Memory of a Not-Free Festival
Jun. 27th, 2022 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
between_time_and_42(Except I did get in for free but it wasn't free for everyone, shhh...)
This weekend, I went to a folk music festival. I’ve been to one before but this was a slightly bigger festival, in a more scenic location (as you can see from ^^), and with more artists that I actually had heard of previously (some of whom I am a fan of!). Since I got in for free (thanks, mom who was working at the festival), I had to do something to justify my being there without paying, so I was put on “snack duty” and handed out snacks to the volunteers working the vendors. They loved it and officially dubbed me The Snack Fairy.
Day 1:
I did a lot more sitting and thinking than I thought I would. During my first break from ferrying snacks back and forth, I went into the woods and sat down near the dry creek bed and promptly took a little nap. I left when a kid came by and told me this was his place to “get away from it all-” don’t worry, man, I can take a hint! Although I was waiting until the evening to see the first artist I had come there to see, I did discover a couple artists I had never heard of but still enjoyed from watching them on the various stages. One was a harp-toting songwriter called Lizzie No, whose live vocals weren’t particularly strong but her lyrical craft was. She also wore a beautiful yellow dress and talked to the audience about how it was hard for “people who look like me” to find a place where they feel like they belong... Someone shouted “You’re right where you need to be!” and she laughed nervously and said “I mean, you guys seem cool, I did see a lot of Confederate flags on the drive up here... but you guys seem cool!”
Later in the day I trekked down to the furthest stage and was instantly greeted by the amazing sound of a fiddle-upright bass-flute trio... then I tried to take out my phone and my phone wasn’t there. So, angry that I couldn’t stay and hear the amazing music, I trekked all the way back and went to the lost and found, but my phone wasn’t there. It wasn’t at the last place I knew I had had it, either. And on the main stage, Allison Russell was soundchecking, so I knew I had to go stake my claim at the front instead of searching. Though I discovered Allison Russell as a member of the band Our Native Daughters, her album Outside Child was what really put her on the map for me. Upon hearing it, I wasn’t blown away, but I did have a strong feeling that I should see her live. And I am so happy I followed that feeling. Her voice was astounding, and her band was incredibly tight, particularly her drummer (who also used a shaker, chimes, and various other percussive accoutrements) and her guitarist (who delivered a solo at one point that was so hot, I expected to see smoke rising from her instrument). Outside Child is mainly Allison Russell’s way of reckoning with the ten years of childhood sexual/physical/psychological abuse that her racist adoptive father put her through, so obviously the topic was already heavy. But it wasn’t until she called out the Supreme Court in the introduction to her third song, told us to keep fighting, and explained how music and “the girl I fell in love with when I was fifteen” had helped her in her own personal fight, before dedicating the song to “my Persephone,” that I was full-on bawling.... Fortunately I wasn’t the only one. :’D ("Persephone,” BTW, is a song I highly recommend listening to. 'Tis very sapphic, if it's okay for me to use that word... full of queer girl love and I love it.)
After that fucking incredible set (which I was so glad to have not experienced through a phone screen), I went to another stage to check out Suzanne Santo, who Sara Watkins had recommended once... Except it wasn’t Suzanne Santo on that stage as scheduled, but the fiddle-bass-flute duo, Twisted Pine! So I got to see them after all, and was left slack-jawed at their trippy rendition of “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.” (They also informed us that apparently they were supposed to be a fiddle-bass-flute-mandolin quartet, but on their way back from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last week, their mandolinist leaned over and said “Does anyone have a Claritin? My throat’s feeling really scratchy,” and you can guess the rest of THAT story. They still sounded really, really good!)
It was midnight by the time I finally got back to the hotel and went to bed, and my feet & legs were so sore, but it was definitely worth it! (Oh, and I did find my phone at the lost and found eventually... The folks at the lost and found were SO pleased to have reunited us, haha!)
Day 2:
The first band onstage on Saturday was another one of the acts I had wanted to see, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves. They are a fiddle and banjo duo, and when I was walking to the stage, I heard them soundchecking the song I had most wanted to hear them play, “I Don’t Want to Get Married...” “NO!” I thought to myself, not knowing it was a soundcheck and not the actual performance. “This is ANTI-Blue M. Hart behavior!” (except I didn’t refer to myself by my online alias obviously :P ) Sadly, even though I’d wanted to see them, I was also running on little sleep and a mostly-instrumental band did very little to keep me awake (not helped by the fact that they had little in the way of stage presence and between-song banter). I was happy that they played “I Don’t Want to Get Married,” though, which had audience members hooting and hollering at the end of each chorus, and at the end someone shouted “I’ll marry you!!” (apparently missing the point of the song...). Tatiana said that they also know if an audience is good from the way they react to that song... “We like you!”
