Labor Day Weekend

North Coast Festival ends over Labor Day Weekend. Billed as "summers last stand" this electronic music party in Union Park had people dancing until the break of dawn. David Guetta and Fatboy Slim were some of the featured acts.
The weather with rain and 92 degree heat proved residents will never know what to dress for. Thank the stars and the temperature boys lost their shirts in the park.

Spring brought people like Ricky Martin to town and kicked things off Puerto Rican style. While his stage set was huge, he got points for bringing an act that flew in the air. Many performers followed suit by using trapezes and limber dancers that put Cirque du Soleil to shame. Large video screens were used at the major concerts with Ricky as well as many other playing themed vignettes. Martin supplied his with gay content and equality.

Rihanna ran laps out to greet the audience. Fans screamed and cheered but were kept back by security. This happened with many shows over the summer. Mexican rock group Mana created a stage in the back of the room as did Glee to make sure what seemed like bad seats magically turned into the front row. U2 gave everyone the perfect view with their 360 Degree Tour.

Britney Spears lip synched much of her show but improved with stronger dancing and more costumes this time out. Her fans seem to follow her everywhere and some paid $1,000 for a meet and greet with the star. She was almost trumped by her opener Nicki Minaj and showed concert goers to need to arrive early or they might miss the next big thing.

Lollapalooza with Eminem and Northerly Island with Ke$ha brought the outdoor venues to a new level while crowds danced in the dark. United Center and Allstate Arenas were the places to see this larger acts. Katy Perry surprised many with a combination of many the other musicians concerts tricks. More costumes changes than Cher with five within one song, riding a cloud to back the back of the room and a video montage that included a butcher, showed she cleaned up by learning from the others.

These were the major highlights and showed even in a tough economy and music market people still enjoy live music.
Stay tuned next week to see what retro concert acts are still going strong.