Madison Park | Trotwood OH
Anticipation & Reality
Madison Park in Trotwood, Ohio, as part of their summer concert series, featured the R&B group TROOP. I had been eagerly anticipating this show for weeks. After all, I love the group, it was a free event, and they came with their band …what could be better than that? We didn’t get there in time to get a close spot to see the performance area. That sucked, but that’s on us and we knew based on having to park 2 blocks away that we’d be lucky to find a spot at all!
TROOP had performed in Cincinnati the night before to a packed crowd, and the buzz was that they turned it out. Naturally, I was hyped and ready. I had seen them a couple of times before, so I knew it would be a good show. Being my first time at this park, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a nice size park, vendors and food tents everywhere, and people from one end to the other. Attendees were having fun, socializing, eating, drinking.
The evening’s schedule was from 6 PM to 10 PM. The weather was initially VERY, I mean 90-ish hot, but it eventually cooled down, making for a comfortable evening. It began with talk from radio hosts of the event, sponsors, and other community happenings. There was a performance by a local opening artist (didn’t catch her name), some music, more talking, and a giveaway (though I missed what was given away). By 9:10 PM, it was time for TROOP! Keep in mind with the event ending at 10 PM, their set time was limited already. We couldn’t ‘see’ them because of where we were, even standing it would have been a challenge.
It was great to hear, sing along, and groove to their music, but the performance felt lackluster. Cincinnati must have gotten all the fresh energy and full-on vocals I have witnessed them to have. At times they sang music of other artists, which was cool but time was short as it was and I wanted all Troop songs. They talked some in between, which disrupted the flow of the performance for me. Sadly, people started leaving 15-20 minutes into their set. As more of the crowd left, I managed to get close enough to snap a photo of them on stage—still far and not the best pic, but at least I could say I ‘saw’ TROOP, and not just heard them. 😂
With only a few minutes left, there was more talking so we decided to leave. This was the first time I recall ever walking out of a concert. I was really wanting to hear “All I Do Is Think Of You,” and just as we were walking to our car, we could hear some of it. I’ll chalk this up to an ‘off’ night and despite that, I’ll still rock with TROOP and the music I’ll always love.
