Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rails to Trails

The next morning I woke up and continued on along back roads towards the state parks in the area. The route I had planned on taking had a bridge out, so I took a detour along another route, and this took me along a beautiful river in a valley. Along the whole way was a railroad track that had been converted into a bike path. At one point I stopped to check out the river, and where I had stopped happened to be a camping spot, so I carried my stuff to a campsite right by the river and set up camp. I then rode about 7 miles south and rode through a small town. When I got back to camp I noticed a couple stopped taking pictures of something on the ground, and when I went to see there was a large Timber Rattlesnake coiled up at the base of the tree. I went for my camcorder, and got some cool footage. I then went back to camp and fell asleep fairly early in my hammcok.
The next morning I woke up early and got stuff together to ride my bike and then went to my car and charged my iPod for about an hour before hitting the trail north. The valley had some amazing small towns I rode through, and everyone waved as I passed. Along the way I stopped in several places to take pictures and look around. One place in particular, Rattlesnake Rock, I stopped for a long time to have lunch. It got the name from a hunter in the 1700's who was passing it in a canoe and noticed over 30 rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the rock. I sat on the rock and didn't see any snakes, but I did eat lunch and watch the river flow past me. I then continued on as the trail broke away from the side of the road and headed into a forest. I rode along this a ways and saw a doe with a fawn getting a drink from the river. After going about 16 miles I turned around and headed back. Along the way I heard a rattle and saw a snake on the side of the road. I stopped and watched him cross the road. I got back to camp and set about starting a fire before it got too dark, and right after the fire got going good, it started to rain. It wasn't enough to put out the fire, as it only lasted about twenty minutes. I then sat around the fire until I went to sleep. I am now on the way to Watkins Glen and SuperBall to see the band The Phish play their loud and obnoxious rock and roll music. Updates to come.

Shout out to my lovely sister Rachel, who is expecting a baby soon!!!

Avoid Interstate? Yes Please.

After eating nothing all day and walking over 20 miles, I was famished, and the selection of canned and dried food I have in my car was not looking very appitizing, so I decided to spend some of the little money I had and go get some real meat from the dining room at the Skyland lodge. I got there and sat at the bar, and the first menu I looked at was very expensive, with entrees starting at $15. The bartender could tell I was having trouble deciding so he brought me the bar menu, which contained more reasonably priced things such as burgers and fries. I ordered a half pound bacon cheeseburger with carmelized onions, and a Prohibition Punch, which is a drink made with moonshine and orange and some other liquors. While I ate the burger I chatted with the bartender and found out that there would be live music later in the night, so I decided to stay for that, and while I was waiting I chatted with people at the bar, including a softwear engineer named Patrick who works for Microsoft, and he ended up buying me a drink since I had spent all the money I brought in. The singer came onstage around 9, and his name was Mark "T". He played lots of Lyle Lovett and Jethro Tull, and a good mix of other songs. He did a great rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the style of the late Hawaiian singer Iz, and he also covered the Beatle's "Here Comes the Sun". After the show I stopped and talked to him for a minute and got one of his business cards. I then went to my car and drove it across Skyline Drive to a parking lot without any lighting and went quickly to sleep.
The next morning I woke up fairly early and drove back south towards Big Meadows where the celebration of the park's 75th anniversary was beginning. While on the way I saw several deer, a few turkey, and at one point I to stopped at an overlook and a coyote came walking down the road right past my car. He stopped for a second in the middle of the road and saw a deer up the hill and went chasing after it. I got to Big Meadows and parked, and the volunteer who directed me where to park commented on my Grateful Dead sticker, and we began chatting, and I found out that his last show was at Watkins Glen in 1973 with The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, and The Band. This just so happens to be the last festival ever played at Watkins Glen....Until Phish's SuperBall IX this weekend!!! He said that The Dead wasn't even the highlight of the festival, he said that The Band stole the show that weekend. I then headed down the hill towards the festivities, and I got there just a few minutes before the re-dedication ceremony began. The U.S. Marine band opened the ceremony, and a local Eagle Scout led the pledge of alligence. There were then a few speeches by park officials, and after that a Franklin D. Roosevelt impersonator, who was dropped off in an antique car, came on and read some excerpts of the speech from the dedication ceromony in '36. After that was the re-dedication speech given by the park's director, and the color gaurd retired the colors for the end of the ceremony. After that I looked around at the different tents they had set up and walked back to my car. I drove to the parking lot to reach Hawksbill summit, the highest point in the park. I got there and started up the trail, and saw more wildlife along the way. I reached the top where there are spectactular 360 degree views of the park and surrounding lands. There were also some nice boulders and cliffs to climb, and I spent a few hours climbing the rocks there before heading back down to my car. I then drove north until I found a good overlook where I could watch the sun set. There was a guy there with a huge HAM radio setup complete with motor driven antenna attached to his car. I listened to his conversations for a little bit and then crossed the road to climb on some rocks on the other side while I waited the few hours it would take for the sun to set. The sunset was amazing, the sky went from a light blue to a bright yellow deepening into a vibrant orange that darkened to a color that I can only describe as rorange and then turing into a deep deep pink as the sun set over some distant clouds into tomorrow. Everything then had a purplish tinge to it before it got completely dark. I then drove farther north to find an overlook on the other side of the mountain so I could wake up and see the sun rise. I parked and got in the passengers seat to go to sleep, and not long after I had fallen asleep a ranger knocked on my door telling me that I couldn't sleep there, so I drove north til I was almost out of the park and I found a picnic area to park and sleep in.
I woke up the next morning and hiked up to a place called Snead's Barn where there was an old barn still standing from before the land became part of the national park. There were also some old ruins of what looked to be a farmhouse. While looking around I noticed a few small cannabis plants growing on the ground in one spot. I figure someone accidently dropped some seeds. The trail continued on and came to a point where it overlooked the valley and city below. A park ranger had told me that hang gliders use this as a point to launch off of. There were two local girls there I talked with for a while, and since this was their first time in the park, I recommended a few places they should check out. While up there I noticed more hemp growing. I walked back to my car and drove out of the park and into the town on the north end of the park, Front Royal. I stopped there to work on my blog and get some food. I went to Burger King instead of McDonalds because there were no open plugs at McDonalds. After I went back to my car at McDonalds, I realized I had forgotten to get directions, so I went in to look them up. After I had the map pulled up I asked what street we were on, and didn't get an answer from the staff, but an older gentleman came up and asked me where I was going and gave me very detailed directions on where to go. He sat down and we ended up talking for almost an hour about all kinds of things before we both had to leave. I drove north into PA and took back roads through the beautiful backcountry. I like taking backroads over interstate any day, there is so much more to see!! I stopped in a Best Buy parking lot to sleep around ten.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Hiking in Shenandoah National Park

