> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Earlier this month at a meeting of the common council of the city of New Albany, a couple of the council people announced their dismay at the city’s Live@5 concert series.

It seems that at least two members were inundated with telephone calls from angry constituents concerned over the closing of major arteries in and out of the city, throwing a monkey wrench into their afternoon commutes. Some of these calls even came hours after the program was over and the traffic was back to normal.

Not only was the council concerned over the mayor and his administration unilaterally making decisions that would cause local drivers to drive a couple blocks out of their way in order to get to their homes, they were also upset that such a radical plan was set into place without first notifying them personally.

At the very least, the mayor could have at least sent the council president an email, letting her know what was going to happen, which begs the question; who knew that the members of the city council had computers and knew how to answer emails?

The plans for Live@5 were announced at least twice in news articles reported by the News and Tribune. I understand that it is not necessary for New Albany city council members to subscribe to the local newspaper, but if they want to be aware of things that are going on around the community that they represent, maybe they should at least take a look at the online version now and then.

It was also posted on the city’s website cityofNewAlbany.com and also posted several times on various forms of social media. If you go to the Facebook site for the city of New Albany you will see several announcements concerning the concert series along with several other things going on in and around our city.

Anyone who would like to know more about what is going on should click the “friends” button and keep informed of what is coming up around here. A quick survey of the “friends” shows that no council members are listed.

You can also get announcements concerning upcoming events in New Albany by following their twitter feed @NewAlbanyIN. Of the nearly 500 people that are following, I see no council members there either.

After hearing all of the troubles that people had with the city’s Live@5 concert series, I decided I would see for myself exactly what the issues were. I had to work the evening that the first concert was held but was able to take off for the second weekend.

I drove down State Street toward the venue site and as reported, State was blocked at Spring forcing me to turn onto Spring, where I immediately found a parking space a whole city block away from the festivities.

A large stage had been erected in the intersection of State and Market streets and was blocking traffic for the tens of commuters that would usually use that path on their way home. They would now be forced to drive a block or two out of their way and find an alternative to their generally peaceful Friday night cruise. It would have taken longer to look up their council person’s phone number than the time that it took them to circumvent the festival site.

I watched the artist perform his set as I mingled with the crowd, talking to people I knew and having some refreshments. Smokin’ Joe performed well enough; I personally enjoyed his music, I just thought he was being swallowed up by the large stage. The crowd was fairly thin but the ones who were there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The only issue I had with the location was the temperature outside was hot and the sun was bearing down and the tables with umbrellas offered only a little shade. I understood that this was a work in progress and the kinks would still need to be worked out.

 I walked through town a few blocks and noticed that many of the downtown eateries were doing good business. With all of the traffic troubles some other people may have been experiencing, people were still able to get to local restaurants without too much trouble.

Last week, I also was able to attend the Live@5 concert series, which had moved to the 400 block of Bank Street. Less traffic was affected by this location with only that one block being closed off. The band Eight inch Elvis performed admirably and even came down off stage a couple of times to perform with the crowd, which was considerably larger than the week before. The buildings and the trees of Bank Street provided ample shade, making it considerably more comfortable than the week before.

 The band acknowledged the local businesses, even calling out the employees of a new hair salon that had recently opened downtown when some of the ladies of Stylin Irish stepped outside to listen to the music.

Live@5 returns to the 400 block of Bank Street — between Spring and Elm — and reportedly will remain there for the rest of the summer. There are beverage vendors available and several downtown restaurants within walking distance from the venue.

There are still some kinks to be worked out, but before the summer is over, everything should be running smoothly. I encourage everyone to come down and see what is going on downtown and enjoy the festivities.

— Matthew Nash is looking forward to staying informed and attending Live@5 for the rest of the summer. He can be reached at dmatthewnash@gmail.com.