After their performance, I dropped off some snacks and then went to the tent where we were keeping the snacks to take a nap. About an hour later, I woke up upon hearing one word passed around outside the tent- “storm... storm... storm...” People were clearing out of the valley on account of an incoming electrical storm. However, after about thirty minutes, it was declared safe to return, and the music resumed. So I got to discover another band, Mr. Sun, who played bluegrass and Django Reinhardt’s style of jazz, who caught my ear with some spicy mandolin and on-point banter. I also went on a hike, which nearly killed me (I guess I’m not in as great shape as I thought), but the view... THE VIEW!!! Made it all worthwhile.
The next real highlight of the day, though, was Gaby Moreno, who I had discovered via Live from Here back in the day (RIP in peace). I saw her walking around about thirty minutes before she was supposed to go onstage, and since there was a barrier, I didn’t say hello, but I did notice that she wasn’t that much taller than I am, which was a bit of a revelation! Another revelation was what I learned from her artist introduction- she co-wrote the Parks & Rec theme, and sings the theme song for Elena of Avalon (also voices a character on the show!). I was expecting her to have a band, but she performed with just herself and her guitar, thanking us at one point for listening to her “soft acoustic songs” and talking about how she enjoys playing without a band “because I can do whatever the hell I want.” I wasn’t really familiar with her music aside from what I heard on Live from Here, but I loved her voice and found her to be an enjoyable performer (as did the little children spinning around near the front of the stage). She also name-dropped Chris Thile, which got some applause, and then name-dropped Van Dyke Parks... which got NO applause?!?! Come on... I love Chris Thile, but Van Dyke Parks is the man who co-wrote The Beach Boys' Smile album, people! Also, she played a new, unreleased song, which I filmed, so I have that to enjoy until it’s released.
Right after Gaby, I went to see another former friend of the LFH program, Aoife O’Donovan, on the main stage. Right off the bat, I got excited when I noticed that a member of one of my favorite bands, Isa Burke from Lula Wiles, was the guitarist in Aoife’s band!!!I was also excited to meet a fan at the front, who I knew was my kind of person from the first thing she said: “I have to be front row for Aoife!” She had never seen Aoife live in any conjunction, whereas I had seen her with I’m With Her, so we talked about how I’m With Her is so incredible... I said “Sara Watkins!” and put my hand on my heart and she said “I’ve been a fan of Sara since the 90′s!” I said I forget sometimes that she’s been playing music for so long and she said “Yeah, she started with Nickel Creek... with Chris Thile, who is just amazing,” and I said “My man Chris Thile! He’s my favorite!” and I swear to god I blushed upon saying that :’D I hope she didn’t notice but I love him... Unfortunately this person did get too talkative during the set so I had to kind of... politely ignore her if there’s such a thing. I was hoping Aoife’s new music would come alive for me the way Allison Russell’s did, but let’s face it- Aoife’s new album is boring, sorry. I did love seeing her and Isa interact, and their harmonies were so tight. Also I got to hear one of my favorite of her songs, “The King of All Birds...” and I got to hear her change up the melody a lot, which was awesome. It must get boring singing the same song the same way over and over.
