Outdoor Family Fun in Truckee: Music in the Park – by Nick Cisik

If you love live music and are in search of a fun, family-friendly night of free entertainment in and around the Truckee/Tahoe area, look no further than the Truckee Regional Park. Every Wednesday night in the summer the Truckee–Donner Recreation & Park District offers free live music acts with each week showcasing a distinctly different style of music than the last. This past Wednesday brought out a fine gathering of music lovers to hear the reminiscent rock 'n' roll sounds of a Beatles cover band known as Beatles Flashback.

As someone with a deep appreciation for one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time (The Stones and Zeppelin always in contention), I was skeptical towards this Reno-based tribute ensemble whose band name evokes images of Tom Wolfe and Mama Cass smiling out of dilated pupils at some Stinson Beach soirée. I must say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised.... I think what endeared Beatles Flashback to me the most was the band's song selection. They curated several set lists of Beatles hits, covering songs you would not expect to hear. They covered "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite," "Rocky Raccoon," "Obla di Obla da," "Yellow Submarine," and "Here Comes the Sun," not to mention a pretty ripping rendition of "Roll Over Beethoven." The members of Beatles Flashback swapped guitars multiple times and even incorporated three-part harmony on most of their tunes exemplifying their seasoned musicianship.

My friends and I sat comfortably on the soft grass which carpets the hillside of the Regional Park's outdoor proscenium style venue. The grass there leads down to a sandy pitch which welcomes dancers of all ages to shake the night away as the summer sun sets slowly through the Jeffrey pine trees. We popped open our bottles of wine and laid out a healthy spread of fresh foods picked from the aisles of the best health food store in town, New Moon, eating and imbibing to our hearts' content. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening spent with friends. By the end of the performance (the bottles of wine being empty at this point), I could of sworn that it was Paul up there howling out an inspired version of "Hey Jude" (yea...I wish).

Sadly, there is only one more performance scheduled for this summer's season. Next Wednesday, August 30th, the band Déjà Vu will take the Regional Park stage to reproduce the rocking sounds of several generations past as they cut into a vast array of golden rock 'n' roll oldies. It will surely be a night of entertainment not to be missed as the seasonal finale of Music in the Park is always memorable. See you there, music lovers!