My wife and I felt a little starved for live music after living in Florida for 10 years.
Many touring acts — or at least the ones we wanted to see — didn’t seem to come that far south.
So since we have moved to Cincinnati, we have essentially binged on live music.
I’ve lost count of the number of shows we have been to.
Last month, we kind of went crazy.
In one week in mid-July, we started with three days at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville. Then we saw Old Crow Medicine Show and Brandi Carlisle at Rose Music Center in Huber Heights. We finished the week with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Heart and Cheap Trick at Riverbend Music Center.
It was dizzying — but fun.
The most relaxing of those five days of live music was the Joan Jett/Heart/Cheap Trick show. We spent that concert on a covered patio with pizza, snacks and water. We had seats and could see the stage.
That’s because we are WCPO Insiders.
This summer, WCPO Insider started a partnership with Riverbend.
Join Insider today using the promo code RIVERBEND to get two free concert tickets. While supplies last, you can choose between Gwen Stefani, Darius Rucker, Counting Crows, Toby Keith and Brantley Gilbert. Summer is better with Insider!
The partnership allows us to give Insiders a select number of tickets to Riverbend shows. Watch the Insider Rewards page for your chance to get free tickets. Those Insiders — and any other Insiders at each show — can hang out in the WCPO Insider Patio.
We stayed in the patio all night. We didn’t have to bring a blanket to sit on the lawn. Instead, we had high-top tables and chairs. We had a decent view of the stage (and a better people-watching view) and a monitor to watch the show on as well.
The view of the Riverbend stage from the WCPO Insider Patio.
But you don’t have to stay in the patio all night. Insiders are free to come and go.
You can use the patio as a base of operations. Swing by before the show for some free pizza and snacks. Come back between sets for a bottle of water or just to cool off. And head in and out of the patio as much or as little as you like.
You could be out there in that sea of people. Or on our shaded patio.
Especially on a hot day, the covered patio could be a great way to make your concert experience more enjoyable.
That’s one of our goals with WCPO Insider — to make your explorations of Cincinnati better
Mike Canan is editor of WCPO.com. Contact him at mike.canan@wcpo.com. Follow him on Twitter or Instagram at @Mike_Canan.
