KAUKAUNA (NBC26) — The show must go on! The return of a Kaukauna music festival is giving some local musicians the chance to perform in front of a live audience for the first time in months.
Day three of the Electric City Experience continued Friday with nearly 25 live music performances spread across five stages at Hydro Park in Kaukauna.
Leading the Blind, a Rock & Roll band from Appleton, hit the stage at 5 p.m. Friday as one of the first acts of the night.
"Shows (are) starting to pick back up and hearing that Electric City came back was something that really got us excited," said Eric Krueger, guitar player and singer of Leading the Blind.
Krueger said the band has played the Electric City Experience every year it's occurred, with the exception of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the festival.
During a normal year, the Electric City Experience is of one of 50 to 100 shows Leading the Blind plays across the Midwest. Most of those live events didn't happen last year.
“We all had to kind of stop what we were doing and think about, ‘is it safe to get together and write? Is it safe to rehearse,'" Krueger said.
The band did get to play a handful of outdoor concerts during the pandemic. Krueger said they also held a virtual concert over Skype.
Krueger said the band is starting to book more events as outdoor music festivals return. He said he's excited to feel the energy from a live audience once again.
“When you’re writing a song it's usually very personal, but when you’re able to share art with a community and have a communal experience where everybody’s - you know there’s no judgments, and everybody’s just having a good time coming together and feeling a good vibe. That’s what inspires us for sure," Krueger said.
Burnt Toast & Jam, a Bluegrass/Country/Acoustic band from Shawano, will take the stage at the Electric City Experience around 7 p.m. Friday.
“It feels great to be out playing music. It’s been a long wait. We got started a couple of weeks ago and we look forward to playing some music tonight," said Pat Rades, a guitar player in Burnt Toast and Jam.
The band has been playing together for more than 30 years. Rades said in a normal year, they'd play about four shows a month. Most of those shows were canceled during the pandemic.
Rades said Burnt Toast & Jam played their first gig in nearly 8 months just a few weeks ago. The Electric City Experience will be the band's second show since then.
Like Kruegar, Rades said he's most excited to feel the energy from a live audience once again.
"That’s what it’s all about," Rades said.
The Electric City Experience will continue at 2 p.m. Saturday with dozens more live music performances.
