THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409080194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
6:09 p.m. - Boardwalk at 24th Street.
Heavy clouds mix with darkening skies and add to the already chilly air. But sitting content on the bench near the 24th Street Park stage are Dave and Rose Holloman of Virginia Beach. Dressed in sweatshirts, shorts and sunglasses, the Hollomans say the weather doesn't bother them.
``Just put on a jacket and come on down,'' Dave Holloman says, adding that they both have four-day weekends. ``We're really looking forward to the Temptations and the Four Tops.''
Rose Holloman says the main item on their agenda is to relax. ``We really came for the music,'' she says.
- Larry W. Brown
6:25 p.m. - Boardwalk at 15th Street.
Jim and Carol Oliver of Richmond sit on a bench with their family and nod to the sounds of the band on stage.
The concert has attracted a captive audience, who clap and dance on the Boardwalk. The cool weather has not dampened their spirits.
``We want to see the Temptations and the Four Tops but we have to go to work on Monday,'' Jim Oliver says. ``We're playing the weekend by ear.''
Carol Oliver says the atmosphere of the Oceanfront is much better than it was when she was here five years ago. ``(In 1989) I woke up and heard shooting outside my window,'' she says about the rioting. ``This year's events make it calmer. We wouldn't have come if we thought it would be like Greekfest.''
- Larry W. Brown
7:20 p.m. - 24th Street and Atlantic.
Two policemen confer quietly behind the base of a column supporting a traffic light.
The shorter of the two, wearing a mustache and a knit white uniform shirt, nods his head in the direction of an open Chevrolet convertible of early '80s vintage, which inches northward with its stereo thumping.
It is filled with four unsmiling young men, who are eyeing the growing crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk, just outside the 24th Street Park stage.
The suspension of the car has been mechanically rigged so that that the front and rear ends rise and fall like a pitching whaleboat on wind-tossed seas.
As the lurching car reaches the traffic light the two officers step out and stop it, blocking traffic behind it. The taller officer talks with the young men in the car, while his shorter companion takes a ticket book from his rear pocket and begins scribbling.
``You'd think they have something better to do,'' a passing pedestrian mutters as he eyes the scene.
- Bill Reed
7:40 p.m. - Luca Pizza, 19th Street and Atlantic.
``It's been quiet, real quiet because it's been cold out there,'' says Liza Cancio as she prepares her next order. Inside the shop, a small group of patrons eat their pizza in relative silence, matching Cancio's words.
Cancio stops fixing a white Bianca pizza to look out the window. Outside a large group of bicyclers led by a police officer pass by the shop.
``It's usually busy on Labor Day,'' Cancio says as she twists the top on a container of Parmesan cheese. ``Sunday's really busy.''
Cancio does not know whether or not business will pick up during the weekend. She shrugs her shoulders and takes out another piping-hot pizza from the oven.
- Larry W. Brown
7:55 p.m. - 24th Street Park stage.
A crowd has gathered for the 8 o'clock Blood, Sweat, and Tears concert. Concert-goers don jackets and sweatshirts and look intently toward the stage as technicians test the microphones.
Ken Weaver of Syracuse, N.Y., waits patiently near the back of the audience with his wife Laurie and sons Matt, 9, and Nick, 5. While their mom watches, Nick and Matt play on and around an anchor sculpture built into the ground.
Weaver says he likes Virginia Beach and is enjoying the start of the American Music Festival. Unfortunately, the family is cutting the weekend short and plans to head back to New York at 5 a.m. Saturday.
``We're looking forward to the festivities,'' he says. ``If we didn't have to go home we'd go to the Beach Boys tomorrow.''
- Larry W. Brown
8:17 p.m. - Station One Hotel, 24th Street and Atlantic.
Technical problems have delayed the opening set for Blood, Sweat, and Tears. As the audience waits near the stage, an equally anxious group waits from the outdoor parking lot of Station One hotel, which overlooks the stage.
Sam Harmon of Virginia Beach waits with his wife, Melissa, and other family members. By leaning on the concrete wall they have a terrific view of the concert and the rest of Atlantic Avenue.
``We live here at the hotel,'' Harmon explains. ``We're just a beach family. We like everything they do here.''
Harmon adds that warmer weather would probably make for a nicer weekend, but the cooler temperatures will keep the crowds from being hectic.
- Larry W. Brown ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
David Clayton-Thomas belts out a song with Blood, Sweat and Tears on
the 24th Street stage.
Seymour Baer and Alice Lupton, both of Portsmouth, dance to the
Rhondels.
A Virginia Beach police officer speaks with a motorist on Atlantic
Avenue.
by CNB