PBnJ is back baby! For the second consecutive Thursday, my wife, my granddaughter, and our extended PBnJ family assembled at the lakefront to enjoy some music and a return to normalcy. Week 1 was a Taylor Swift Tribute Band and this past Thursday was a really great reggae group. But as always is the case, the music is a wonderful sideshow in this carnival of Kenosha characters. PBnJ is everything that is good and right about KTown. The people act civilized, the music is good, Frank and Kim ALWAYS try hard to bring everyone a good show, and the “people watching” is second to none. And I know, because I have no doubt my big ass is “people watched”.
We had a chance to speak with Kim Thursday night and you could hear the relief in her voice. Aside from being a huge part of the Kenosha summer landscape, PBnJ is also associated with a business…their business and the PBnJ upsides have multiple layers. We discussed the familiarity of Little Ed and the Blues Imperials and the schtick of her husband working the mic. She mentioned that this band was one of her suggestions and seeing her do some Grateful Dead-type dancing while the music played certainly cemented the notion that she’d be enjoying the next 2 hours.
And that is more of what makes PBnJ work. Real people, delivering a real party….consistently…for 19 years….including a Covid hiatus. My wife and I stumbled across PBnJ in year two so this is our 18th year as regulars. Our circle has grown, shrunk, and is now back on the grow again. The title picture of this story is my view. The stage is up on the right and I can see them well enough. The music is, and always has been, just part of the entirety of PBnJ. It’s a homecoming…every Thursday in July and August….with some good music for a backdrop. And that is in no way trivializing the bands…they are always excellent…and I think they all know they are in a unique, local setting.
Props to Frank and Kim and everyone that makes PBnJ Happen (pun intended). I don’t know how much your efforts are rewarded monetarily but I can tell you “from the crowd”…PBnJ is simply a MUST for myself and my family. It is what we do on Thursday in the summer. And that will not change any time soon. Welcome Back PBnJ!!
