Post by mccjeff on Nov 9, 2016 17:38:38 GMT -5
Another entry from the "I used to write some" category. Edited version of this was the first thing that got published. And again tldr.
First of all let me say that I didn't follow my routine this time. In the past I have taken lots of notes about who I saw and what I thought about the set. Not this time. I sat in the sun, got baked and tried to not get too analytical. Just lose myself in the music.
Wednesday:
Picked up the RV around 11:30 and hit the road. Easy drive up into VA until we hit some nice curvy road. I can't wait to come back up here in my Passat! Everything in the RV went everywhere. Arrived at our friend's place at 4:20. Really! We went ATV riding through the Shenandoah National Park. It was a blast. Up to a log cabin on top of a 3200' bald down to a beautiful valley floor. Very idyllic. They are living right. Have an incense business and live in a gorgeous piece of woods with their adorable 9 month old daughter. Meditated a bit in a fire temple that no one has spoken a word in since 1973. Dinner and an early bedtime.
Thursday:
We are the FESTIFARIANS!!!!
Easy drive up to the mountain. (I've been there so I am legally privileged to just call it "the mountain" and act superior when someone doesn't immediately know what I'm talking about.) Saw at least 8 cars pulled over on I-68 in Maryland. A car packed to the brim with camping gear and beer, getting high and speeding is apparently not a good combo. Pulled into line around 4:30. Met people, drank a beer, got a random phone call about giant tarantulas, was parked and setting up by 7. Camp set up easy, big shade tent set up outside the RV door, coolers out, chairs set up, table out blah blah blah. Great access to the venue! We are totally set. Then a RV rolls down our row and sees there isn't anywhere to park so they attempt a turn around. That didn't go so well so I told them if they helped me move the shade tent they could pull in along side us. And that is how we got our new neighbors. Great couple, Chris & Pam, who had their trailer and were doing their fifth fest of the summer. I must have helped 15 people set up their tents. Spreading the love.
Took a minute to just stand and take in the scene. It is a great feeling to be standing there watching your tribe set up camp.
Walked up the longest hill in festival history to get to the Ropeadope stage. My calves almost burst into flames.
Jazzam - missed them
Perpetual Groove - Caught the very end of their set. I've seen them a couple years ago and like them.
Brazilian Girls – I was seriously disappointed. She had a nice dress. Band was good.
The Join (Shields & Shearer w. Benevento & Russo) - 2 drummers and 2 keys sounds interesting. Too bad 2 drummers and 2 keys didn't sound interesting. Really unfair. Didn't stay long enough to make a critical judgement. But by that point my critical judging skills were a few West Virginia Brewing Company Grist Mill Wheats past their prime. I was hanging at the local bar with a certain postal employee. The place was also an open-air market. Most astounding!!!
Friday:
Got an early start. Wanted to be on time for the 1pm meet up at the Ropeadope stage. Unfortunately they had the best/only route blocked until 1pm. It cuts thru the main venue and was supposed to open at noon. I was NOT going to climb the longest hill in festival history again. It would have taken too long anyways. So I missed it. Met Chuck in the main stage area and he gave me my 1st breakfast beer, a Yuengling, of the day! (Ok, it wasn't my 1st but it was my last beer of the day.)
We were in early and got front center soundboard. I go for the sweet sounding spot. I was talking to Chuck when I saw some guy starting to mess with our stuff. It was a taper. So I moved our spread and gave him the center spot. Then he got booted over to the side of the board. Meanwhile, Pam found a strip of shade right next to the soundboard coincidentally right in front of where the tapers got moved. Long story short, we ended up front corner of the soundboard between the 2 stages. Perfect view, the best sound and we hung with some really nice folks in the taper section all weekend. Really, really nice guys. I think I will be getting the entire fest. Also met a great local guy from Morgantown named Drew. Hung with him all weekend too. I think we'll be seeing him down south for some more Panic in the future. He said Pammy gave him the best spontaneous hug ever. She's a huggable one.
