The Enigma of Blue Skies [Tribute Concert for the Fraternal Order of Police of Philadelphia @ the Mann Center]

Since 2008, I have had the privilege of attending a few concerts (classical, operatic, and contemporary) at the Mann Concert Center in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. It is a beautiful venue, but especially for the performance of classical pieces by the Philadelphia Orchestra. This past Sunday (09/20/2009) was no different - a tribute concert on the behalf of the FOP of Philadelphia.
My friends GFB (this is the reverse of that famous and loved Roald Dahl character, BFG - sorry, it has just come to my attention) and ES, their respective boyfriends A? and HN, and I got vouchers to obtain free tickets for the concert that promised orchestral versions of patriotic, classical and contemporary favorites. The concert list included Copeland, Gould, Elgar, themes from "Rocky" (i.e. everyone's favorite Philadelphian movie) and "Superman." Even Tony Danza was there to belt out a Sinatra tune.
Yet, the music program aside, it was the freedom of the venue that most appeals to me. We all laid out our picnic blankets, topped it with various goodies we had recently purchased (e.g., pita, hummus, tortilla chips, 5-layer dip, carrots, grapes, crostini, chevre), poured wine (shiraz) into our little paper cups, and proceeded to seat ourselves comfortably.
There was the anthem, the patriotic classics, and then...



to which I laid back, closed my eyes and for a moment found myself lost in the music only to open my eyes to

Now, that's truly an experience I hope I can re-live over and over again.