Part of the way through Aoife’s set, someone came to the side of the stage and made a gesture, causing Aoife and the band to look over... then they ended the song with a “Laaaa!” The stagehand came up to announce that there were more lightning warnings and we had to go shelter in place again, and my newfound friend took off immediately upon hearing that! But a few people stayed and clustered around stage left to talk to Isa, including one man who wandered up, asked me “Is it over?” and then, once I said they got cut short, he came right up to the stage and asked for the setlist. Some people... This man also started taking photos of Isa while she was talking to the other people and she cut herself off to say “Um, can you not take photos of me while I’m speaking? Sorry...” I let her talk to the people because she seemed to know them, and then after they left I went up to her and told her that I loved Lula Wiles and I never got to see them live (and I don’t think I will now because she referred to them as “my old band”), so it was great to see her here with Aoife. She said “Yeah, this is not unlike that.” I also said that she and Aoife had a great vocal blend, and she said that singing with Aoife has made her a better singer. After that, I went back to one of the tents and hung out, waiting to see if Aoife would resume... eventually, she did and I raced back over to the stage! Because the set was shortened, they played “Hornets” at a shockingly fast tempo (that’s the second time I’ve seen that song live, after the I’m With Her show in 2018!), and then they closed the set with “Passengers,” which featured Madison Cunningham on the original recording so it was really, really cool to see Isa Burke replicating those guitar parts. It was also great to close the loop on Aoife, since I had tickets to see her in March of 2020... I just wish she was touring with a better album, but c’est la vie.
The first two times that the music was called off for storm warnings, the storm never actually hit. The third time, it did. I was trapped in the beer garden with a bunch of volunteers and we decided to make the most of it by drinking and passing around the one poncho anyone had thought to bring whenever someone needed to make a porta-potty run. (It was the porta-poncho, if you will.) I had thought I might stay to the end of the festival to see the last act, but since the rain pushed everything back, I decided what I really needed was more sleep, so once I sobered up as best as I could, I was outta there.
Day 3:
Nothing to report for Day 3. I visited my aunt who lives nearby, and went home.
This was an absolutely fantastic experience- being in such a beautiful park, hiking, having no cell signal, seeing some artists I love, discovering others that I will soon grow to love... I hope this was only step 1, and that next year I get to go to Newport Folk Festival, and the year after that... Telluride Bluegrass. I'm still sad that I missed Newport in 2019 because SO many artists I love were there. And Telluride has been a dream of mine ever since I discovered Punch Brothers... if only I had someone to travel with me, I don't know if I could navigate Colorado on my own...
Here is a playlist of some of the excellent songs I heard at the festival! (Please be aware that Allison Russell’s songs, as I mentioned, deal with heavy themes of CSA.)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK5a6X3InfZ_Pb0I4lABT00lBPxdBMlxm
This weekend, I went to a folk music festival. I’ve been to one before but this was a slightly bigger festival, in a more scenic location (as you can see from ^^), and with more artists that I actually had heard of previously (some of whom I am a fan of!). Since I got in for free (thanks, mom who was working at the festival), I had to do something to justify my being there without paying, so I was put on “snack duty” and handed out snacks to the volunteers working the vendors. They loved it and officially dubbed me The Snack Fairy.
Day 1:
I did a lot more sitting and thinking than I thought I would. During my first break from ferrying snacks back and forth, I went into the woods and sat down near the dry creek bed and promptly took a little nap. I left when a kid came by and told me this was his place to “get away from it all-” don’t worry, man, I can take a hint! Although I was waiting until the evening to see the first artist I had come there to see, I did discover a couple artists I had never heard of but still enjoyed from watching them on the various stages. One was a harp-toting songwriter called Lizzie No, whose live vocals weren’t particularly strong but her lyrical craft was. She also wore a beautiful yellow dress and talked to the audience about how it was hard for “people who look like me” to find a place where they feel like they belong... Someone shouted “You’re right where you need to be!” and she laughed nervously and said “I mean, you guys seem cool, I did see a lot of Confederate flags on the drive up here... but you guys seem cool!”
Later in the day I trekked down to the furthest stage and was instantly greeted by the amazing sound of a fiddle-upright bass-flute trio... then I tried to take out my phone and my phone wasn’t there. So, angry that I couldn’t stay and hear the amazing music, I trekked all the way back and went to the lost and found, but my phone wasn’t there. It wasn’t at the last place I knew I had had it, either. And on the main stage, Allison Russell was soundchecking, so I knew I had to go stake my claim at the front instead of searching. Though I discovered Allison Russell as a member of the band Our Native Daughters, her album Outside Child was what really put her on the map for me. Upon hearing it, I wasn’t blown away, but I did have a strong feeling that I should see her live. And I am so happy I followed that feeling. Her voice was astounding, and her band was incredibly tight, particularly her drummer (who also used a shaker, chimes, and various other percussive accoutrements) and her guitarist (who delivered a solo at one point that was so hot, I expected to see smoke rising from her instrument). Outside Child is mainly Allison Russell’s way of reckoning with the ten years of childhood sexual/physical/psychological abuse that her racist adoptive father put her through, so obviously the topic was already heavy. But it wasn’t until she called out the Supreme Court in the introduction to her third song, told us to keep fighting, and explained how music and “the girl I fell in love with when I was fifteen” had helped her in her own personal fight, before dedicating the song to “my Persephone,” that I was full-on bawling.... Fortunately I wasn’t the only one. :’D ("Persephone,” BTW, is a song I highly recommend listening to. 'Tis very sapphic, if it's okay for me to use that word... full of queer girl love and I love it.)
