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They should add Crazy Bus to the playlist: Boston fireworks moving to the 3rd

Organizers are moving the Boston Pops concert and fireworks to tomorrow night due to Arthur. The real festivities will take the place of the practice concert, which will not take place at all.

The state plans to keep Storrow Drive open for the morning commute, but to shut it at noon, so if you drive to work on Storrow tomorrow, keep that in mind.

Officials say the weather could still force a cancellation of the show and that they will probably make a go/no-go decision late afternoon.

Why not Saturday? State Police say there are issues with performers' contracts that would prohibit that.

On the chance the weather forces the cancellation of the show tomorrow, the state might still allow fireworks on Saturday, though, because once the explosives are loaded onto barges, it's hard to offload them without them exploding.

When the Esplanade was evacuated due to lightning.

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Comments

Here's a thought, though not possible as it would probably requires too many gears to move even if the MBTA was open that late in the middle of the week. Launch the fireworks at midnight and thus still on 4th of July.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day

This is an outrage. Thanks a lot, yuppies.

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Perhaps we should celebrate Algerian Independence Day instead.

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..banging pots and pans to a rhythm in sync with "Algerie Francais!"

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Oh, god, this sounds like a recipe for insanity....

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This is Insanity the Cooking Show! With Special Celebrity Guests and Security Theater.

I'd like to know where this infinite pool of leave time is that we are all supposed to tap on a whim to accommodate such pronouncements resides - particularly when most employers don't allow you to bank more than a couple of weeks anymore. Everyone in my office is scrambling to get around tomorrow's inevitable mess with green line and red line disruptions, bridges closed, and Storrow shut down. At least we CAN scramble! Many people have fewer choices about working at home.

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Working from home Thursday sounds like a good idea. Tougher for those who don't have the option. Argh.

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To my knowledge, neither line is being shut down for the event (either as originally scheduled, or now as re-scheduled)

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"Run on regular schedule" with the usual commuter crush plus the people trying to get into the event plus closing the Longfellow.

Clusterfornication.

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My heart is breaking, just *breaking* for you.

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HOT. MESS!!

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it should be held on Friday or over the weekend, not tomorrow.

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It should be held on Friday. But, when weather prevents that from happening and contractual obligations take away the weekend, what do you do?

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Pay the performers, hire a local act, and get a better contract next year.

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or moved back to an earlier hour, like last year (9:30) since it's a "school night"?

What happens to the MBTA schedule for tomorrow night?

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I hope not. My train gets into Boston at 10:10pm, I dont want to miss the fireworks.

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The fireworks are still going on at the planned time of 10:30 PM. Just on Thursday instead of Friday now.

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I'm sure the fireworks were shot off on June 22nd and will just be video-edited into all of the shots anyways.

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Having escaped the possibility of singing with the Pops several years ago on the 4th, I wholeheartedly agree with the musicians union if they are part of the group of contracts which prohibit playing on Saturday. Hell, I wouldn't want my instrument out in this humidity!

With that, I wish them all a bunch of luck. Ain't it funny the name of the storm is Arthur? (And if you knew or performed with Mr. Fiedler, you would know this is more than appropriate....)

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.. to figure out an orchestra budget for a composer commission project at Tufts.

In 87 or so it was a fiendishly complex thing with rates for fashion shows and every other likely music situation.

There was another whole booklet of rules that I ignored. I just wanted to know how to size the checks and padded them all a bit anyway as a contingency bonus.

No one complained.

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Why not Saturday? State Police say there are issues with performers' contracts that would prohibit that.

First, why are State Police commenting on this instead of Mugar and his team? Secondly, by "performers' contracts" do they mean the Beach Boys or the trio of Broadway performers? Because, who fucking cares if the Beach Boys or whomever can make it to our fireworks (besides Mugar and CBS)?

They should move it all to Saturday, a non-work day, a beautiful weather day predicted, and WHAT YOU DO AT THE LAST MINUTE WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG!

Did they have zero contingency planning around an event of this type and size? Why not have replacement performers ready for a Saturday performance if necessary? If they did plan contingencies, then why isn't it already known to the public that "in case of weather/problems, everything happens on the 3rd"? If you make a last minute HUGE shift, you always shift backwards giving people MORE time to deal with the uncertainty.

A friend of mine pointed out on Facebook, that if you are disabled and were dependent on The Ride to get you to the concert, tough luck. The Ride requires 24 hour notice for new/changed reservations...oh and they close at 5 PM and this was announced at 4:50...so you had 10 minutes to learn the news and call in.

Also, the website http://www.july4th.org says ZILCH about the changes still (as I typed this, this page came out of nowhere: http://www.july4th.org/2014_Event_Info/Show_Update I love how everything on the page still says July 4th and the "more information" is the CBS article not their own press release or anything). That should have been packaged and ready to put in place (again, as part of contingency planning) before the announcement in order to give people looking for more information a place to reference.

