Peabody hears a voice from above
Staff writer
“I’m kind of embarrassed to ask this, but does anyone know what time the parade starts?” Aaron Waddell said into the microphone. “Is it at 4 or 5?”
Waddell was sitting in a swivel chair in an announcer’s booth above Peabody’s baseball field. His voice traveled through loudspeakers and washed over the city park.
A car in the parking lot honked five times in response.
“Thank you very much,” Waddell said.
A local musician and entertainer, Waddell has become a defining element of Peabody Fourth Fest since he took over the role of festival announcer from Brian McDowell nine years ago.
His voice is comic, engaging, and frequently sarcastic.
Paige Barnes, who joined him in the booth during the ground fireworks show, described him as a “one-man comedy show who’s been kicked out of more garages than he’s played in.”
On Friday, Waddell and his son, Hap, arrived in the booth around 10 a.m. to set up their equipment.
Hap didn’t seem interested in taking over his father’s position anytime soon.
He worked as an audio technician, queuing music and sounds, while his father did the talking.
The city pays to rent Waddell’s equipment, he explained, but his announcing is technically volunteer work.
“I try to quit every year,” he said. “They won’t let me.”
In the early afternoon, music played loudly in the booth and over the loudspeakers.
Waddell has basically free rein to play what he wants.
He spoke about his love for jam bands like the Grateful Dead and Phish but held back on playing anything too psychedelic, sticking with American anthems like “Proud to Be an American” and older pop music like “Hooked on a Feeling.”
“Kind of like any show, you start off with your softies and play your bangers at the end of the night,” he said.
Waddell spent years touring as a guitarist, he said.
For a while, he backed up Savanna Chestnut, a Kansan country artist who appeared on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2021.
“When I was a traveling musician, the Fourth of July was always a good week for me,” Waddell said. “I’d lose a lot of money coming home to do this.”
His penchant for improvisational bands seems to influence his announcing style.
Waddell dislikes reading from a script. He recruits a guest each year to read the script a Fourth Fest committee provides him about each firework. (This year, that was Barnes.)
Waddell is more comfortable as an emcee, where he can react to the action rather than create it.
He frequently throws in jokes and jabs during routine announcements, such as when police tell him to announce that a car in the parking lot needs to be moved.
When the top three finishers in an early afternoon turtle race all had the same last name, Waddell was thrilled.
“You guys must have an award-winning turtle farm in your basement!” he said.
Waddell also plays the role of game-show host.
Last year, he created a series of competitions for local kids, a low-key event two hours before fireworks begin.
He was inspired to create the event after seeing audience members “bored out of their minds,” he said.
He drew inspiration from the carnival rides that used to be a staple of the festival.
“I’m not sure how we lost the rides,” he said. “It brought the carneys into town, who blended in well.”
This year, kids competed for gift cards and food donated by festival vendors
The first game saw blindfolded contestants race to peel and eat two bananas .
“How does it feel to be the winner?” Waddell asked one boy.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I just ate two bananas.”
While Waddell frequently spoke about being jaded — “I took one year off; I sat at home and watched a movie. It was nice,” he laughed — it didn’t stop him from bringing energy and optimism to the job.
One of his final acts as announcer before the fireworks was to encourage a round of applause for a boy named Michael who was celebrating his 5th birthday.
The crowd, getting comfortable in lawn chairs and blankets, duly obliged.
After the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, floodlights around the field dimmed and turned off.
Volunteers and festival board members gathered next to ground displays, a few holding torches. It was time for the fireworks show.
“How are you guys tonight?” Waddell asked.
The large crowd murmured. Waddell took a beat.
“Let’s try that again,” he said. “How are you guys doing tonight?!”