Visitors to Haverhill's Wingate Street can always expect to find unique artwork like paintings and jewelry. But on Friday night, Aug. 1, home-grown music rocked the road.
The only rule for admission: The event was BYOC. Bring your own chair.
The free concert, called Friday Night Live, featured the Elle Gallo Band, a local Americana blues band that covers songs by the likes of Susan Tedeschi, Beth Hart, Melissa Etheridge and Grace Potter, but also plays original music.
The show took place in the middle of the street that makes up Haverhill's arts district, and the road was closed to vehicles. Speakers, instruments, microphones and a bevy of wires to power all the equipment were placed halfway down Wingate Street, between the Peddler's Daughter and Margot's Gallery.
Gallo was happy to see such a pleasant crowd come out for her show.
"They attracted a really, really great group of people," she said. "They were so appreciative and very welcoming to us."
A free show like Friday Night Live can be nerve-wracking for artists because without ticket sales, there's no way of knowing how many people will show up. But the concert, which started at 7 p.m., drew about 50 to 70 people, Gallo estimated from her vocal front-woman vantage point.
"A year and a half ago, I would have said the unknown part adds a lot of pressure," Gallo said. "But now we've been playing so many lounges, bars and clubs that 70 percent of our shows are unknown. I'm kind of used to the pressure. It doesn't matter to me if just two people come. I'm going to play my heart out for them and give them a good show. It's a bonus when a big crowd shows up."
Just as they began playing their last song, the ominous clouds above finally broke and the rain began to fall.
But before that, the crowd got a good mix of lively covers and Gallo originals that can't be heard anywhere else, except for her song "Sweet Addiction," which has been in rotation on 92.5 FM, The River. The radio station's studio is a stone's throw from Wingate Street, in Haverhill's downtown.
The concert on Wingate Street was a special chance for Gallo to showcase some of her original work, songs that get shelved in favor of cover songs and jukebox classics at the bars and clubs she often plays at. The party crowd wants to hear songs they know and can sing along to, but the audience on Wingate Street was eager to hear her own unique music.
Gallo was even more thrilled when audience members approached her after the show and complimented the songs she had written.
"Feedback is always good when you're aspiring to do something," she said. "You want people to respond."
She estimated that there were about 50 to 70 people who turned out for the show, including many faces the Bradford resident knows well.
"I'd love to do it again," she said. "It was nice to do it in your hometown, with all your neighbors in the audience."
TO HEAR MORE
Upcoming shows for Elle Gallo and her bands On the Rocks, the Elle Gallo Band and Digger Dawgs.
Thursday, Aug. 7 - Digger Dawg will be the featured guest at the Hampton Beach shell outdoor show.
Saturday, Aug. 9 - On the Rocks headlines a night of dance music at Tequila's in Danvers.
Friday, Aug. 15 - On the Rocks plays the Upper Deck in Salisbury.
Saturday, Aug. 16 - Elle Gallo and On the Rocks play The Rock Pond in Georgetown from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Wednesday, Aug. 13 and 27, and all Wednesdays in September — The Elle Gallo Band will rock Tequila's on Route 1 south in Danvers, starting at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 20 - On the Rocks performs on a Boston Harbor cruise to benefit the St. Francis House, a charity that helps homeless people. The event is called the Shooze Cruise, and guests are encouraged to bring a men's pair of shoes that will be donated to people in need. For more information, visit www.stfrancishouse.org.
Friday, Aug. 29 - On the Rocks plays an outdoor show at Stromberg's in Salem.
Sunday, Aug. 31 - Elle Gallo with Digger Dawg open for Keith Anderson, Steve Azar and Travis Tritt at Meadowbrook Pavilion in Gilford, N.H.
Saturday, Sept. 6 - Elle Gallo and On The Rocks play the Rock Pond in Georgetown.
Saturday, Sept. 20 - The Elle Gallo Band will rock The Grog in Newburyport.
Saturday, Oct. 11 - The Elle Gallo Band heads to Portsmouth, N.H., to play The Blue Mermaid.
Booking can be made by e-mailing ibesingin@hotmail.com.