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are scheduled to play Jones Beach Saturday night. That might have something to do with it.

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Should have been an entire Saturday concert planned that doesn't involve them then. Pay them a contingency fee and get a replacement.

Chuck Berry did it better first anyways.

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You can't make huge contingency plans based on the day of the week. Locking in any performer beforehand for that specific time, as well as the other musicians and personnel needed doesn't make sense.

Suck it up, make better plans next time, and get insurance.

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Not only can you do all that, but you can also take out an insurance policy that pays off the musicians in the event that the concert is canceled/shifted.

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No Brian Wilson, no Al Jardine. Only Mike Love from among the original founders.

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and if it is, wouldn't pre-poning it to July 3 make a mess out of the TV broadcast schedule anyway?

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The whole concert and fireworks is only airing locally on CBS Boston (WBZ). CBS dropped the national broadcast last year due to declining ratings against the larger Macy's Fireworks display on NBC. I remember the organizers last year were looking for a cable network to continue airing the concert nationally after being dropped by CBS. Don't know what happened to that plan.

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They weren't competent to plan better for rain. You want them to negotiate with a cable company?

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Lockhart and the orchestra have contracts as well and if they're anything like the orchestra I used to work with, adding an extra day to the orchestra's service is a Big Deal. They'd have to take it to the union, there would be overtime, there would probably have to be concessions made for some other performance dates, and the entire orchestra would have to vote on it.

My guess is that the contingency plan was always to replace the final dress rehearsal with the performance if they needed to. I've worked with smaller outdoor concerts and stretching it out one more day is FAR more expensive in terms of equipment, venue, personnel and musician costs, not to mention the additional cost to the city.

And really, this year when the 4th is on a Friday is the only time it would make a difference. If the 4th was a Wednesday, it wouldn't matter if they pushed it a day up or back - it would still take place on a work day.

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What took so long?

There's absolutely nothing different about today's forecast for Friday than Sunday the 29th's.

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You want them to make a huge change that disrupts plans for thousands of people based on a weather report a week out? Even meteorologists will tell you it's somewhere between a gut feeling and an educated guess at that point. Once the storm stays on the path of that model for four days, the likelihood that it's accurate gets greater.

This is a fucking giant undertaking and they have obviously had to make some tough decisions. I'm sorry your commute is ruined by someone other than the T today, but I guarantee you, the people putting on the concert are having a MUCH worse day than you are.

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Are you the troll I've been tweeting with? Because you're obviously ignorant about the diverse production requirements needed to pull something like this off.

Insurance for the light towers and camera rigs in severe weather. Crew and backline overtime. Security (subject to DHS approval). Potty and traffic management. Public transit impacts. MassDOT considerations that can supersede the City of Boston's requests/desires.

These are but a few of the things that were factored into a decision to reschedule.

But yes, by all means, be a petulant brat about it. (And yet, how loud you would howl if they *didn't* reschedule, but then had to cancel due to weather—leaving you to gripe about poor contingency planning. Basically, you're an terribly, awful person who'll never be happy. So sorry for you.)

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Lighting insurance is entirely why they waited until 24 hours before the new scheduled time to announce their change and moved it to Thursday instead of having a plan for Saturday.

I hear those lighting weather rates really skyrocket on the weekends.

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Won't be the biggest spectacle. It'll be the shitshow doing this last minute on Thursday is going to cause with commutes, etc.

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"Once the explosives are loaded onto barges, it's hard to offload them without
them exploding."

Does anyone know why that is?

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Once they are together and ready for use static electricity can cause an ignition.

I wouldn't want to be the guy taking them apart if they had to. Could end badly. Just light it up!

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I have this vague recollection of driving down Storrow Dr 2007 july 5th. Fireworks barge on fire a stones throw from MIT. A uncountable number of fire trucks.

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The insidious Deval Patrick is behind this some how, I KNOW IT! He wanted one more chance to fuck with all our lives like he did at the Stay in Place and Snowstormageddon.

PS. Since there's only one original Boy in the Beach Boys, I say just have five guys get up there and lip sync.

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No.. its Obama's fault, just blame Obama. Its always is Obama's fault. ;)

Thanks Obama

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Deval is in Panama. This one's on Walsh.

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The press conference at which the change was announced was very much a state affair - led by State Police Col. Tim Alben, which makes sense, given that the Esplanade is state land.

I wasn't paying that much attention to the people behind him, but William Evans didn't speak, which he would have had this been a city decision.

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I have to give Mayor Walsh a pass on this one, given that the DCR controls what happens on the Esplanade. As another commenter mentions, perhaps this is why Evans didn't speak. Dude can't catch a break.

