My Favorite Mistakes
Since this was my first time going, I knew that this was the year I was going to make the biggest mistakes, so I was prepared for that. Mistake number one was deciding to not bring a chair or blanket. The Vegoose web site was pretty thorough regarding the items you could or couldn’t bring inside with you. I had a stadium cushion that I was going to take, and then decided not to. No blanket either. I just didn’t want to worry about hauling a backpack around all day. This was a very bad idea. I stood around for hours before finally sitting down. This was going to hurt me later, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Mistake number two was clothing. I was good about shoes, which is really saying something if you know me well. I didn’t go with sneakers, but I was wearing comfortable, flat shoes and I was well armed with band-aids and I even threw in some arch and heel supports, just in case. Sounds good, but the mistakes here were more related to temperature. It’s still pretty warm here for this time of year. Yesterday it was sunny and upper 70’s. Even though I brought sunscreen with me, I never bothered to use it. So, no one to blame but me about the sunburn I received. And of course, it’s mostly on one side of me. Lovely. The other bad clothing choice was the very thin, lightweight windbreaker I had with me. After the sun went down, I was freezing. I kept expecting to see my breath appear. I stood in outrageously long lines for hot coffee so I could have something warm to hold. When I finally got back to my car at the end of the night and saw the temperature read out, what do you think it said? 62 degrees. I groaned. Well, I guess my blood has finally thinned out. How embarrassing. So next year, I should also stuff a sweatshirt in the backpack I will now carry. And put sunscreen on before I leave if I’m not going to bother with it before going.
Let the Music Play
So now on to more important things like the music. I got there right around noon. Parking was fine and I counted rows and streetlights and all sorts of things I would need to use to find my car that night. After I got inside, I could see that there were 4 stages set up. I thought they were too close together, but they ended up staggering the acts out enough, that it worked out fine. There was a band playing when I got there called Toubab Krewe. They were awesome. It was instrumental stuff with lots of drums and reggae. I made a note to look for a CD. It’s good to listen to that kind of thing when I’m typing. I decided to wander around and have a look at the place and figure out where everything was.
In the center of the grounds were 2 different tents. One was called the Cabaret Clubs Tent. I read from the program that this was the tent where the Yard Dogs Road Show was going to be performing. I’m so glad they handed out programs with descriptions of these things, because if I had to go on name alone, I probably would have skipped this one. Instead, I read that it was a variety show with vaudeville acts and burlesque dancers. They played 3 shows that day and another 3 shows today. I caught one of their shows and it was really terrific. Maybe I’m getting used to the place, but seeing a cabaret act with topless girls at a music festival didn’t seem to phase me too much. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to be too out of place here. The second tent was stranger. It was called the Impersonator’s Café. As you can guess, it was a bar that was set up and staffed with local impersonators. I saw Ozzie, Jay Leno, Willie Nelson, Bill Clinton, and Alice Cooper. I didn’t see Elvis, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. Across from these tents was a wedding chapel. I’m not even kidding. They performed fake weddings. Beyond weird.
But back to the music. I saw a band called Gomez that I had never heard before. They are from Britain and have been together for almost 10 years. They were really good too and I made another note to look them up as well. They have an album out called How We Operate that is supposed to be very good. After that, it was a group called Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised when I saw the singer. Cat Power is a woman named Chan Marshall. Her voice is strange. I wish I had written down who she reminded me of, because I can’t seem to remember right now. Anyway, the music was kind of trippy and lazy. I don’t think I could listen to her for very long.
Finally, right before 4pm, the Raconteurs took the stage. Oh. My. God. They were fantastic. I like the White Stripes and I was already familiar with Brendan Benson (he opened for Keane a couple of times last year), so I was excited to see them together. I have the CD and I really like it, but their live show was really amazing. To look at them or to listen to their individual music contributions, you might not think to put them together. Jack White looked good, although he did make a reference to the heat and called himself an “old Goth” before putting some sunscreen on his arms. He might be a bit pasty, but he sure is built. I guess I never really paid much attention. Brendan on the other hand is a blonde surfer- dude looking kind of guy with a nice smile. Together they rocked the place. They seemed to not only compliment each other when it came to singing and playing, but they looked so relaxed and like they were having a lot of fun. That is such a huge difference with professional acts, don’t you think? I like the groups that make things look effortless and can express a genuine appreciation for the other people on the stage.
Meanwhile, there were some changes taking place in the crowd during this performance. First, the crowd was starting to get a lot bigger. This group was the first really big name appearing, so it made sense, but I never realized how many people were going to end up here. All I can say is it’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic. The other change taking place was the overwhelming appearance of Pot. I was amazed at how many people were smoking. They weren’t subtle about it either. I thought maybe I just had some bad luck with where I happened to be standing and that would be the end of it. Uh, no. It was the beginning of a very long evening. I don’t like the smell of it. I don’t care that they were smoking, but I just don’t like the smell of that stuff. As it turned out, I’m sure I came home reeking of the stuff because it was everywhere. You would have thought I had stumbled into a hemp grower’s conference. Right after the Raconteurs left, Damian Marley was taking the stage next to us. Damian, being the son of Bob Marley, was of course performing reggae music. I like reggae, but I knew it also meant I was going to be surrounded by an even bigger cloud of smoke, so I skipped it. I was also thinking to myself that if these idiots were going to be on the road with me later, then I might need to think about leaving early so I could avoid them.
As the sun went down and I started to freeze, I wandered through the remaining performances. The Mars Volta had a huge crowd. I knew after they started playing their first song that I didn’t like them. An hour later, when the first song ended, I had to get out of there. Okay, so it was only 5 or 6 minutes, but it felt like forever. I have never seen so many white people with dreads. So I left Mars behind me and went to the opposite side of the field where the Black Crowes were getting ready to perform. I was much more excited about seeing them. They came out and the first 2 songs were songs I didn’t know. Chris Robinson has a terrific voice, but he was singing these really mournful, sad gospel-sounding songs. I just wasn’t feeling it. The third song was from the Shake Your Money Maker album, but it was Seeing Things for the First Time. Really? That's the song you want to go with? Man, I'm sorry your wife is leaving you, but could you try and cheer up? As much as I like the Black Crowes, I was rapidly running out of energy and patience. There were so many people there. I could hardly see the stages and I was getting tired of people bumping into me. The lines for food were incredibly long, although this was hardly surprising after all the pot usage going on. I killed some time waiting in line for coffee and then trying to get anywhere near the area where the Killers were getting ready to perform. This was clearly the biggest draw since they are a local band. There was a lot of energy with the crowd and it was a good performance, at least what I could see of it.
By now I had been on my feet for almost 10 hours. I don’t care how old I am, I think anyone would have been tired standing for that long. My knees hurt, my back hurt, I was cold, and Tom Petty was still a good hour away from performing. As much as I wanted to see him perform, there was no way I was going to make it. I started thinking about the number of people here and what kind of hell getting out of the parking lot was going to be like with a bunch of drunk, baked college kids. It was really an easy decision after that. I left. It may not sound like it, but I did have a good time in general and I would consider doing it again next year. It will depend on the bands though. I also would like to add one other item to my list of things to bring: someone else.
Finally, it would seem that the hippy, trippy vibe affected me more than I realized. Driving home last night as well as driving around today, I have had the overwhelming desire to listen to Robert Plant. Here then are my top 5 Robert Plant songs:
- Tie Dye on the Highway
- Heaven Knows
- Ship of Fools
- Tall Cool One
- Little by Little
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