Once I got to Waynesboro, VA on the southern end of the park I stopped at a walmart to stock up on trail food and gas. Shenandoah National Park (SNP) has one long road that goes the entire 100+ mile length of the park called Skyline Drive. I got on that Wednesday afternoon, and when I got to the fee station, it was thankfully a fee free day. I probably wouldn't have been able to go in otherwise, as at that point I was down to my last $60. I stopped at McCormick Gap overlook and watched as a storm moved across the valley. It was an incredible sight to witness, I could see the edge of the rain moving steadily closer and closer. Once the storm got to me it poured and hailed marble sized hail for about ten minutes before heading on. Once I got back on the road I saw a bear cub playing on the side of the road and stopped and watched him for a minute or two before he wandered into the forest and out of sight. I took these to be good signs. I stopped by Loft Mountain Campgrounds to check it out and get a trail map. While I was throwing all my trash in the dumpster a hiker came by and asked if I knew where the camp store was, and I offered to give him a ride there, even though it was less than a mile away. I also offered him a cold brew, which he gladly accepted. We talked for a bit, and he is on day 69 of his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia all the way to Maine. As he got out of my car he thanked me and referred to the encounter as a bit of "trail magic", an unexpected and pleasant surprise from a stranger along the trail. We parted ways and I continued on Skyline Drive north, stopping at each of the many overlooks and taking in the sights. I arrived at Big Meadows later in the afternoon and set up my camper there and got a fire going.
I woke up the next morning and rode my bike around a little bit, and then rode up to the visitors center to plan where I was going to hike. The rangers helped me pick a route to take, and I ended up deciding to hike from Skyline Drive at Hawksbill to the base of Old Rag that day and set up camp there for two nights before going on to Corbin Cabin and setting up camp around there and hiking back on the fourth day (Saturday). The rangers also informed me that the park's 75th anniversary is this year, and the official celebration and re-dedication ceremony is Saturday, so I planned on coming back for that.
I hit the trail IN FLIP FLOPS around 2:30 and it was descended straight down into the valley below. I got about halfway down before I realized that I had dropped my map, and so I set down my pack and headed back up the mountain to find it. While going up I ran into some other day hikers who had seen my map and picked it up for me, they gave it back and I continued on my way. The trail passed by several waterfalls, and one of them was more like a waterslide and there were kids sliding down the rocks into the pool below. The trail was gorgeous, and nice and shaded and cool. Once reaching the bottom there was a parking lot for day hikers, and a fire road led off from this. I followed the fire road up another mountain towards where I planned to camp. I kept looking for a good place to camp right off the fire road but couldn't find one, so once I made it to a stream I walked through the woods looking for a flat spot to set up camp. While doing this I just about stepped on a large snake, and it made me loose my footing and fall a few yards down the mountain. After I couldn't find a suitable place, I decided to keep hiking and hadn't gone 100 yards when there was a beautiful campsite just off the road. Once there I got the tent pitched, bear bag set up, and started boiling water for ramen. After eating I set about making a fire in the fire pit, and stayed up watching the fire and making hemp bracelets until around 11 when I crawled into my sleeping bag and went to sleep.
I woke up the next morning and hung around camp for a little bit before setting off on a day hike to the summit of Old Rag, which is only about 8 miles round trip. I just brought some water bottles with me, and no pack or anything of the sort. The trail continued down the fire road I had followed the day before until it came to a trail leading up to the summit. The trail almost immediately began heading straight up, switching back and forth as it climbed up the mountain. At one point it reached a false summit which was where the rock scramble began. The rock scramble was about a mile or more of boulders and granite that you don't so much as hike across as climb across. I had lots of fun on this part, and took my time scampering up and down the boulders. This part of the hike was the only part where I wore actual shoes instead of flip flops, and this proved to be a wise choice, as granite can be extremely rough on bear feet. Once I reached the top I sat up there for a while just taking in the view before heading down the other trail back to camp. This trail was much steeper than the other one, but didn't have the rock scramble. Along the way it passed by a day use shelter called Byrds Nest 1, and I stopped there to pee, and while I was peeing a fawn and its mother stepped into the clearing near me. I watched them for a while before other hikers came up and scared them off. I got back to camp around 4 and ate some food and took a nice little nap. I woke up from the nap and sat around camp listening to Phish on my iPod and making necklaces until dark.