After that fucking incredible set (which I was so glad to have not experienced through a phone screen), I went to another stage to check out Suzanne Santo, who Sara Watkins had recommended once... Except it wasn’t Suzanne Santo on that stage as scheduled, but the fiddle-bass-flute duo, Twisted Pine! So I got to see them after all, and was left slack-jawed at their trippy rendition of “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds.” (They also informed us that apparently they were supposed to be a fiddle-bass-flute-mandolin quartet, but on their way back from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival last week, their mandolinist leaned over and said “Does anyone have a Claritin? My throat’s feeling really scratchy,” and you can guess the rest of THAT story. They still sounded really, really good!)
It was midnight by the time I finally got back to the hotel and went to bed, and my feet & legs were so sore, but it was definitely worth it! (Oh, and I did find my phone at the lost and found eventually... The folks at the lost and found were SO pleased to have reunited us, haha!)
Day 2:
The first band onstage on Saturday was another one of the acts I had wanted to see, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves. They are a fiddle and banjo duo, and when I was walking to the stage, I heard them soundchecking the song I had most wanted to hear them play, “I Don’t Want to Get Married...” “NO!” I thought to myself, not knowing it was a soundcheck and not the actual performance. “This is ANTI-Blue M. Hart behavior!” (except I didn’t refer to myself by my online alias obviously :P ) Sadly, even though I’d wanted to see them, I was also running on little sleep and a mostly-instrumental band did very little to keep me awake (not helped by the fact that they had little in the way of stage presence and between-song banter). I was happy that they played “I Don’t Want to Get Married,” though, which had audience members hooting and hollering at the end of each chorus, and at the end someone shouted “I’ll marry you!!” (apparently missing the point of the song...). Tatiana said that they also know if an audience is good from the way they react to that song... “We like you!”
After their performance, I dropped off some snacks and then went to the tent where we were keeping the snacks to take a nap. About an hour later, I woke up upon hearing one word passed around outside the tent- “storm... storm... storm...” People were clearing out of the valley on account of an incoming electrical storm. However, after about thirty minutes, it was declared safe to return, and the music resumed. So I got to discover another band, Mr. Sun, who played bluegrass and Django Reinhardt’s style of jazz, who caught my ear with some spicy mandolin and on-point banter. I also went on a hike, which nearly killed me (I guess I’m not in as great shape as I thought), but the view... THE VIEW!!! Made it all worthwhile.
The next real highlight of the day, though, was Gaby Moreno, who I had discovered via Live from Here back in the day (RIP in peace). I saw her walking around about thirty minutes before she was supposed to go onstage, and since there was a barrier, I didn’t say hello, but I did notice that she wasn’t that much taller than I am, which was a bit of a revelation! Another revelation was what I learned from her artist introduction- she co-wrote the Parks & Rec theme, and sings the theme song for Elena of Avalon (also voices a character on the show!). I was expecting her to have a band, but she performed with just herself and her guitar, thanking us at one point for listening to her “soft acoustic songs” and talking about how she enjoys playing without a band “because I can do whatever the hell I want.” I wasn’t really familiar with her music aside from what I heard on Live from Here, but I loved her voice and found her to be an enjoyable performer (as did the little children spinning around near the front of the stage). She also name-dropped Chris Thile, which got some applause, and then name-dropped Van Dyke Parks... which got NO applause?!?! Come on... I love Chris Thile, but Van Dyke Parks is the man who co-wrote The Beach Boys' Smile album, people! Also, she played a new, unreleased song, which I filmed, so I have that to enjoy until it’s released.