The Wood Brothers – First time I've seen them and was very pleased. Great way to start a day. If you are festing and they are on the menu make an effort to see them.
MJ Project – Send in your demo winner and I forget what they sound like.
RAQ – Solid set but they always leave me unsatisfied. I expect more than what I get. Probably my bad.
Basshound – The kids in line behind us on the drive in were from Baltimore and were juiced to see them. I really don't remember them.
The Avett Brothers – A fun time was had by all! Good musicians, great tunes, great energy, cool vibe. Not a big fan of the old timey clothes. It makes the whole thing a bit theme park kitschy. Like they should be on stage in Branson. Which is a shame because the music cooks.
Rev Peyton,s Big Damn Band – Love these guys. Blues like it was cooked up in some meth lab trailer in the Mississippi delta. They're from Indiana. "Your cousin was on COPS!"
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – I took a break during her set. Yes, I have seen her before. Yes, they rock. Yes, she is hot. So was I. I had to refresh. Everyone said they smoked their set.
All Mighty Senators – They have a really fun sound. Sly Stone party sound. Not super musicians but they generate a good time. The crowd was digging them. A lot.
Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood – Great set. First time seeing Scofield. I think. They are all master musicians.
Lettuce – This is where things started to get a little weird. Ok, a lot weird. Really, really, really liked these guys. Then the boomers kicked in.
Phil Lesh & Friends – I really couldn't tell you what they played. But it was exactly the right thing for me right then and right there. I had a bit of a timing issue. From a personal perspective let's just say that set break was the most interesting part of the evening. And what's up with such a long set break? Don't they know enough songs to fill a 3 hour set? Weenies! I came away a Jackie Green fan.
SOJA – Good sounding reggae band from DC. Even if they might take themselves too seriously. Dude you're not going to convert the world to Jah Rastafari being so angry about it. Really solid band.
Gov't Mule – So they get set to take the stage and Warren immediately finds a guitar problem. 40 minutes later problem solved. Then he does an a cappella version of Grinning In your Face. It made me laugh. He then proceeded to kick our asses until almost 5am.
Stumbled home, chowed, remembered that Advil is your friend and crashed hard with the windows open.
Saturday:
Woke up at 10, turned on the AC and snoozed back out. Got up and had a Chimay breakfast with Chris next door. Got my backpack and myself ready and took off.
Festi Tip: Get yourself a camelback pack with an insulated compartment. Stuff the bag full of ice and pour in a couple of bottles of cold water. Once or twice during the day scam a big cup of ice off of the lemonade vendors and put it in. We had cold, not tepid or cool but cold, water all day and night long. Cram an orange or apple in there next to it and have a nice chilled piece of fruit midday. The insulation also makes it stiff enough that you can put a couple of beers underneath it and you can't feel them if security checks your pack and gives it a squeeze. The orange helps with that too. As they are checking it tell them you have an orange and they say yeah they can feel it and move on. Another ploy that worked was walking up to the gate, early before it gets crowded, with a beer in your hand. As you're walking up be talking to the gate keepers/bag searchers telling them that you know you can't bring it in. Whip out your chair, set it to the side, have a seat and leisurely finish it off. We talked long enough that when I finished I got up tossed the can and walked in without them even thinking about checking my pack.
Eric Lindell – I soooo missed this.
Outformation – Missed this too and was bummed.
So I walked in set up in our spot and went and gave Chuck his first Dales Pale Ale of the day. This is when "The Point of All Good" picture was taken.
Hot Buttered Rum – First time seeing them. They were most excellent. Another great way to start a day.
Rex Jam – The Rex Foundation gave a 10 minute pitch for donations and then The Bridge played a 10 minute set. Good sounding stuff. Looking forward to their almost late night set.
Tea Leaf Green – Pam saw them at B'roo and was "meh". She really liked their set at All Good. I thought they rocked.
