So far, so good for Wiscasset's third annual "Alive on the River" concert series. The town and the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce moved it to the town common this year after two years on the waterfront.

The common has a lot of parking nearby and room on the grass to lay out blankets, said Sherri Dunbar, vice chairman of the chamber's board.

The new venue is also more visible to drivers-by, which will hopefully add to attendance, she said.

If the July 18 turnout for the band Route 1 was any indication, the move is working, Dunbar said.

"We're very, very pleased with the first night," she said.

"(I)t went very well," Town Manager Laurie Smith wrote in an email that night. "The sloped lawn created a natural amphitheater effect, the car noise...was not a distraction...and there was plenty of room for people to spread out ... (T)he kids had plenty of fun running around and dancing with the band."

The chamber and the Wiscasset Parks & Recreation Department arrange the series. Concerts are free and start at 6 p.m. each Thursday through August 15. Restrooms are available in the adjacent First Congregational Church of Wiscasset.

The July 25 concert, sponsored by I & S Insulation and the First, was set to feature folk-blues artist Lynn Deeves.

Rounding out this year's concerts are country band Dyer Neck Gang, August 1, sponsored by Sprague's Lobster Bake and Wiscasset Ford; Caribbean band Pan Fried Steel, August 8, sponsored by Patricia Stauble Antiques and Davidson Construction; and classic rock-folk band Apple Scruffs, August 15, sponsored by Carleton Realty and Debra Elizabeth's.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or susanjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com