I woke up the next morning a little bit before 7 and took my time breaking camp and doing yoga and I hit the trail around 8 or so. Maybe 15 minutes on the trail I was going across a stream on a log, and when I looked downstream there was a bear only twenty yards away tearing up a stump looking for grubs. I sat down on the log and the bear acknowledged my presence with a grunt and continued rooting for grubs. The bear allowed me to watch him for a good thirty minutes before lumbering off into the forest. It was a truly magical experience, and I felt honored that the bear let me watch so close to him for so long. I continued on the small trail, and it was quite different from the trails the previous days. I could tell that this trail didn't see nearly as many visitors as the other ones. While walking along enjoying the forest sounds I heard something up ahead, and a few seconds later a much bigger black bear stepped out of the brush and into the trail maybe 5 yards ahead of me. He was just as surprised as I was and hightailed it out of there. I didn't realize it, but bears can run FAST!!! He was gone almost as soon as he was there. As I continued on the Indian Run trail I saw several garter snakes lying across the trail, and caught one and played with him for a while before releasing him. I got to Corbin's Cabin around noon, and this was the area I had planned to camp in. The cabin is set up for use by the volunteers who keep up the trails, and it remains locked. I decided that I would rather keep on than stop so early in the day, so I hung out around the cabin for more than an hour letting my shirt and bag dry and getting clean water. I explored the area around the cabin a bit and saw all sorts of remnants of the civil war, including long stone walls used as bunkers and the ruins of an old homestead. I hit the trail up the mountain towards Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail. The trail up the mountain was extremely steep and had had numerous switchbacks, but as I went up in elevation I could feel the humidity lessen, which was a huge blessing.
Once I reached the top I crossed Skyline Drive to the AT and began hiking south towards my car. The AT had incredible views of the valley on the other side of the mountain, and I could see hawks circling below me. While on the trail I ran across the same guy I had picked up a few days earlier and I stopped and talked to him and his group for a while, and they told me that I should not miss the side hike up to the top of Stoney Man, which was just a mile or so south of me. I got to the Stoney Man trailhead where there was a sign saying that that point is the highest point of the AT in the park. I hiked up to the top, but didn't stay too long, even though the view was incredible. On the trail up and down I saw LOTS of deer up close, and they all let me stop and watch them from only a few yards away. One doe I was watching saw another doe come into view and they stared each other down for a bit before they started chasing each other. They ran within arms length of me and then disappeared into the forest. Once I got back on the AT it ran through Skyland and I stopped there to fill up on fresh water and as I was walking through the parking lot I found out the only drawback to wearing flip flops to hike in. Bees can sting the bottom of your foot. Somehow a bee managed to fly between my flip flop and foot while I was mid stride, and when my foot struck the ground the bee stung the bottom of my foot. The pain only lasted for a little while before it was gone. I got back to my car sometime after 6 and right as I was crossing the road to my car a buck came out and stayed in the clearing for almost 30 minutes while I watched him. He would disappear into the woods for a while when another car came by and then reappear as soon as they were gone. It was a great way to end my hike, and all told I think I did around 40 miles. Probably 20 or more just the last day, and the whole time I was in flip flops. Doing the trail in this footgear made me realize a new goal of mine, I have always had thru-hiking the AT on my bucket list, but now I have made it my goal to do the entire trail in flip flops. Just to say I did it.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

