Triangle Singer/Songwriter Tift Merritt wows the crowd at WRAL’s Pops in the Park. |
WRAL-TV has traditionally been harangued by rain for its annual Labor Day event, Pops in the Park. In the past decade, several years in a row have been cancelled due to the wet weather. 2007 made a change in the history books. The weather has been so dry that the fire marshal understandably nixed the permit to shoot off fireworks. But WRAL-TV and the Pops fans were undaunted. Virtual fireworks and the noise of an audience full of kazoos put the perfect cap on the typical Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture finale.
WRAL’s 28th Annual Pops in the Park brought out a crowd of almost 7,000 to Cary’s Regency Park Amphitheatre on Sunday, September 2, 2007. Capitol Broadcasting’s band, Transmit This, opened the event at 5pm with some of their hottest numbers while the crowd found spots on the lawn and strolled through the many sponsor tents encircling the venue.
Children and adults alike turned the sidewalk by the lake into a work of art with pastels. The Chick-fil-A cows, Geiko Gecko and Wool E. Bull entertained fans both young and old.
At 7pm, the traditional headliners took the stage, the N.C. Symphony. The group played tunes from Leonard Bernstein to Aaron Copeland and then were joined on stage by Grammy-nominated NC singer/songwriter Tift Merritt. The Symphony penned arrangements of several of Merritt’s songs, a first ever occurrence. The team of Merritt and the Symphony also debuted the title track off her soon-to-be released CD “Another Country.”
Gracious as always, Merritt told the audience how thrilled she was to join the symphony on stage. “I want to join this band!” she said. The ever-popular Merritt met with thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
Tift Merritt warms up during sound check before the gates open on Pops. |
The NC Symphony dazzles the crowd a Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture.” |
The evening ended with the 1812 Overture and although no fireworks filled the sky, the cheers of the crowd left no doubt that the event had been a success.
WRAL-TV produced a broadcast of Pops in Park which aired on the station on Labor Day. UNC-TV will air the broadcast Pops in the Park on Thursday, Sept 13th at 10pm.
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WATCH
Tune in to UNC-TV on
Thursday, Sept 13th at 10pm
to see WRAL’s broadcast of the Pops in the Park.
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Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Shelly Leslie, Marian Bell, Bill Burch & Steve Elizondo for this capcom photo.
