Wow, what a fun festival, but I’m music-ed out for now.
We started Friday night (skipping Thursday because of a) rain, and b) didn’t really care about the band). Because it was threatening to rain, we waited until the threat passed, and we left after Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers had started. I even drove nearby so we wouldn’t have to walk and miss more. We set up our chairs on the hill overlooking the stage (our usual spot) with our friends Stuart and Janice, and enjoyed the show. They finished a little early, but we stayed out for a while talking. We got home (and I took Illa out for a wee) just before the downpour started. Jill had no dinner and I had a hot dog before the show, so we split half of a frozen pizza after we got home (and that was probably the healthiest meal of the weekend).
Saturday Jill was on call and knew she was getting called in, from 9-12. I took the opportunity to sleep in to 11:30, completely missing the bluegrass act I wanted to see. Oh well, I made some egg sandwiches for myself and took Illa for a walk. We walked over to the festival around 3:30, caught some of Jag Star while we were setting up our chairs and sun umbrella. We headed over to the Cafe Stage to see Natalia Zukerman; Jill stayed for the rest of her set while I returned to the Municipal Center Stage to tape Girlyman (and take down the sun umbrella which kept threatening to blow away).
Girlyman was my highlight from Saturday – they were in fine form and played a fair amount of new songs I hadn’t heard before. I had some bacon-wrapped shrimp and a root beer float and Jill had chicken teriyaki for dinner. We stayed at the Municipal Center Stage to see The Alternate Routes and The Glengarry Bhoys, who were good, but we were getting tired, and headed home. Half a box of Trader Joe’s shrimp wraps and a bit of TV and watching the fireworks revived us, and we went over to Stuart’s house for a couple beers and watching some of the day’s recordings.
Sunday I was up at 9, hoping to leave by 10:15. I had a breakfast burrito and I didn’t leave until 10:30, and without Jill as she was just getting up. I got to the Cafe Stage with time to set up before Robbie Schaefer went on; Jill got there just before he started because she drove. He started with an ok crowd that grew over the course of his set, then Michael Clem came up for a song and Robbie played on one of his to start Mike’s set, at which point the crowd was beyond standing room only. Some fine participation with the food vendors (Robbie got shrimp, so Mike got jambalaya and three beers) and funny banter during the shows, but it ended nicely with Robbie back on stage for the last three songs, finishing with Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had A Boat”.
Next on stage was Ben Arthur, who I found from my friend Chris (he’s Jennifer Marks’ label mate, I found a sampler with both of them on it), and I was looking forward to his set. I enjoyed it more than I thought, especially when he brought Mike up on stage to play harmonica for a couple songs. We headed over to the Municipal Center Stage where Screaming Orphans were playing. They were pretty good, Irish band that reminded me of the Corrs – except for their choice of covers: “Ramblin’ Man”, “Jolene”, “Seven Nation Army”, and “Blister In The Sun”. Maybe Irish music has changed since I was last there.
After they finished, there was a long break, so we went searching for food. Earlier, Jill had some wings and fries, so she wasn’t that hungry and had a Mexican tortilla salad (which ended up being huge, but it wasn’t what she asked for) while I got a gyro with greek salad. Later she went to Dairy Queen and got some ice cream for herself and a frozen blended coffee for me, which hit the spot. It was warm, but we got 15 minutes of rain around 4. The sun umbrella came in handy as a real umbrella, but it cleared up quickly, in time for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to hit the stage on time.
The crowd had cleared out a little due the rain, but soon came back with a vengeance, and the lawn was packed in no time. For good reason, as the band was great, successfully squeezing on the stage. There was an open area on stage right where a number of swing dancers did their stuff, and they were as entertaining to watch as the band. We saw a lot of friends all weekend, but most of them on Sunday. The show was fun, but all those hours outside were draining (it’s not like Falcon Ridge where it’s a 5 minute walk to home base), and we were happy to head home.
Jill had a bunch of stuff to do online tonight (she starts a class tomorrow) while I played with the dog, then she went grocery shopping while I started an eBay auction. Not sure when I’ll go to sleep – see what the coffee’s half life is.