Glowing all the way

Despite heightened security and drizzling rain, tens of thousands of patriotic revelers crowded the Charles River Esplanade last night for the nation's premier Fourth of July celebration. People came from across the country -- and some camped out all night -- for the free concert by the Boston Pops and rocker John Mellencamp, followed by the city's signature fireworks display.

Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart wore a yellow Boston Emergency Medical Services rain jacket while leading the orchestra through the "1812 Overture" and one stage worker for the Blue Man Group had to be carried away on a stretcher after falling on the slick

stage, but the weather did little to dampen the spirits and enthusiasm of a crowd that featured Statue of Liberty crowns, flags, and more than a few umbrellas.

Walter Kozuch and his wife came from Texas to attend Boston's Fourth of July festivities.

"We've been watching it for all these years on TV, so we wanted to come and see it for ourselves," said Kozuch, 54.

When the Kozuchs trekked to the Hatch Shell at 10:30 yesterday morning, they said, they were surprised to find prime real estate on the lawn was still available. Those spaces filled up quickly. By 8 p.m., there were more than 250,000 people on Boston's side of the Charles River, and an additional 10,000 lining the Cambridge side of the river, according to State Police officials.

By the time the fireworks illuminated the sky, police estimate that the total crowd had grown to at least 350,000.

Event organizers spent much of the afternoon reassuring people that the show would go on unless lightning or high winds made conditions unsafe for fireworks.

When the rain finally arrived, one enterprising man moved through the crowd selling garbage bags that were "pre-cut" and ready to wear for $1 apiece.

The concert started at 8:35 p.m., with the orchestra's rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. After the national anthem, military jets from the 102 d Fighter Wing roared overhead, drowning out the cheers from the crowd.

"We wanted to be here for the Fourth," said Charlie Friese, 61 , who flew from his home in California to Detroit to pick up his sister-in-law, then drove to Boston for the big show. "Where else could you be in America with 250,000 of your closest friends?"

Veterans of the esplanade event said security was noticeably stricter this year as officials at the Hatch Shell enforced a ban on aerosol cans, glass containers, metal objects, and sports equipment such as frisbees and soccer balls, in addition to the traditional ban on alcoholic beverages.

Spectators who entered the lawn area in front of the Hatch Shell -- a space known as the Oval -- were required to empty their pockets. Security personnel filled up buckets with pocket knives, glass bottles, tent stakes, hammers, Frisbees, and other items that were confiscated during the screening process.

"I thought they were going to do a cavity search for awhile," joked Armand Devoe of Beverly, who has been coming to the Fourth of July festivities for about 20 years. He said police thoroughly searched his backpack and made him empty his pockets before he could enter the Oval. But he said he appreciated the security measures, though they slowed down the line.

The Transportation Security Administration also assigned special four- to 10-member squads to patrol the subway system for suspicious activity.

Many at the Esplanade assumed that the ratcheted up security reflected the heightened terrorism alert following last week's failed attack on the airport in Glasgow, but a State Police spokesman said the security plan was worked out months ago. "The planning was extensive and every year it gets more secure," said Trooper Eric Benson.

Nearly every year for 12 years, Chris Palmer , 56, and his friends have watched the fireworks from the river aboard his cruising boat -- fully equipped with a television, microwave, refrigerator, and two air conditioners. He said he enjoys being free from the crowded banks.

"Parking a boat is a lot easier than parking a car," he said, standing on a dock near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge. "The show is just spectacular. Is there anything more patriotic?"

One of Palmer's shipmates, Tricia Cammett of Plum Island, said that nothing rivals floating under the fireworks on the Fourth.

"It's just brilliant," she said. "You have no obstacles. They're going off right above the boat."

John Mellencamp played two of his most patriotic songs: "R-O-C-K in the USA" and the recent "Our Country," which may be best known as the jingle in Chevy truck commercials. Lockhart has said that Mellencamp was a natural to play on the Fourth of July, calling his music "real American heartland rock." Last year, the Boston-based band Aerosmith was the headline act at the show.

Other performers included Blue Man Group as well as the winner of the Boston Pop's Popsearch vocal competition and the Middlesex County Volunteer Fifes and Drums, a 50-member band dressed in 18th-century costumes.

The master of ceremonies was Craig Ferguson , host of "The Late Late Show" on CBS, and well known from his long stint as Drew Carey's boss, Nigel Wick, on "The Drew Carey Show." Ferguson is not even an American -- he was born in Glasgow -- but he has been granted honorary citizenship in communities and states around the country, including Avon, Mass.

The climax of the evening began when the Boston Pops stuck up Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," a rousing tribute to the Russian defeat of Napoleon's army in 1812 that was adopted by Boston Pops organizers in 1973 to give the event more oomph. As the overture reached a crescendo of cannons and church bells, fireworks exploded into hues of red, white, and blue over the Charles River.

The 23-minute fireworks display, billed as the largest and most complex in the event's history, employed more than 20,000 pounds of explosives to light up the Boston night. Event organizers said staff from Pyro Spectacular spent eight months assembling the show. The display, whose future was in question three years ago after Fidelity Investments withdrew its funding, was bailed out by Liberty Mutual, the giant Boston insurer, which pledged $10 million over five years to sponsor the event.

Claude Dinham, 34, of Jamaica, was selling lemon- and watermelon-flavored slush from a cart. Despite the dreary weather, his sales were doing just fine, he said.

"Even though it's raining and it's cold, things are alright," he said. "It's the Fourth of July you know, and thank God we're all here."

Steve McDonald , spokesman for Boston 4 Celebrations, the group that manages the show, said the weather did not affect the fireworks.

"People saw a great Boston Pops concert and a fireworks display that was spectacular," he said. "Everything went off the way it was supposed to. People may have went home a little bit wet, but happy."

Globe correspondents Claire Cummings, Ryan Haggerty, and Javier Hernandez contributed to this report.