After Phish cooldown

I woke up Monday morning and headed towards Charlottesville, VA and found a hotel there to sleep at and have internet for the night. I wanted to be able to download the Phish shows, but the connection there wouldn't allow it. I took a shower and went to a laundromat to wash my clothes before dinner. After the clothes were all done and folded I headed to Outback to use my gift cards on a nice sirloin with shrimp and some cocktails to drink. By the time I was finished, I was absolutely stuffed and headed back to the hotel. I kept messing with the internet trying to get it to download my shows, but it kept crashing so I just posted some to the blog and went to sleep.
This morning I woke up and cleaned out my car and trailer of all the trash and clutter from tour and hit the road. Now I'm parked at a rest stop typing this and about to head into Shenandoah National Park for a few days. I plan on backpacking the Appalachian Trail for a few days, and I won't be able to update my blog til I come out of the forest.
Catch ya later!

Last night of Phish tour

I woke up around noon Sunday and hit the road immediately to head to Portsmouth. On the way I drove through the town of Wilson, which reminded me of the Phish shong by the same name.I got to Portsmouth around 530 and walked around the lot a bit, and bought a Jerry Roll, some beer, and a gooball before heading into the show around 630. The venue was tiny, less than 7,000 people, and the lawn was maybe 30 yards deep. There wasn't a bad seat in the house. I went down in the pit since it was all general admission and waited there for the show to start. I was bored since this was the earliest I had gotten a venue, and so I counted the lights they use. 98 projecter lights, and 12 strobe lights. While waiting Page's dad came on the side of the stage and gave a little dance an flashed the peace sign, which the crowd loved.
Phish came onstage at 7:50 and opened with "Harpua". During the song each band member's dad came onstage and said a line to the narrration since it was Father's Day. They played the part of Jimmy's father I have been wanting a "Harpua" for a long time, and even thought it is requested at almost every show, it is a fairly rare song now. After that was the song "Brother" during which each band member's children came onstage one by one and got into a tub on the stage. While all the kids were going off stage Mike teased the theme song to Leave It To Beaver before going into "Down With Disease" into "Back on the Train". "Funky Bitch" was after that, and of course Mike killed it. Then came a new song to me, "Timber" and "The Wedge". After that was "The Moma Dance" which I still didn't recognize even though they played it in GA. The next song was dedicated by Trey to Clarence Clemons who had passed away the day before. This song was a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" and it was a setlist debut for Phish. The whole crowd was cheering for a song after that and all the voices together sound like "tube", and I knew they would play "Tube" just to mess with the crowd. After "Tube" came "Alaska" into "David Bowie". The first set ended at 9:22.
After the first set I went back on the lawn to lay down until they came back on. They came back onstage exactly 20 minutes later and opened with "Crosseyed and Painless" into "Walls of the Cave". The second set they didn't stop playing at all, just one song leading into the next. After cave was "Slave to the Traffic Light" then "Fluffhead". I enjoyed this "Fluffhead more than the other one I heard, I feel that they jammed more here. That was followed by "Sand" and "Sneakin' Sally through the Alley". Somewhere around this time I saw a kid I had seen on lot trying to miracle a ticket, and I went to talk to him, and he had ended up getting his free ticket and getting into the show. That is one of the things I love most about Phish is how everyone wants to make sure everyone else is having the best possible time they can. After Sally came "Light" with all the normal bright lights and all. This flowed smoothly into "Backwards Down the Number Line" which is the song I have seen live more than any other. After that they stopped playing music for the first time of the set and went right into the chorus of "Suzy Greenberg" which is one of my favorites. They went offstage at 11:18.
When they came back on two minutes later Trey told a story of how his daugher beat him on Rock Band at the song Wilson and how proud she was of that. Then they went into a ten minute long "Julius" which was a great way to end this stretch of the tour.
I went back to my car and drove on past Hampton and the Mothership where I saw String Cheese Incident for Hulaween last year. I drove til I found a place to sleep and fell asleep hard.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Great Night for Covers

