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But, crowded around the amphitheater Sunday night, a pit crew of blues fans was champing at the bit for veteran guitarist Jimmy Thackery and his band, the Drivers.
Fans like Ron Reese, 53, and his East Petersburg neighbor, Bruce Scott. "We've been planning this all summer long," Reese said, sitting in the front row for the final concert in this summer's series.
Reese had to plead with his 23-year-old guitar-playing son, who was about to leave after throwing Frisbees, to stay for at least the first number.
Whether his son stayed or not, about 5,000 people did and heard a virtuoso performance on Thackery's four guitars on a perfect late-summer night.
Thackery, who learned his licks from legendary bluesmen such as Muddy Waters, is less about showing off his flashy power-guitar playing these days than displaying eclectic songwriting.
He played long, unhurried tunes that covered a wide musical landscape, including rock, rhythm and blues, psychedelic, what he called "hillbilly rock," and even surf music.
But, backed by bass player Mark "Bumpy Roads" Bumgarner and drummer Russ Wilson, Thackery's guitar wowed during a 100-minute nonstop set.
Even if he no longer pulls crowd-pleasing stunts such as playing the guitar with his teeth and behind his head, Thackery's fingers effortlessly gave voice to his songs, many of which were instrumental.
But a wrenching blues tune was never too far away. Thackery, who made his name as lead guitarist for the Nighthawks in the 1970s and 1980s, would be stooped over, plucking notes from his Stratocaster as softly as a falling teardrop.
"Make it cry, baby!" a woman cried out at one point.
Then Thackery would launch into searing wails which well may have been heard inside Park City.
He has said he tunes out the outside world as he plays and "follows what's inside."
Thackery did seemed intent on his music and bantered little, but jovially, with the crowd.
Thackery played a dozen extended songs, drawing on the band's five albums since 1992.
His longtime band, The Nighthawks, which he co-founded, had a cult following along the East Coast for 15 years until breaking up in 1987. There are still reunion shows.
A hard-working band that excelled at live sets in small venues, Thackery and the Nighthawks would belt out the blues 300 nights a year in clubs packed with modest, but loyal, crowds of fans.
Thackery has spent the last 15 years on a similar frenetic pace with two bands he formed. The difference is the music has been mostly his. In addition to his albums with the Drivers, including his latest, "Inside Tracks," Thackery has released eight solo albums, many with different bluesmen.
It's a safe bet Thackery and his band made new converts after the night's performance.
As Frank DeLia, 56, of York, who hadn't seen Thackery perform since Nighthawks days, remarked in wonder, "Isn't this wonderful for free?"
E-mail: acrable@lnpnews.com
