Lightning storm swamps music festival, but bands play on

(News-Register Staff)  A torrential downpour accompanied by lightning strikes and rumbling thunder claps closed the outdoor show at the first Walnut City Music Festival Saturday evening at the Granary District in McMinnville.

The thunder and lightning rolled right over the festival grounds while The Hill Dogs delivered a passionate, and awe-inspiring duet with Mother Nature.

The drenching shut down the sound system, but the next band on the bill, Lincoln's Beard set up sans microphones in the partially completed Grain Station brewery and kept the party going. Tony Smiley, "The Loop Ninja," arrived with his sound system and the music continued as scheduled to a smaller but energetic crowd. A roucous dance party occured suring the set by headliners The Builders and The Butchers.

Evetn organizer Ossie Bladine, while disappointed in the outcome of an unexpected thunder storm, said it was an experience that few in attendance will forget.

"To say the music festival got off to a bang would be an understatement," he said.

After the storm subsided, Bladine and others found that a tree adjacent to the Granary District had been hit by lightning and split in two.