We woke up around noon and broke down camp and hit the road quickly. We stopped at Bojangle's Chicken and Biscuits for lunch, which was good, but nowhere near as good as Popeyes. We got on lot and walked around a bit, but for the most part we hung around the car drinking beer and trying to stay in the shade.
The show started with "Cars Trucks Buses", an instrumental which Page wrote and I hadn't heard live before. After that came the Frank Zappa song "Peaches en Regalia", which I went crazy for. I have seen Zappa's son's tribute band twice and both times held up a "Peaches" sign but never heard it, but now I have finally heard it live!! Next was a song I called for the show, "AC/DC Bag" then "Guyute". Next was one of my favorites to hear live, "Possum". Next was a song that is new to me, "Halley's Comet", which I really enjoyed. That flowed into another song I guessed for the night, "46 Days", which I hadn't heard yet this tour. This was followed by "The Divided Sky". The wind blew high for this song, and Trey killed it! Next was a song that is a childhood favorite of mine, "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I sang along to every single word in the song, and it brought back many memories of listening to this song while I was in middle school. The last song of the set had me running around all out of control. That's right you guessed it, "Run Like an Antelope". That marked the end of the first set, and we all moved inwards on the lawn towards the middle.
The second set opened with "Twist" which they jammed on, but not nearly as long as some of the "Twist" jams. Then came "Rift", which I enjoyed dancing to. After that came "Prince Caspian" which Evan had been saying all day he had a feeling they would play. They got super spacey during this song. Next was "Esther" which was another song I had never heard before and really liked. (of course I liked it, its Phish haha). The next song came out of nowhere, and no one in the crowd could have expected it. They did a cover of the Jane's Addiction song "Been Caught Stealing". The last time it was played wad at the end of 1998, which was 298 shows ago. I have a feeling the reason they pulled it out again is that Jane's Addiction is back together and touring, and I'll be seeing them at Gathering of the Vibes. After that surprise came "Piper" into "My Friend, My Friend". These two songs contained some crazy jamming and CK5 did some extra crazy things with the lights. That jam carried over into "Kill Devil Falls" another song I guessed for the night. The last three songs continued the jamming with "Split Open and Melt", "Golgi Apparatus", and "First Tube". "First Tube was a crazy super jammy way to end the second set, and left everyone wanting more!
The encore was a cover of the Led Zeppelin song "Good Times Bad Times" and was a great way to end the night. Overall this or the last show have definately been the best shows of the tour so far. They keep getting better and better and doing something new and different each time. It never gets old seeing them each night.
After the show we went back to lot, but lost Evan, and it took him almost an hour to make it back to the car. Then we drove around the city trying to meet up with someone, and it took us until 3 to finally meet up and drop Lauren and Evan off. Then I found a place to park my car and sleep for the night.

