The 12-inch mid-Michigan snowfall had mostly disappeared before the 13th Annual “Saginaw On Stage Music Festival” at the Temple Theatre Annex on Friday (Feb. 26). This year’s event was enhanced by an all-you-could-eat dinner buffet provided by the famous Horizons Conference Center. Included was a delicious New Orleans-style bread pudding with caramel sauce. (We take credit for anything to do with New Orleans.)
Doors opened at 4:30pm, and by the time the New Reformation boys took the stage in the Grand Ballroom at 6, the room was full. The band’s early appearance was in deference to the “maturity” of its fans, many of whom regard 9:00 pm as “sorta late.”
The lineup consisted of a geographically diverse group of Michigan all-star musicians: cornet, Paul Klinger, Ann Arbor; clarinet, John Simpson, Lansing; trombone, Keith DeWitt, Flushing; banjo/guitar, Dave Kadwell, Grand Rapids; tuba, Ed Mallett, Big Rapids; drums, John Hill IV, Swartz Creek; and piano/leader, Dave Oppermann, Saginaw.
As promised, NRB compact discs (aka, CDs) were on sale at the reduced price of $10 each, complete with cello wrap. Rumor has it that someone bought one (or two!).
The festival lineup included 14 other headliner groups, but do we really care? Of course, we do, and you can find the list at SaginawOnStage.com and then be filled with remorse if you were one of those who missed out. But then, there is always next year, or so we hope.
Visit this website frequently so you can be one of the first to know when the news breaks of new additions to our NRB catalog of live performance recordings. Hotcha!
Leave a Reply