Scrapomatic – R&B singer with just his partner on guitar and a sax player. Guy has a really good voice. Liked it.
Mike Gordon – I've heard some people say it was mellow on the iclips. Guess you had to be there because I was surprised at how much they rocked out.
Telepath – Another one I can't say I remember very well. Let's pretend they were on fire.
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival – They were on fire. Another first time seeing them. Only complaint is that Derek needs to be up in the mix some. Love, love, love her singing. And then Jimmie Herring walked out on stage. HOLY SHIT!!! That's exactly what I thought too. He ripped for a song and then they convinced him to play a second one. When he left the stage after that he literally gave every single person on stage a hug.
Pnuma Trio – Missed them. I took a break for some AC, food and a pedicure.
Keller Williams w. Moseley, Droll & Sipe – Got back for the 2nd half of this show. Keller was hopping around picking and grinning and Keith Moseley was laying down a thick bass line. But Jeff Sipe is a drum maniac and Gibb Droll is a picking fool. Really good show, or at least the part I saw was.
Bassnectar – A DJ with his show set to full stun. The bass was thumping, the crowd was bumping, the dj was feeling it and the video screens were way off the trip-o-meter scale. I thoroughly dug this.
Widespread Panic – Ripped it up! Very safe set list but they are on a roll. Largest crowd of the fest. Only time the crowd density got really thick. The Trucks/Tedeschi hook up was mind melt. Maybe some different songs for them would have been better but still…
The Bridge – PoJama and I walked around for a while and listened to them as we strolled. Very nice what I heard of it.
Dark Star Orchestra – We only made it to set break. Really nice hearing Mission In The Rain. I don't even know if it was a June 76 show or an original. Probably an original. Ironically the first DSO show I saw was a June 76 MITR show. My dogs were killing me and we've seen DSO before. I heard folks rave about it. So I'm happy for them.
Stumbled home, chowed, remembered that Advil is your friend and crashed hard with the windows open. Sound familiar?
Sunday:
Woke up at 10 when it started raining, closed the windows, turned on the AC and snoozed back out. Got up and had a Chimay breakfast with Chris next door. I broke down camp and packed everything away for a quick exit. Went around our neighborhood and took pics of my new peeps. A right good many people split in the morning. I guess the rain freaked them out. It quit right after they left. Got my backpack and myself ready and took off.
Bonerama – Missed it.
JJ Grey & Mofro – Damn good set. Love me some swamp rock. And yet another great way to start a day.
deSol – Pretty forgettable. But all of theses "I don't remember" bands only had like 20 minute sets so maybe that's it.
Railroad Earth – What a joyous sound. Chris from next door was a HUGE fan. One more 1st time ever for me band. What I realized is that none of them are real virtuosos but then again they don't try to be. The strength of the band comes from true ensemble playing. And that is a good thing.
Danielia Cotton – What a voice! She crooned, she rocked, she sang Purple Rain.
Michael Franti & Spearhead – There were a good number of folks that complained about Franti closing the fest. Dumbasses. He was perfect. Killer show. Not too many performers that could have gotten that totally toasted crowd jumping up and down for 2 solid hours. Sent everybody out loving life and each other.
I couldn't get PJ to leave the venue. She made a big deal of picking up trash but the truth is she just didn't want to leave. Within an hour or 2 we were all packed up and had said our good-byes. The drive out was the easiest ever. We drove until about midnight. Somewhere in the WV mountains the fog started to come in and I started to go out. Right about that time I spotted a Wal-Mart. That's right I slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I feel dirty.
Monday:
Up at 4:30 am and back on the road. Highlight of the day was locking us out of the RV at a gas station in Virginia. I had to boost Pam thru an unlocked window. Funny looking shit my friends. That and emptying the waste tanks. What fun! Got back to the RV rental place and our van wouldn't stay cranked. Back to real life Mr. Festifarian. I heel/toed it back home and there was a giant mushroom growing by the mailbox. How emblematic is that?
