STRICTLY OBSERVING: After Chautauqua

By Zach Cooley

On Aug. 1, Duck, Granny Rose and I attended the After Hours Summer Concert Series at Withers Park.  The weather was made-to-order and the featured band for this month’s event made for an exciting close to this season of After Hours concerts.  First of all, I want to express my personal gratitude to the Wytheville Parks and Recreation Department for their continuation of this wonderful summer program.  For those like me who aren’t quite ready to bid farewell to the Chautauqua Festival, this event is a great opportunity to still enjoy the music as well as the community fellowship that comes along with such happenings.
As with the Chautauqua Festival, my only bone of contention with the After Hours series is that the weather is often uncooperative when the time comes for another monthly performance.  I am happy to say that, for the two concerts I attended this season, the weather was beautiful.  While I wasn’t able to attend the July 4th event, I heard that The Entertainers did a great job and that the fireworks display was spectacular.  I was also happy to see a greater turnout this year than I have seen in the last few seasons.  This was very refreshing to me as I value the opportunity to spend a Friday night enjoying an inexpensive concert of beach music while enjoying the summer sunshine and the company of those in my community.  Sagebrush also provides After Hours guests with an excellent hamburger for only $3.
As much as I enjoyed Coastline back in June, I have to say that The Fantastic Shakers gave an equally pleasurable performance if not better.  The repertoire for this particular group was filled with a more familiar collections of songs and covered a wider range of music including everything from Nat King Cole’s great standard, “Unforgettable,” to the modern soul sounds of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” Many other genres of music spanning the 20th century are included in their set list as well including covers of such early soul legends as The Drifters and The Platters to the disco sounds of Rick James and KC and the Sunshine Band.
Formed in 1978, The Fantastic Shakers began by performing on the wedding circuit.  They went on to perform thousands of shows throughout practically the entire East Coast.  Their original song, “Myrtle Beach Days,” became a hit on the beach music charts and helped to establish their career a successful beach band.  The job of lead vocalist is divided between five members of the band while the three members of their brass section provide the perfect addition to their soulful melodies.  Their state of the art synthesizers exhibit a sense of playfulness in their music, which is clearly evident among the band members’ personalities.  The original stage show they present feature custom designed wardrobe, lighting, and sound system add to the audio visual impact of their show.
According to their Web site, The Fantastic Shakers consider themselves set apart from the Carolina-based beach bands.  From what I have seen, I am inclined to agree.  This band does not seem to be defined by the beach genre of music because, as I mentioned before, their set list includes all types of music such as rock, jazz, soul and blues.  However, their reasoning for not classifying themselves as a typical beach band is credited to one of their lead vocalists, Bo Schronce, who is referred to as the “daddy” of the group. 
Still, The Fantastic Shakers have won numerous beach music awards over the years as well.  Schronce, in particular, has been a four-time recipient of the “Male Vocalist of the Year” award and is an inductee into the Beach Music Hall of Fame.  Having seen the band perform at a Chautauqua Festival years earlier, witnessing their performance again reconfirmed my belief in the band’s deserving of these honors.
The entire event was one that was to be enjoyed for music lovers of all ages.  There was truly something there for practically everyone.  I am saddened that the After Hours is gone of another year, but want to reiterate my appreciation to all those responsible for making such an event accessible to the town of Wytheville every year.  I can hardly wait for next year’s events to begin!
A graduate of Wytheville Community College, Zach Cooley lives in Wytheville. Contact him at .