Glover Park Concert Series is Marietta’s Unofficial Dance Floor

Photo credit: Brian Benefield

[This is the latest installment of “Cobb Cuisine, Culture and Community” by Brian Benefield. Photo above by Brian Benefield] 

On certain evenings in Glover Park, the air feels alive before the music even starts. There’s a quiet buzz as folding chairs open, picnic baskets are unpacked, and a cork pops softly, trying not to draw attention. Of course, everyone hears it. It’s all part of the opening act.​

By the time the sun sets behind the railroad tracks, the Glover Park Concert Series has created its own quiet magic. Children run through the grass, full of energy. Dogs, sure the whole event is for them, greet everyone with wagging tails.  Adults, usually busy with schedules and responsibilities, suddenly remember how to relax. They lean back and watch the sky, as if waiting for it to reveal something special.​

This year’s lineup has big-name bands famous in Marietta and beyond. The season starts in April with Yacht Rock Schooner and their smooth seventies tunes. Think Ambrosia meets Pablo Cruise. In May, the official Jimmy Buffett tribute band A1A returns. We’ve seen them often, and their cheeseburger-in-Paradise vibes never disappoint.​

The music never quite starts so much as it arrives, like a breeze that decides to bring along a guitar. One moment, there is chatter and clinking and the distant whir of traffic; the next, there is rhythm, soft at first, then confident, then irresistible.​

The band on the small stage plays as if they’ve been invited into a very large living room, which, in a sense, they have. The park becomes everyone’s shared front porch, stretching wide enough to hold a thousand stories at once. And we tell tall tales around the table with folks we have known since Marietta Wine Market opened in 2005. Janice, Anders, Jill, Richard, Ga-il, and Chris are all dear friends with whom we love spending time. Yes, you elongate the pronunciation of Gail’s name as any proper Southerner would.​

There is a kind of dancing that belongs to Glover Park alone. It is not choreographed or skillful. Instead, it is a gentle, swaying surrender to melody. Couples who have danced together for decades rediscover each other’s timing. Teenagers pretend not to care but move anyway. A small child, overcome with joy, spins until the world becomes blurred with laughter.​  And I may or may not do my own freestyle boogie to a Bee Gees tune.  Who am I kidding, I definitely will. 

Food seems to taste better here, maybe because of the music. We always bring food to share with friends, and everyone adds  something different to the menu. There’s icy shrimp cocktail with spicy sauce, chunky marinara with sourdough, and always a tasty dessert to end the meal.  Ice cold beer cans are cracked open and wine corks pop with a festive notation of arrival.  Conversations flow easily, neighbors chat about anything and everything, and strangers become friends over a good song.

Eventually, the last song plays, even though it feels like the night should go on. Instead of disappointment, everyone feels grateful. The applause is not just for the band, but for the whole evening and how it brought everyone together.​ That part is important, cherish your people, y’all. Hug tight and laugh often! 

As people pack up chairs and brush grass from their clothes, the magic lingers. It is tucked into pockets and folded into memories, carried home as a faint echo of a melody you can’t quite shake.  And in the hush that follows, Glover Park listens for the next song, already stirring quietly in the air.

For more information, visit https://marietta.gov/concerts