Phish in Charlotte

Friday morning I woke up and went for a quick run to the lake to do yoga, and had 4 canadian geese watching me. I then ran up and down some stairs and ran back to camp for a shower .I got packed up and on the road around noon. I got to Charlotte and the amphitheater around 2:15, and waited on the side of the road until they started letting people in. I was parked on lot by 2:45, and spent most of the afternoon walking around and mingling. There was a band performing out of the back of a trailer on lot, and they were called Jammin Brahmin. I have seen them once before, they did the aftershow for Widespread Panic in Columbus, OH last year. I listened to them for a while and bought a CD.
I got in my seats around 7:20. Both Trey and Mike have on the same shirt with a guy's face on it. The show started with "Mike's Song" which of course Mike killed. This flowed smoothly into "I Am Hydrogen" which I missed while keeping track of the setlist. That segued into "Weekapaug Groove", which I have been wanting to hear for a long time. After that was "Bouncing Around the Room" then "NICU">"Sample in a Jar". Fishman killed during "Sample". Next was "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" which along with "Harpua" is one of the few songs where Trey actually tells a story. This ran smoothly into "Fly Famous Mockingbird", which Page threw down some sick piano jams on. After "Mockingbird" came "Axilla" then "Wolfman's Brother", which I had guessed they would play this night. That was followed by "Scent of a Mule" which Page again killed. The whole band was standing around watching page play. Then Trey came in on guitar with a polka sounding jam. The last song of the set was "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan", and the set ended at 9:04.
The second set started at the lyrics of "Backwards Down the Number Line" with no intro music or anything. I hadn't heard it started that way before, but it was a good way to start the set. Trey had that look on his face like he was looking up to the gods for the notes to play. That went into "Rock and Roll" and they kept playing right into "Ghost". I had been wanting a "Ghost" for a long time, but didn't figure I'd get one til SuperBall. They jammed for a LONG time before going into the first Phish song I ever heard, "Free". They didn't stop playing until the end of "Reba". They played for over 50 min without taking a break. The break led into "Icculus", which was another first for me. Read Icculus. That's the only way to describe it. During the song video of Trey's shirt was displayed on the screen and Trey claimed him to be the author of Icculus. The end of Icculus was weird, they raged for a second and then abrubtly stopped. Fishman came to the front of the stage with his vacuum to sing "Hold Your Head Up". This was the first time I had gotten to see Fish play the vacuum, and it was pretty amazing. I didn't know you could do that much with a vacuum, and I used to sell them haha. Fishman was having a good time out from behind the drums, and was throwing planes made from fan signs into the crowd. The vacuum solo flowed into a cover of the Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd song "Bike" which Fishman sang, but forgot some of the words, and so the band flowed back into "Hold Your Head Up". While Fishman was singing, Trey was on the drums, which was a real treat, and unexpected. With the band members back in their original places they played "Chalkdust Torture". The last song of the set was "You Enjoy Myself", which I believe to be one of their best songs. As usual Trey and Mike jumped up and down on trampolines on stage while playing "YEM", and there were even fireworks during the song. While Mike had his solo, Trey was dancing around on stage having a grand ol time. The vocal jam seemed shorter than usual, but was still incredible.
The encore was "Wilson" which is always soo much fun because the crowd sings most of the song. There was a Wilson head volleyball being thrown around the crowd during this song. Wilson seemed extremely short, and flowed smoothly into a cover of the Rolling Stone's "Loving Cup". I left during "Loving Cup" to go sell some waters.
While I was on lot my friend Lauren from Manifestation Celebration and Wakarusa found me and she took me to meet up with Dylan, Jill, Evan, and some other friends from Flordia. Although it took a while to get everyone together, we all caravaned to Uwharrie National Forest. We drove down some back roads until we finally found a sutiable place to set up camp. By the time I got to sleep it was almost 3am.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

It's Raining Sideways!!

