Photos: Rain, Music and Dancing at Festival Kickoff

If the rain gods exist, they were not listening to the pleas of the crowd in the courtyard of Culver City Hall Thursday night. But the lively audience boogied down to the eclectic tunes nevertheless. 

Things were looking bright at the start of the opening of the Culver City Boulevard Music Festival at around 7 p.m., but as soon as the opening act - The Bonedaddys -  began their first song "Waterslide," a few light raindrops turned into a more persistent sprinkle.

A large crowd of concert-goers gathered to the left of the stage and swayed their hips to the band's funky fusion of Afro-beat, rock and roll and a wide range of other musical genres. At one point, a group of dancers gathered in a circle and reached their hands up to the sky, as if they could somehow dance the rain away.

"It's just such a great atmosphere here, not many concerts leave space for dancers, but they always make sure dancers have room here," said Eileen Miller, a Sherman Oaks resident who was born and raised in Culver City. She has attended the series for the past two years, but she said the new band lineups give the concert series a fresh feel every year.

On Thursday night, Miller was anxiously awaiting the performance of "Los Pinguos" (the Penguins) an Argentinian band that mixes various Latin rhythms to create upbeat, lively melodies.

Thirty-minutes into the Bonedaddy's set, the light sprinkling of rain turned into heavier showers and the lead singer stealthily sneaked in few ad-libbed lines into the song. "Rain Rain go away, come again another day," he belted out.

"I don't think anyone expected rain... I was lucky, I had this in my car," said Peggy McElwee, pointing to her leopard print umbrella raised above her head. McElwee, who was decked out in an all-white linen suit with gold jewelry, said she dressed for the occasion. "This is my sixth year coming to this concert, and the atmosphere is always tremendously fun."

The raindrops pelted down harder as soon as Los Pinguos took to the stage.

Culver City Councilmember Meghan Sahli-Wells tweeted from the concert:

#CulverCity Summer Concert Festival fans not afraid of the rain tonight! Viva Los Pinguos!

"How does it sound, everybody?" said one of the Los Pinguos bandmembers after the band finished its first song. The crowd, which had grown to fill the entire courtyard, responded with a resounding roar.

Were you at the concert? Tell us about your experience in the comments box below and upload your photos to our gallery here.

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