Come September, and it’s time to bid adieu, to the hot summers and welcome, pleasant spring breeze. And, what could be more interesting to mark the end of summers, rather than going the musical way? In the last 2 years, sometime in September, a musical concert is organized in broad day light in Milwaukee, WI to mark the end of summers. Whats even more surprising is the Eco-Friendly way in which all of this is done.
This year, the festival was organized on the 15th September. Ever wondered, what goes into making an outdoor musical concert a success. The trick is not just in lining up a great band, variety of food vendors, or lengthy lines for beer. The trick is to schedule the concert on a day with amazing weather, which probably is a difficult task in a place like Winsconsin. The good news is that the organizers managed to just do that this year, in scheduling the “Rock the band” concert. The concert was set on Milwaukee’s lake front on Saturday afternoon: Sunny and 75 degrees with a pleasant lake breeze. It was a picture perfect late summer/fall day in Milwaukee.
Music at Rock the Green this year was divided between two stages. The national touring acts, including Third Eye Blind and Metric, all played on a main stage at the South end of the grounds. The second stage, Koss Pedal Power Stage, was smaller and tented, and ended up providing a rather intimate setting for the local Milwaukee acts that played there. It was initially surprising by just how small the Pedal Power Stage actually was compared to the main stage, but then I remembered the bicycles. The entire stage was powered by about 10 or 12 stationary bicycles crewed by men and women from Milwaukee cycling teams. So that definitely explained the more compact stage setup and bare-bones audio board. Yet, the sound was never compromised. The bands sounded great, and the sound for the festival as a whole was top-notch. Is that not a brilliant Eco-Friendly idea of setting up a concert.
Rock the Green sets itself apart from other fests by its commitment to creating a near-zero waste and eco-friendly music festival. Along with a bicycle powered stage, Rock the Green also incorporated complimentary reusable water bottles, bio-diesel generators, and very committed recycling and composting procedures. In just two short years of existence, Rock the Green has put together a fun, well-organized music festival that promotes a great eco-friendly mission.