Right after Gaby, I went to see another former friend of the LFH program, Aoife O’Donovan, on the main stage. Right off the bat, I got excited when I noticed that a member of one of my favorite bands, Isa Burke from Lula Wiles, was the guitarist in Aoife’s band!!!I was also excited to meet a fan at the front, who I knew was my kind of person from the first thing she said: “I have to be front row for Aoife!” She had never seen Aoife live in any conjunction, whereas I had seen her with I’m With Her, so we talked about how I’m With Her is so incredible... I said “Sara Watkins!” and put my hand on my heart and she said “I’ve been a fan of Sara since the 90′s!” I said I forget sometimes that she’s been playing music for so long and she said “Yeah, she started with Nickel Creek... with Chris Thile, who is just amazing,” and I said “My man Chris Thile! He’s my favorite!” and I swear to god I blushed upon saying that :’D I hope she didn’t notice but I love him... Unfortunately this person did get too talkative during the set so I had to kind of... politely ignore her if there’s such a thing. I was hoping Aoife’s new music would come alive for me the way Allison Russell’s did, but let’s face it- Aoife’s new album is boring, sorry. I did love seeing her and Isa interact, and their harmonies were so tight. Also I got to hear one of my favorite of her songs, “The King of All Birds...” and I got to hear her change up the melody a lot, which was awesome. It must get boring singing the same song the same way over and over.
Part of the way through Aoife’s set, someone came to the side of the stage and made a gesture, causing Aoife and the band to look over... then they ended the song with a “Laaaa!” The stagehand came up to announce that there were more lightning warnings and we had to go shelter in place again, and my newfound friend took off immediately upon hearing that! But a few people stayed and clustered around stage left to talk to Isa, including one man who wandered up, asked me “Is it over?” and then, once I said they got cut short, he came right up to the stage and asked for the setlist. Some people... This man also started taking photos of Isa while she was talking to the other people and she cut herself off to say “Um, can you not take photos of me while I’m speaking? Sorry...” I let her talk to the people because she seemed to know them, and then after they left I went up to her and told her that I loved Lula Wiles and I never got to see them live (and I don’t think I will now because she referred to them as “my old band”), so it was great to see her here with Aoife. She said “Yeah, this is not unlike that.” I also said that she and Aoife had a great vocal blend, and she said that singing with Aoife has made her a better singer. After that, I went back to one of the tents and hung out, waiting to see if Aoife would resume... eventually, she did and I raced back over to the stage! Because the set was shortened, they played “Hornets” at a shockingly fast tempo (that’s the second time I’ve seen that song live, after the I’m With Her show in 2018!), and then they closed the set with “Passengers,” which featured Madison Cunningham on the original recording so it was really, really cool to see Isa Burke replicating those guitar parts. It was also great to close the loop on Aoife, since I had tickets to see her in March of 2020... I just wish she was touring with a better album, but c’est la vie.
The first two times that the music was called off for storm warnings, the storm never actually hit. The third time, it did. I was trapped in the beer garden with a bunch of volunteers and we decided to make the most of it by drinking and passing around the one poncho anyone had thought to bring whenever someone needed to make a porta-potty run. (It was the porta-poncho, if you will.) I had thought I might stay to the end of the festival to see the last act, but since the rain pushed everything back, I decided what I really needed was more sleep, so once I sobered up as best as I could, I was outta there.
Day 3:
Nothing to report for Day 3. I visited my aunt who lives nearby, and went home.
This was an absolutely fantastic experience- being in such a beautiful park, hiking, having no cell signal, seeing some artists I love, discovering others that I will soon grow to love... I hope this was only step 1, and that next year I get to go to Newport Folk Festival, and the year after that... Telluride Bluegrass. I'm still sad that I missed Newport in 2019 because SO many artists I love were there. And Telluride has been a dream of mine ever since I discovered Punch Brothers... if only I had someone to travel with me, I don't know if I could navigate Colorado on my own...
Here is a playlist of some of the excellent songs I heard at the festival! (Please be aware that Allison Russell’s songs, as I mentioned, deal with heavy themes of CSA.)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK5a6X3InfZ_Pb0I4lABT00lBPxdBMlxm
no subject
Date: 2022-06-28 09:42 pm (UTC)I'm glad you had so much fun. :) I love hearing your stories about concerts and festivals, because you always find a way to have interesting interactions with people, and because your love for the music and enjoyment of the artists shine through your text. ^^
no subject
Date: 2022-06-29 07:08 pm (UTC)