The Sky Is Crying

In our region, last night was, at best, a rough one for outdoor music events. At its worst, it was tragic.

Our band was scheduled to play an outdoor event that they expected as many as a couple hundred people to attend. At 7 p.m., when we were scheduled to load in, rain was coming down in torrents, winds were gusting in the double digits, and there was hail nearby.
The event got moved indoors and the "couple hundred" turned into a few dozen, tops.
It was a pain and a disappointment, in addition to being our last gig with our lead singer.
But I got to have both our boys on guitar with us and we, and our gear, stayed safe and dry.

And there were some spectacular views once the rain stopped. I snapped the one above after the storm.

Our previous scheduled outdoor gig, a street dance on July 2, was completely stormed out, and most of my gear got soaked. Which is reportedly what happened at the nearby Mosey Down Main Street festivities. The previous Mosey of the season, in May, was also rained out.
Yesterday, one or more of the bands had their equipment drenched, and the whole event was canceled.

There is one more scheduled for next month. Seeing that our band doesn't have an outdoor event scheduled for that day, they may be able to pull off that one.

When I got home from our gig late last night, the Indianapolis stations were still covering a weather-related story from the state fair. After the opening act, and before Sugarland came on, gusting winds took down the stage, killing at least five and sending forty-some to hospitals.
The amateur video of the collapse is something I wish I could un-see, brief as it is. From the fabric roof ripping away, to the towering scaffolding and light rigging folding, to it all coming to the ground ... maybe fifteen seconds.

There were t-storm warnings for the area, and not five minutes before the collapse, a concert staffer reportedly made an onstage announcement about weather contingency plans.
No one could have foreseen that the right combination of conditions would bring down a structure that, presumably, has withstood similar conditions in the past.

The summer music season is winding down. Here's hoping we never have another like it.