Wednesday afternoon I drove to the lot around 3 to see if they were allowing people in early, but there wasn't a soul there, so I went back to nap and hung out with the crew until around 5 when they dropped Mahya and I off at Lot A and they drove to the off-site lot to park. I sold beer and waters and Mahya was selling hoops. Business was somewhat slow, but I was selling stuff until it started to thunder and then pour. I drug the coolers a ways to the nearest canopy and about 15 of us were hunkered down under someone's ez-up. On the second trip to the canopy I saw an envelope on the ground and picked it up and inside were two pavilion tickets to the nights show!!! Now I am able to go into the show!!! The rain was coming down with such ferocity that we all had to hold on to the canopy to keep it from blowing away. I sold over a half dozen beers just to people in that tent. After about 20 minutes it let up and the skies cleared. At that point it was time to go into the show, so Mahya and I hid the coolers and hoops behind the porta-potties, and I stuffed my bag with beers and headed to the show. They didn't search the bag well, and so I was able to get about 8 beers into the show!! (that would cost $64 inside)
We were walking to find the rest of the crew since they were already inside, and ended up running into them on the way to the bathroom. We all sat up on the lawn with free lawn chairs.
Phish opened with "Paul and Silas" into "Back on the Train". "Foam" was next, and was pretty awesome. Trey killed on guitar during this song especially. This was followed by an especially appropriate song, "Water in the Sky", which they played differently than I'd ever heard it before. Not different in a bad way, but it was definitely different. This was followed by an awesome "Runaway Jim" that had us acting like a dancing fool! "Army of One" was next, and that is a song I didn't know at all. Then they did a Ween cover, "Roses are Free", which we had listened to the night before after the show. This segued into "Timber" into "Mound" and somewhere in there it started to sprinkle, so I took our stuff down to the seats to have someone watch it for us. I went back to the lawn, but it had started to rain hard, and the crew had vanished. I headed back the my seat and listened there for a while, but halfway through "Mound" they had to stop playing due to the rain. Everyone from the lawn came under the pavilion, but it didn't do much to help, the rain was coming in sideways. There was a river of water flowing down the stairs and under the seats. I took this opportunity to work my way down and into the pit again, and waited there in a pool of water for them to come back on.
After about 40 minutes (I think), the band came back on and picked up playing "Mound" right where they left off. I had worked my way to within about 50 feet of Trey and Page. I chose that side because Page side is the rage side! After they finished "Mound" they played one of my favorites, "Tweezer" Mike had some funky beats going during this song. At one point during "Tweezer" CK5 had the lights spell PHISH, which I hadn't seen before. This went smoothly into "Julius" then into "Slave to the Traffic Light". After "Slave" Trey called a meeting onstage and they huddled together for a while, and Mike looked like he didn't want to play whatever Trey was saying. They ended up playing "David Bowie", and I don't know why Mike looked like he didn't want to play it, cause he is great in that song. This was followed by another of my favorites and a song that always gets stuck in my head, "Suzy Greenberg". After "Suzy" was what felt like a long "Gotta Jiboo" that went into "Harry Hood", which is always a crowd favorite and Mike killed on bass. "Character Zero" was next, and it had some really jammy parts to it. The band then stopped playing for a second and huddled up while a stagehand brought a mike stand with 3 mikes on stage. Trey even acted like he was gonna jump into the wet crowd. They then did an a capella rendition of a song I hadn't heard before called "The Birdwatcher". This was really fun to watch, and it looked like they were having more fun than the crowd was, especially Page and Trey. They ended the set with a sick "Kung".
The encore started with "Funky Bitch" which I always enjoy cause I want the funk, gotta have that funk. Sometime during the song I headed up to the lawn because I had left my shoes up there. The whole time all I could think was the lyrics from the song "Cavern" that they played last night. It goes "whatever you do, take care of your shoes". And I wasn't taking good care of em leaving them behind. When I got to the lawn a worker told me that I couldn't go there, but I told him my situation and he followed me to find my shoes and back off the lawn. At that point they started into "Tweezer Reprise", but I had to leave so I could get the ice chest and start selling drinks.
I got the drinks and sold quite a few, and at some point I tried calling Charlie, but then I felt her phone ringing in my bag. I ended up with all the phones except Mahya's, and when I talked to her she somehow had gotten to Athens. I decided to cut my losses and get back on my own, and not hope for them to find me in all those people. I drug the cooler and hoops under an office building and then stood in the line of cars trying to get a ride. Many cars went by without slowing down, but finally a girl was walking by and offered to give me a ride. Her name was Rory and it was her birthday. Her dad was picking her up, and he was nice enough to give me a ride to camp. I got there and got in my car to go get the hoops and stuff and had just parked the car when I saw Cameron's Element driving through the parking lot. After hugs and all for the reunion we packed the ice chests and hoops up and headed to camp. Once we got to camp we went to sleep pretty fast.

