. I had arrived later than I originally intended so was about four rows from the front. I ended up sitting beside a nice retired gentlemen who had seen the original Lynyrd Skynyrd line up in 1976 or thereabouts. He was excited to see High Noon and commented that he'd been four rows from the front the night he saw the real deal all those years ago.

High Noon were great! They played a mix of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band and 38 Special. I was in seventh heaven!

The time was flying by way too fast.

Third song from the end of their set, High Noon introduced one that they said was pretty special. Half the crowd was calling out for Freebird but were told "not yet".

Much to my amazement and delight, they began to play Simple Man.

Simple Man - High Noon @ Rehoboth Beach DE 05/07/24 (youtube.com)

Now, if you've read my Silver Lake books, you'll already understand just how special that song is to me.

If you've not, I'll briefly explain. Simple Man is Lori's favourite song for Jake to play live for her at their family get togethers and it is woven into all five books, especially the last one, Long Shadows.

Never in a million years did I expect to be at a rock show in Rehoboth Beach listening to a band playing Simple Man live. I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. As I sang along with the chorus, my emotions were flowing down my cheeks.

It was simply the most perfect musical memory to bring home with me.

All I can say to High Noon is "thank you for making my last night at the beach so special."

And yes, I went to their merch stall and bought a tee 😉