So, who has done the research? Has the concert / fireworks ever been canceled or rescheduled prior?

PS. Councilor Matt O'Malley mentioned in a tweet that the concert was held on the 5th of July instead of the 4th in 1976, so that the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra (....) could perform at the Bicentennial concert in New York.

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There was at least one year where the concert went on as scheduled but the fireworks were delayed until the following night. Maybe someone here can find a citation. I read it in the past few days but I can't remember where anymore.

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I remember it well. We had tickets to the community boating cookout event, and they called that off when the concert AND fireworks were shifted to July 5.

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This article says:

"In 1992, the Boston Pops orchestra performed the concert, but the fireworks were pushed back a day because clouds hung so low over the city no one would have been able to see the sparkly detonations."

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I think it rained in 77 the year after the Bicentennial. The had the concert but no fireworks.

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Sounds likely it will rain tomorrow, too. Probably with more lightning.

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We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests. Perhaps it's fate that today is the Third of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom... Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution... but for getting home. We are fighting for our right to rest. To grill. And should we win the day, the Third of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day Boston declared in one voice: "We will go quietly and orderly into the night!"

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And just have fireworks every 4 years?

Other than that, just suck it up people and leave earlier for work. Shite happens.

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Fine for me and you, maybe. That doesn't work if your childcare arrangements are fixed or if your job has inflexible hours.

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So I was always prepared to have someone watch my kids if something happened.

Hey look, it sucks, but not enough for me to feel that bad for anyone because one road in Boston is going to be closed for a few hours on a Friday during the summer.

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fixed that for you

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Three roads. The three biggest non-Federal highway roads. In the middle of a storm.

Yeah, I'm sure everything will work out juuuuust fine.

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What, has it been 3 days now without a truck blocking Storrow at one of the bridges? 70% chance a truck blocks it tomorrow.

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Yet again, complete disrespect for the people whose jobs pay those public "service" salaries.

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I did the same thing when I was making $6 an hour cleaning bathrooms in downtown crossing. The owner of the restaurant I worked at didn't care about traffic, special events, Boston Celtics parades, or whatever. I got to work on time and took responsibility for my family without having to whine about it to others. Life sucks sometimes. Deal with it.

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Just wanted to call you out on that prediction. You should play the powerball next.

http://www.universalhub.com/2014/another-storrow-truck-driver-learns-bri...

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The only problem with that is that the people who left early for work are the ones getting effected!

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At the time, John Adams thought that July 2 would end up being celebrated as Independence Day, since that's when the Continental Congress approved the Lee Resolution which first declared the colonies as "free and independent states." The Declaration of Independence proper just went into more detail arguing why this was justified.

So I guess July 3 splits the difference.

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They should have announced today that the concert already happened last week.

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I may have to stay further away from the Esplanade and public transportation than usual this year.

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Kudos on the headline, Adam. Only those of us who have lived through years of watching "Arthur" on PBS would be able to appreciate your cleverness on this one! Brought back memories....

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I wanted the Schmazy Bus!

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I'm so impressed that EVERYONE was planning on working a full day tomorrow, even though you know it's the last day before a three day weekend!

How diligent! How upstanding!

My only question is, then, who are all those louts who clog every road out of Boston starting at noon on the day before every other long weekend?

Adam, kudos to you for attracting a readership that would never shirk their work duties in any way, like, for example, commenting on a local news blog while on the clock and on an employer computer!

I bow, humbled.

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Considering most of these comments were posted after 5, I'm not sure where the snideness came from.

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Correction: snark, not snide.

I was referring to myself. I work until 10:00.

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Thank you for the clarification. I do appreciate a good snark. :)

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Looks like the MBTA's current plan doesn't delay the departure of last commuter trains after the fireworks, as they would have done under the original July 4 plan. I predict lots of stranded travelers, especially at South Station where the regular last trains can be as early as 11:25 pm.

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Can you say "surge pricing"?

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Much better than "not enough cabs to go around" and "even those won't take you where you want to go and will extort cash and threaten violence".

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If you want to pay $200.00 to go from the Back Bay to Medford, be my guest!

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Seriously. That's only 5-6 miles. Two hours, tops.

Or walk to a Hubaway, which would get me as far as Tufts, and walk home.

If I didn't have my bike with me, that is.

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Have you seen what types of people drive those things naked??!

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Since last night, the T has edited their July 3 service plan to either delay last trains, or add extra trains, from South Station after midnight. They also added a late connector train from Beverly to Newburyport.

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..be a betrayal when you roll with a herd.

But if you seek quiet away from the riot,

The whole thing's a lot less absurd.

May you all have the best holiday you can.

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Adam!

universalcarp.com is available for only $1295. We can take up a collection.

http://www.afternic.com/domain/universalcarp.com

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