WINGSTOCK 2009...Well baseball season has officially come to a close but that does not stop First Energy Park hosting some great events. On Saturday, October 3rd, the stadium hosted Wingstock 2009 presented by 105.7 The Hawk. Despite the rain, about 5,000+ people traveled to Lakewood to enjoy everything from a classic car show, to free wings, to a great music line up.

The parking lot was full of tailgaters and despite having to dodge intermittent raindrops, everyone was partying it up and having a great time.

Once inside, attendees were treated to open concession stands and a great mix of really cool vendors, not to mention merchandise from the bands. We scored a few awesome t-shirts.

Let’s talk wings. First of all, the line to the wings looked long, but it went surprisingly quick. Once we got to the wing tents, we were able to sample creations from 5 local contestants; Bostons, Cluck-U, Foodcourt America (First Energy Park Caterers), Langosta Lounge, and Waffles & More. Each competitor offered 2-wings of their special recipe to sample. Flavors ranged from the traditional hot & spicy wings, to Cajun, to even garlic and habenero. It would be a toss-up between Langosta Lounge’s Garlic & Habenero wings and Foodcourt America’s Cajun wings. They were both certainly mouth watering in their own right.

 The music line up was chock full of some great local bands like The Amboys, Heat, Status Green,   and Matt O Ree. The side stage was where the good early action was.  Although the ground was   super muddy, Status Green's performance got the crowd going and the Matt O Ree band kept the party going. All the bands played with great enthusiasm to get the crowd ready for what was to come next. 

The mainstage featured a truly classic line-up. Pat DiNizio from the Smithereens kicked it off covering all Beatles songs as a tribute to their recent library releases. Blue Oyster Cult followed and it must be said, "More Cowbell"! If you don’t know what that means go to YouTube and look it up. And closing the show and headlining the event was Foreigner, an American rock favorite.

All told, it was a great event. There was such a great mix of people, young and old, out to enjoy the festivities. We were surprised to see so many teenagers and young adults. I'm not sure if it was the wings or the music lineup. I'm going to guess that is was a great balance of both. Thankfully there are local events like Wingstock where all ages can enjoy great music and food. See you next year at Wingstock 2010!

For more pictures, go here.