For those of you that didn’t go, you missed out on a great event at Detroit’s River Walk. This past weekend, The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy in partnership with The Parade Company put on its third annual River Days. This weekend long event is a place where families can enjoy rides and activities while venturing out on the Detroit River’s River Walk.

I ended up attending on Friday night and Sunday morning. I was invited by a friend to attend the Friday evening Starship concert. I wasn’t a huge fan of their music, although I was familiar with their hits “We Built This City” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” I will admit that, after watching the show, I did end up liking them. At first, I considered them the “Jefferson Airplane spinoff.” Their show demonstrated to me that they were a pretty good rock band that had a good balance between their harder-edged songs as well as the softer ballads. Besides crediting them for putting on a good show, they showed their rock n’ roll grit by persevering through the rain that threatened to shut the show down.

Next up were  ’90s hitmakers, The Gin Blossoms. The Gin Blossoms are a band that I associate with many great memories and one that I consider one of the great American rock n’ roll bands of the 90s. They had the right combination of rock and pop—their melodies and hooks branded their songs in their listening public’s consciousness. Just mention “Hey Jealousy” or “Follow You Down” and that other person will shake their head and respond, “Oh, yeah.”

Guitarist/singer, Jesse Valenzuela, had an excellent arsenal of Fender Strats including a beautiful 12-string that he capoed for one of their songs. Guitarist, Scott Johnson, struck some of the baddest rock star poses as he raised his red Les Paul’s neck and tore out some killer leads to accompany the songs. When the band mentioned that drummer, John Richardson, was a Michigan native, the crowd roared in approval. Bassist, Bill Leen, was solid and unassuming—not unlike the Who’s John Enwistle. Lead singer, Robin Wilson, was quietly charismatic. If not because of the rain, he didn’t grab audience members’ cell phones to sing into them, as he has done at past concerts.

The most interesting part came after the concert. I would say within 15 minutes of the concert ending the downpour came down. This wasn’t just any downpour—this was of biblical proportions and made The Great Flood look like a drizzle. As I rode in one of the golf carts, I could hear the raindrops pelting puddles that were already forming. The umbrella that I struggled to control barely kept the rain out. It did almost nothing. The worse of it was how the rain  would drizzle down my neck and down my back. My shirt, hoodie and jeans were soaked. If you’ve ever had soaked jeans, you know how much fun it is to let them dry.

Sunday was entirely different. Although overcast at times, the sun broke through. I arrived early in the morning because I was invited to judge the pooch beauty pageants during Pooch-a-Palooza. As I neared the section of the River Walk in front of the GM WinterGarden, I was confronted with an army of costumed dogs of all shapes, sizes and genders. Think of an outfit and I probably saw it. Without a doubt, one of the dogs that had me cracking up was the St. Bernard with the barrel hanging around its neck. There was also a pair of Golden Retrievers with shades on that sat on a table as their master took pictures. This might not seem like a big deal, but consider that they must have been on between 30-45 minutes. For them to remain stationary was quite a feat.

For me, waiting was the hardest part, as I didn’t know what to expect. Throughout each of the contests, the other judges and I had to render sometimes difficult decisions. It would have been easier had the same dogs competed. There was always a different batch of dogs. Nonetheless, it was cute to see the dogs. Yeah, I said it. The dogs were cute. Some of the dogs were quite successful, while others had performance anxiety. Nonetheless, it was great to see all of them. Judging the dog show was like having a dog but with none of the responsibility. Definitely a great experience.

So all in all, even though I only attended two out of the three days, I highly recommend for anybody to attend. This free event offers a good variety of activities to appeal to everyone in the family. There was the traditional carnival rides and food that you’d expect at many of the local festivals. However, there was also the tall ship and an exhibition of the Ultimate Air Dogs. Throw in the nightly concerts and there’s something for everybody. Though you missed out this year, keep it in your calendar for next year. Also, bookmark their site www.detroitriverdays.com. Stay tuned and I’ll see you there next year.

Author: José A. Rodríguez

Photos: Renée Gonyeau