First of all let me say that I didn't follow my routine this time. In the past I have taken lots of notes about who I saw and what I thought about the set. Not this time. I sat in the sun, got baked and tried to not get too analytical. Just lose myself in the music.
Wednesday:
Picked up the RV around 11:30 and hit the road. Easy drive up into VA until we hit some nice curvy road. I can't wait to come back up here in my Passat! Everything in the RV went everywhere. Arrived at our friend's place at 4:20. Really! We went ATV riding through the Shenandoah National Park. It was a blast. Up to a log cabin on top of a 3200' bald down to a beautiful valley floor. Very idyllic. They are living right. Have an incense business and live in a gorgeous piece of woods with their adorable 9 month old daughter. Meditated a bit in a fire temple that no one has spoken a word in since 1973. Dinner and an early bedtime.
Thursday:
We are the FESTIFARIANS!!!!
Easy drive up to the mountain. (I've been there so I am legally privileged to just call it "the mountain" and act superior when someone doesn't immediately know what I'm talking about.) Saw at least 8 cars pulled over on I-68 in Maryland. A car packed to the brim with camping gear and beer, getting high and speeding is apparently not a good combo. Pulled into line around 4:30. Met people, drank a beer, got a random phone call about giant tarantulas, was parked and setting up by 7. Camp set up easy, big shade tent set up outside the RV door, coolers out, chairs set up, table out blah blah blah. Great access to the venue! We are totally set. Then a RV rolls down our row and sees there isn't anywhere to park so they attempt a turn around. That didn't go so well so I told them if they helped me move the shade tent they could pull in along side us. And that is how we got our new neighbors. Great couple, Chris & Pam, who had their trailer and were doing their fifth fest of the summer. I must have helped 15 people set up their tents. Spreading the love.
Took a minute to just stand and take in the scene. It is a great feeling to be standing there watching your tribe set up camp.
Walked up the longest hill in festival history to get to the Ropeadope stage. My calves almost burst into flames.
Jazzam - missed them
Perpetual Groove - Caught the very end of their set. I've seen them a couple years ago and like them.
Brazilian Girls – I was seriously disappointed. She had a nice dress. Band was good.
The Join (Shields & Shearer w. Benevento & Russo) - 2 drummers and 2 keys sounds interesting. Too bad 2 drummers and 2 keys didn't sound interesting. Really unfair. Didn't stay long enough to make a critical judgement. But by that point my critical judging skills were a few West Virginia Brewing Company Grist Mill Wheats past their prime. I was hanging at the local bar with a certain postal employee. The place was also an open-air market. Most astounding!!!
Friday:
Got an early start. Wanted to be on time for the 1pm meet up at the Ropeadope stage. Unfortunately they had the best/only route blocked until 1pm. It cuts thru the main venue and was supposed to open at noon. I was NOT going to climb the longest hill in festival history again. It would have taken too long anyways. So I missed it. Met Chuck in the main stage area and he gave me my 1st breakfast beer, a Yuengling, of the day! (Ok, it wasn't my 1st but it was my last beer of the day.)
We were in early and got front center soundboard. I go for the sweet sounding spot. I was talking to Chuck when I saw some guy starting to mess with our stuff. It was a taper. So I moved our spread and gave him the center spot. Then he got booted over to the side of the board. Meanwhile, Pam found a strip of shade right next to the soundboard coincidentally right in front of where the tapers got moved. Long story short, we ended up front corner of the soundboard between the 2 stages. Perfect view, the best sound and we hung with some really nice folks in the taper section all weekend. Really, really nice guys. I think I will be getting the entire fest. Also met a great local guy from Morgantown named Drew. Hung with him all weekend too. I think we'll be seeing him down south for some more Panic in the future. He said Pammy gave him the best spontaneous hug ever. She's a huggable one.
