Big Crowd Comes Out for First Concert in The Grove

Let the concerts begin.

On an unusually chilly Saturday night, more than a 1,000 people packed downtown Clayton for the first Concert in The Grove of the year.

"This is awesome," said councilmember Howard Geller, one of the chief architects of the concert series. "For it to be cold and there to be 1,200 people out here just shows how popular it is."

The band that kicked of the concert series was Cover2Cover, which got some of the listeners moving with hits like Sweet Home Alabama, Love Shack and Billie Jean.

But it was the atmosphere — the chatting with friends, the sipping of wine and the kids the running around the playground — that people seemed to enjoy even more than the music.

"It's just so much fun," said Clayton resident Teresa Hunter. "You get to relax, have a glass of wine and it's great way to spend a Saturday night with friends."

The free event didn't only bring out Claytonians, but also residents from other Bay Area cities, which is a good thing for local businesses, Geller said.

"It's fantastic," Bill Ivy said. "I live in Martinez and I come out here because we don't have anything like this there."

The next Concert in The Grove is May 21, when The Sun Kings will perform Beatles covers.

The series is every other Saturday through the summer until the final concert Sept. 10.