Life

LIGHTNING PHOTOS: Party on Main dodges rain

Darlene Das, in rain boots, welcomes the crowd.

By Bill Moss, Published: June 10, 2019

One day before her second stab at a downtown block party, Darlene Das refused to give in to an ominous forecast.

"We're going to be singing and shagging in the rain," she said.

Shagging there was at the Saturday night Block Party but, remarkably, no rain. The three-hour show from 6 to 9 p.m. starred the Swingin' Medallions, a beach music legend since the 1960s. The vocal-heavy group with brass backup thrilled a crowd that came to dance — whether it was the jitterbug, shag, line dancing or a train.

The weather on Saturday was only slightly better than a year ago, when torrential downpours cased major flooding, landslides and other problems in the area. Das had to call off that show. Undaunted, she rebooked the Medallions, stage and the food trucks and declared that the show would go on.