The Wood Brothers – First time I've seen them and was very pleased. Great way to start a day. If you are festing and they are on the menu make an effort to see them.
MJ Project – Send in your demo winner and I forget what they sound like.
RAQ – Solid set but they always leave me unsatisfied. I expect more than what I get. Probably my bad.
Basshound – The kids in line behind us on the drive in were from Baltimore and were juiced to see them. I really don't remember them.
The Avett Brothers – A fun time was had by all! Good musicians, great tunes, great energy, cool vibe. Not a big fan of the old timey clothes. It makes the whole thing a bit theme park kitschy. Like they should be on stage in Branson. Which is a shame because the music cooks.
Rev Peyton,s Big Damn Band – Love these guys. Blues like it was cooked up in some meth lab trailer in the Mississippi delta. They're from Indiana. "Your cousin was on COPS!"
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals – I took a break during her set. Yes, I have seen her before. Yes, they rock. Yes, she is hot. So was I. I had to refresh. Everyone said they smoked their set.
All Mighty Senators – They have a really fun sound. Sly Stone party sound. Not super musicians but they generate a good time. The crowd was digging them. A lot.
Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood – Great set. First time seeing Scofield. I think. They are all master musicians.
Lettuce – This is where things started to get a little weird. Ok, a lot weird. Really, really, really liked these guys. Then the boomers kicked in.
Phil Lesh & Friends – I really couldn't tell you what they played. But it was exactly the right thing for me right then and right there. I had a bit of a timing issue. From a personal perspective let's just say that set break was the most interesting part of the evening. And what's up with such a long set break? Don't they know enough songs to fill a 3 hour set? Weenies! I came away a Jackie Green fan.
SOJA – Good sounding reggae band from DC. Even if they might take themselves too seriously. Dude you're not going to convert the world to Jah Rastafari being so angry about it. Really solid band.
Gov't Mule – So they get set to take the stage and Warren immediately finds a guitar problem. 40 minutes later problem solved. Then he does an a cappella version of Grinning In your Face. It made me laugh. He then proceeded to kick our asses until almost 5am.
Stumbled home, chowed, remembered that Advil is your friend and crashed hard with the windows open.
Saturday:
Woke up at 10, turned on the AC and snoozed back out. Got up and had a Chimay breakfast with Chris next door. Got my backpack and myself ready and took off.
Festi Tip: Get yourself a camelback pack with an insulated compartment. Stuff the bag full of ice and pour in a couple of bottles of cold water. Once or twice during the day scam a big cup of ice off of the lemonade vendors and put it in. We had cold, not tepid or cool but cold, water all day and night long. Cram an orange or apple in there next to it and have a nice chilled piece of fruit midday. The insulation also makes it stiff enough that you can put a couple of beers underneath it and you can't feel them if security checks your pack and gives it a squeeze. The orange helps with that too. As they are checking it tell them you have an orange and they say yeah they can feel it and move on. Another ploy that worked was walking up to the gate, early before it gets crowded, with a beer in your hand. As you're walking up be talking to the gate keepers/bag searchers telling them that you know you can't bring it in. Whip out your chair, set it to the side, have a seat and leisurely finish it off. We talked long enough that when I finished I got up tossed the can and walked in without them even thinking about checking my pack.
Eric Lindell – I soooo missed this.
Outformation – Missed this too and was bummed.
So I walked in set up in our spot and went and gave Chuck his first Dales Pale Ale of the day. This is when "The Point of All Good" picture was taken.
Hot Buttered Rum – First time seeing them. They were most excellent. Another great way to start a day.
Rex Jam – The Rex Foundation gave a 10 minute pitch for donations and then The Bridge played a 10 minute set. Good sounding stuff. Looking forward to their almost late night set.
Tea Leaf Green – Pam saw them at B'roo and was "meh". She really liked their set at All Good. I thought they rocked.
Scrapomatic – R&B singer with just his partner on guitar and a sax player. Guy has a really good voice. Liked it.
