festivaaaaal!

::a recording of last night's Yonder show, courtesy of Philly, plays in the background -- and it's freaking good::

okay, i'm sun baked like a freakin' clam right now. i think the sun hid behind the clouds for a total of five minutes between noon and 3:30. i have on SPF 50 and i'm still red.

and this is only day one. fucking hell...

anyway, i tried updating from the iPhone, but i can't hack into the press wireless in the concert grounds so i'm back to taking notes.

Cadillac Sky was pretty darn good. a bunch of texas guys, but they had a great country/bluegrass mix sound with a bit of Flecktones-space mixed in for good measure. good soaring banjo, with a light mando sound backing it.

"12:15 - getting kinda hot here"

I sat and read the Daily Planet for a while while the band played and enjoyed the crowd. pictures should be above...

our tarp neighbors had some crackers, swiss cheese and avacado slices that were quite tasty.

"So many pretty bluegrass girls"
yes, there are. though, most of them are in better shape than i will ever be and spent the entire morning before the festival grounds open climbing thousand-foot cliffs with their Siberian husky named Kiva and boyfriend named Tarzan.

i digress...

"1:04 - holy fucking hot"

though, at this point one of the largest clouds of the day came creeping over the valley. It's like watching the guys at Coors field throw out Cracker Jack at the 7th inning stretch and hoping one floats your way.

and why do people have to smoke in the middle of the day, in the middle of a hot, sunny field?

"1:13 - new addition to my list: #2 - shade umbrella. and holy crap, this band (Cadillac Sky) is covering Green Day's 'Basket Case' (video to come). seriously?"

Cadillac Sky ended, we sat through the 'tweener (featuring 17-year-old Dominic Leslie on mando) and on came the g'Earls of Uncle Earl. (like sweet sirens!)

this band is old-timey, all female and awesome. they have a high-and-lonesome -type harmony mixed with a good swingy-shuffle.

"ah fat tire on a hot day" (someone had brought me my first beer of the day). Uncle Earl is freaking great"

new addition to the list: #3 - suntan lotion that won't burn my eyes when i sweat.

"my coozie fits my beer cup. nice"

Uncle Earls set ends with 'crayola' with the super-sugary-sweet line: "crayola doesn't make a color like your eyes."

decided to get up and come back to the condo at this point. Arlo Guthrie might be good, but i'm not about to stick around in the sun for that. I need to go to the grocery store and get some breat, peanut butter, jelly and a bag of cheetos.

i ran into someone i work with from time to time at the show when i was walking out. Great to see them though, as it's always nice to see people outside of the professional context.

off to the grocery, back home to eat, shower and then off to elks park (picture above) to see some small performances for a bit then off to Ryan Adams and the Cardinals tonight back at the mainstage....

-b

(included in the pics: greg and sara walking to the venue, elks park stage, bridal veil falls, view from the seats and my super-awesome neon chair)