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Sylvan splendor

Carter Barron has drawn stars, crowds since 1950

By Robyn-Denise Yourse (Contact) | Friday, July 25, 2008

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He's performed for millions and recorded hit records (the horn-funky "Bustin' Loose" remained atop Billboard's R&B chart for four consecutive weeks in 1978). To locals, he is perhaps best-known for his starring turn in TV ads for the D.C. Lottery.

Yet for many years, local music legend Chuck Brown had only one dream: to play the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, the sylvan enclave on the eastern edge of Rock Creek Park.

"When I finally got the opportunity to play there, it was the best gig I had up until that time," the ageless godfather of go-go music, now 72, says of that first appearance in 1973.

Mr. Brown, of course, would go on to play the Carter Barron many times through the years - most recently last month, when even a lighting outage brought on by a string of thunderstorms failed to stop the concert.

"The fans there are great; they're very loyal," says Mr. Brown. "You wouldn't find that in any other town."

Or, perhaps, in any other venue.

While local entertainment locales have come and gone, the Carter Barron has remained a staple of local summertime fun for nearly 60 years, as much a part of the local scene as insufferable humidity and fireworks on the Mall.

"It's gonna be here for another 60 years," said George Randall of Northwest, a D.C. native and security force employee at Boeing who came out a few weeks back for a packed celebration of 1980s R&B featuring Lakeside, the Bar-Kays and Clones of Funk.

"This is the only community amphitheater here in D.C. Fort DuPont is off and on," Mr. Randall said, referring to the Southeast amphitheater that, like the Carter Barron, is also operated by the National Park Service.

The Lakeside concert (part of a summer lineup that also features the National Symphony Orchestra, reggae and Latin music nights and the annual DC Poetry Festival) yielded a sold-out crowd of baby boomers, including those who braved the sweltering heat and the park's near-molten asphalt walkways - some in imposing stiletto heels.