Mike Gordon – I've heard some people say it was mellow on the iclips. Guess you had to be there because I was surprised at how much they rocked out.
Telepath – Another one I can't say I remember very well. Let's pretend they were on fire.
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Soul Stew Revival – They were on fire. Another first time seeing them. Only complaint is that Derek needs to be up in the mix some. Love, love, love her singing. And then Jimmie Herring walked out on stage. HOLY SHIT!!! That's exactly what I thought too. He ripped for a song and then they convinced him to play a second one. When he left the stage after that he literally gave every single person on stage a hug.
Pnuma Trio – Missed them. I took a break for some AC, food and a pedicure.
Keller Williams w. Moseley, Droll & Sipe – Got back for the 2nd half of this show. Keller was hopping around picking and grinning and Keith Moseley was laying down a thick bass line. But Jeff Sipe is a drum maniac and Gibb Droll is a picking fool. Really good show, or at least the part I saw was.
Bassnectar – A DJ with his show set to full stun. The bass was thumping, the crowd was bumping, the dj was feeling it and the video screens were way off the trip-o-meter scale. I thoroughly dug this.
Widespread Panic – Ripped it up! Very safe set list but they are on a roll. Largest crowd of the fest. Only time the crowd density got really thick. The Trucks/Tedeschi hook up was mind melt. Maybe some different songs for them would have been better but still…
The Bridge – PoJama and I walked around for a while and listened to them as we strolled. Very nice what I heard of it.
Dark Star Orchestra – We only made it to set break. Really nice hearing Mission In The Rain. I don't even know if it was a June 76 show or an original. Probably an original. Ironically the first DSO show I saw was a June 76 MITR show. My dogs were killing me and we've seen DSO before. I heard folks rave about it. So I'm happy for them.
Stumbled home, chowed, remembered that Advil is your friend and crashed hard with the windows open. Sound familiar?
Sunday:
Woke up at 10 when it started raining, closed the windows, turned on the AC and snoozed back out. Got up and had a Chimay breakfast with Chris next door. I broke down camp and packed everything away for a quick exit. Went around our neighborhood and took pics of my new peeps. A right good many people split in the morning. I guess the rain freaked them out. It quit right after they left. Got my backpack and myself ready and took off.
Bonerama – Missed it.
JJ Grey & Mofro – Damn good set. Love me some swamp rock. And yet another great way to start a day.
deSol – Pretty forgettable. But all of theses "I don't remember" bands only had like 20 minute sets so maybe that's it.
Railroad Earth – What a joyous sound. Chris from next door was a HUGE fan. One more 1st time ever for me band. What I realized is that none of them are real virtuosos but then again they don't try to be. The strength of the band comes from true ensemble playing. And that is a good thing.
Danielia Cotton – What a voice! She crooned, she rocked, she sang Purple Rain.
Michael Franti & Spearhead – There were a good number of folks that complained about Franti closing the fest. Dumbasses. He was perfect. Killer show. Not too many performers that could have gotten that totally toasted crowd jumping up and down for 2 solid hours. Sent everybody out loving life and each other.
I couldn't get PJ to leave the venue. She made a big deal of picking up trash but the truth is she just didn't want to leave. Within an hour or 2 we were all packed up and had said our good-byes. The drive out was the easiest ever. We drove until about midnight. Somewhere in the WV mountains the fog started to come in and I started to go out. Right about that time I spotted a Wal-Mart. That's right I slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I feel dirty.
Monday:
Up at 4:30 am and back on the road. Highlight of the day was locking us out of the RV at a gas station in Virginia. I had to boost Pam thru an unlocked window. Funny looking shit my friends. That and emptying the waste tanks. What fun! Got back to the RV rental place and our van wouldn't stay cranked. Back to real life Mr. Festifarian. I heel/toed it back home and there was a giant mushroom growing by the mailbox. How emblematic is that?
