Record crowd for day of music at Bullard Park, capped by Nerds
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The eighth edition of Rock the Park was a big hit on Saturday with an estimated 700 to 1,000 people attending the Albion Musical Festival that featured seven bands and two acoustic acts.
Nerds Gone Wild, top photo, closed out the day of music for the second year in a row. The band from the Buffalo area performs popular party music from the 1980s.
Ron Albertson, one of the organizers for the festival, said it was a record crowd on Saturday. The festival also had a popular open mic night on Friday making it a two-day event for the first time.
Albertson is joined on the committee by Zack Burgess, Debbie Prest, John Grillo, Bernie Baldwin, Jill Albertson, Tim McMurray, Terry Wilbert, Susan Oschmann and Dan Conrad.
Many other volunteers also made the event possible. The Village of Albion DPW helps set up the event and the town of Albion Highway Department provides a snow fence separating people who pay the $5 admission to be under the main tent with access to alcohol.
Ed Wyner aka “Milton Wild” is lead singer for the band. Some of the first songs by the band were “Tainted Love,” “Always Something There To Remind Me,” “Power of Love” “Footloose” and “Take Me Home Tonght.”
The Nerds had people on their feet and close to the stage for the finale on Saturday.
The Nerds Gone Wild are celebrating their 10th anniversary this month. The band members include John Gibbon on bass, guitar and vocals; Ed Wyner on lead vocals and guitar; Eddy Tabone on drums and vocals; Brian Beaudry on keyboards and vocals; and Eric Rovner on lead guitar and vocals.
Highway 31 performed for the first time at Rock the Park. They rocked to ’90s music, contemporary country and some rock, including favorites like “Footloose,” “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” and “Little Less Talk and Lot More Action.”
Rich Nolan of Gasport, right, is the lead singer. Here he watches the guitar trio of from left, Aaron Clark of Holley, Clinton LaPorte of Le Roy, and Clinton’s dad Tim LaPorte Sr. of Batavia. Timmy LaPorte of Elba, Tim’s son and Clinton’s brother, is the drummer for the band.
Nolan said the band enjoyed playing in the music festival. They performed 13 songs in about an hour.
“It’s fun because you get to hear a lot of bands,” Nolan said. “We’re all hear supporting each other.”
Highway 31 was the seventh of the nine performers on Saturday. (Highway 31 will be back performing at Bullard this Wednesday at 6:30 for a full concert.)
Eclipse performs “Would?” by Alice In Chains. Erin Moody is lead singer for the band with Brett Zambito on bass, left, and D.J. Button, right, on guitar. Mike Parker is drummer for the band. Eclipse is a ’90s-’00s rock/metal cover band.
The music lineup for Saturday included: Carlton Station at 11 a.m., Chris Moore at noon, Shotgun Pauly at 2 p.m., Eclipse at 3 p.m., driVen at 4 p.m., Zackstreet Boys at 5 p.m., Highway 31 at 6 p.m., The Who Dats at 7 p.m. and Nerds Gone Wild at 8:30 p.m.
Saul Harrison, right, served chicken and ribs with his business, Daisy’s Sweet Sauce. He is joined by John Butler, left, and Mehkyron Drisdom. They were among several food vendors for Rock the Park.
The Zackstreet Boys perform on the amphitheater stage at Bullard. Their first two songs were “Sugar We’re Goin Down” by Fall Out Boy and “The Boys of Summer” (Ataris’ version).
The band includes Zack Burgess, right, on guitar and vocals; Kole Moore on guitar, left; Mike Whiting on guitar, center; and Brian Domenick on drums.
Mike Whiting performs with the Zackstreet Boys with Brian Domenick the drummer.
The Who Dats, a long-time local favorite, performed for the crowd. Alex DeSmit is on the drums with Todd Graham, left, and John Borello on guitar.
This photo shows the entire Who Dats band, which includes lead singer Lonnie Froman in yellow shirt, John Borello on guitar (polka dot shirt, Todd Graham on guitar (second from left), Ed Hilfiker on guitar (far right) and Alex DeSmit on drums.
