By Anton Dedvukaj and Ben Hymowitz
On September 28, Irvington held its yearly festival celebrating all things rock ‘n’ roll. The event was comprised of a massive crowd, loads of food trucks, and a great deal of bands rocking out, including The Stella Blues, Bret Reilly, and the Electric Stories.
The concert attracted a large crowd of people from all over town. Children, teenagers, adults, parents, and more all attended the event vibing out to lots of different genres, such as blues, soul, rock, country, and more. A parking lot’s worth of food trucks also came by to cater the festival.
The concert was filled with loads of energy, both from the audience and the performers. “We’re always excited, every time we perform. Doesn’t matter who’s there. There could be one or two people. If they’re there, they deserve a good show!” said Craig Neal, the bassist for the soul band Tru Vinyl Grooves.
He and his band were far from the only people ready to give the show some energy. One of the workers backstage as well as a member of the Tru Vinyl Grooves, Ray Ovetsky, was also fired up about the festival, saying, “Folks just love the idea of so much food and the whole town gathering. I mean, it’s a party!”
Rocktoberfest is an event that has been going on in Irvington for roughly five years now. The show has since become a mainstay for the music scene of Irvington. However, it’s also an event that has changed and evolved over time as well.
Ovetsky continued, “Rocktoberfest started off very, very humble in the sense that it was just local bands playing.”
“We’ve had some great tribute bands. We’ve had a Tom Petty band [and] a Bruce Springsteen band,” he remembered.
Nowadays, many different genres, such as country and soul, have also made their way to Rocktoberfest. The event contained shows from six different acts and lasted nine hours.
