Lawn chair fans come out

By Christine Welsh
HippoPress.com

The Shaw Brothers, who got their start as The Tradewinds at the University of New Hampshire about 40 years ago, joined new fans and old on Thursday, July 19 at In-Town Manchester’s weekly Veterans Park extravaganza.

They’ve been performing with other musicians since the 1960s under aliases like The Brandywine Singers and The Hillside Singers and have officially been The Shaw Brothers for the last 10 years. Today they’re a musical duo whose talents are concentrated in the folk/soft pop area.

When Rick and Ron Shaw asked how many of audience members were from Manchester, the people responded with a silent show of hands. A few of the daring applauded-probably the same ones who didn’t bring lawn chairs. The survey revealed, however, that the approximately 700 people had come not only from Manchester, but from other parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts as well.

Rick and Ron brought a local flavor to the evening’s entertainment by singing an ode to the Queen City’s revitalization. “Clean her up boys, make her shine; 300 years, you know it’s time; Clean her up boys, bring her back; All along the Merrimack!”

The duo, who had a guest guitarist (making them a trio) led their fans in more than one sing-along, including their smash (Cola-Cola) hit “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” as the brothers and their instruments harmonized the night away.

The highlight of the evening for me was a song for and about the honorable Roy Rogers. With heartfelt sincerity the brothers Shaw wailed on, “He was my friend, yes, he was my friend. He never let me down. He was honest and faithful right up ‘til the end. I love Roy Rogers ‘cause he was my friend.”

Afterwards, they proceeded to refer to the audience members as “whippersnappers” and “buckaroos,” which also scored them some points in my book.

One such “whippersnapper” was a twenty-something woman sporting a fedora who was glad to have the opportunity to come to a free outdoor concert.

“It’s something to do,” said whippersnapper Hilary Grubbs.

“We like the idea of the concert series and we’re familiar with the Shaw brothers,” said Wynn and Helen Arnold. The Arnolds recognized quite a few of the songs that night, but attested that the “Roy Rogers” theme was new to them.

After over an hour of entertainment, set one came to a conclusion and lines of organized citizens began making their way toward the brick building at the corner of the park that could only mean one thing: fearless use of public rest rooms.