This morning I woke up around 10:30 and got to work breaking down camp. Once I had the trailer packed I went into their trailer to hang out for a while before leaving. After a long goodbye I finally got on the road and drove to the edge of South Carolina and I'm currently camped at King's Mountain State Park with a nice fire going and my hammock set up.
Going phishing tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Phinally at Phish

Monday I spent all day either in the car driving or at McDonald's using free WiFi. I finally made it to Alpharetta right as it was getting dark, and I quickly familiarized myself with the area and headed to WalMart to get a new phone. After getting a phone that works I headed to Wills Park. Wills Park is a city park in Alpharetta that I found through PhantasyTour.com. Its only like 2 miles from the venue, and it only cost $20 to stay here. When I pulled up I saw a huge tour bus RV and a smaller 5th wheel already parked there. The people with the trailer were outside so I talked with them for a while and found out that they had come to set up the trailer for their daughter and her friends. We talked for a bit until their daughter and friends arrived, at which point I met Charlie, Mahya, Cameron, and Matt. We hit it off immediately and sat around talking and drinking and making music until like 4 in the morning.

Tuesday morning we wake up and all go to iHop for breakfast and then to get beer and water to sell at the show. We then just hung around the park until time to head to lot. We got to the venue around 5:15, but it took us over an hour to find the right lot and finally get parked. As soon as we got to the lot I instantly found a ticket for $50. Our parking spot was in a parking garage with no tailgating allowed, and they wouldn't let you hang around your car at all, so I wasn't able to sell anything. We walked down to the tailgating lot, and checked out the lot scene for a while. Man, I had forgotten how much I love the lot scene. It was such a relief to finally be around some good vibes after bonnaroo. I bought a phish sticker while on lot for $2 and found some really cool glass I am gonna try and find again today once I make my money.
After we had walked around a bit we headed up the hill and into the show! The Amphitheater was much bigger than I expected, and had a huge lawn. My ticket was lawn, and everyone else's was in the amphitheater, so they went down there and then Charlie came back and brought me a ticket so I could get in and sit with them.
Phish phinally came on and opened with "Dinner and a Movie" and "The Moma Dance", which I hadn't ever heard before. They played "Possum" early in the set and then did a cover of the Talking Heads song "Cities". "Fluffhead" was definitely a highlight of the night, and the first time I had heard it played. "Ocelot" is my phavorite song from the new album, and a song I've been wanting to hear for a while, and they played it. They played "Ginseng Sulivan" for the first time since my first show, and then a phenomenal "Kill Devil Falls". After that I snuck my way down into the pit, the wristbands they have on look similar to my Riverfest wristband, so for the last few songs of the set I was right up in the vortex starting with "Bathtub Gin". They then did a cover of the Traffic song "Light Up or Leave Me Alone", which I don't remember. Then was a sick "Cavern" which is such a phun song off A Picture of Nectar and a great way to end the phirst set. Trey ended it saying "Set your clocks, we'll be back in 15 minutes". I stayed down in the pit during the setbreak and saw Charlie and the crew up next to the soundboard and where CK5 does the lights in the $1,000 seats. We both got sent back to our seats by security around the same time. Around 10:10 the boys came back on stage and opened with a sick "Carini". Charlie and I were singing it to each other the whole song. They played "Sand" into "Down With Disease", which was phantastic! Sometime during that song I worked my way back into the pit as they led from Disease into "Maze". I got lost in the maze of people and lights for a while before settling into a spot in the center of the pit. They started playing "Meatstick" which shocked my brain. They even started to sing it in a different language, I think Japanese, at one point. I wandered over the Page's side of the stage for a bit to rage when they went into "Also Sparch Zarathustra" which is also known as 2001. I've been listening to this song a lot lately since I have been reading the book, and it was phulphilling to see it live. After that was the song "Bug" which I know but couldn't for the life of me remember the name of. The chorus says "it doesn't matter" and each time I would take out my phone to find the name of the song I would remember that it doesn't matter. Someone finally said it was "Bug" though. That led into a cover of The Beatles "A Day in the Life" which was especially awesome. Charlie has seen that song now at 3 of her shows. The last song of the set was a crazy "Run Like an Antelope" and it had me running around all out of control. Like an antelope. I then headed back to the seats to meet up with the rest of the crew, since they couldn't make it down into the pit, and I wanted to spend the encore with them.
The encore was especially special because we were listening to it as we pulled up into the venue for the first time and I said how I wanted to hear it. It was a cover of the Dylan song "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)" it was a phantastic way to end the night.
As we wandered back to the car we saw a guy selling posters who was awesome. He has all these posters with TONS of hidden stuff in them. One Dead poster he did has over 300 dead songs represented in it. His name is Carl Alm and his website is CarlAlmArt.com. There is a video of him doing his shpiel on youtube you can watch.
We finally made it back to the campsite and went down into the woods away from the lights to spin led hoops and sit in my hammock. We sat down there and drank well into the night before I went to sleep in the hammock.
The hammock is AMAZING to sleep in, and ultra comfortable. Around 10:30 I was woken up by a park worker who told me that I shouldn't be sleeping there since it was a "no sleeping area" haha. so I took down my hammock and now I'm sitting in their trailer A/C writing this blog.
I'm about to go get dropped off at lot with an ice chest and the stuff to make quesadillas to try and sell.
I don't know if I'm gonna make it into the show tonight, my money is real tight, and tonight is make or break so I have to sell lots of stuff to be able to keep on. If I find a cheap ticket I'll snatch it up.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Bonnaroo Summary

I doubt I'll be attending Bonnaroo ever again. It has gotten too big, and they now make you wear a computer chip on your wrist for admission. It has become way too commercial with every little thing at bonnaroo sponsored. There was lots of theft, including some small things from my tent. And lots of people ripping other people off in different ways.
Its lost touch with its roots and has begun appealing to meatheads, frat kids, and the mtv generation. If you really like big crowds and music, do your self a favor and go to ACL or All Good instead of Bonnaroo.
Also Security were jerks. wouldn't let me into the Work Exchange Tent, even when I had a supervisor come down and tell them to. Big complaints about FESS security. (they weren't the security at the centeroo entrance, those guys were pretty cool)

Bonnaroo Sunday

Sunday I woke up and went into Centeroo to check out G. Love and Special Sauce for a bit and then found some shade to chill in before going back to camp to grab some stuff. On the way to camp I ran into my old Nateva friends Sam and Max and talked with them for a min. I wish I'd have gotten to hang out with them more, but oh well. I went back to Centeroo and checked out Daniel Lanois's Black Dub, and I was extremely impressed. I had only heard one Daniel Lanois song before, the one off the Friday Night Lighs soundtrack with Explosions in the Sky, so I didn't know what to expect, but I will definitely be downloading some of their music. I didn't realize that Brian Blade from Shreveport was his drummer, which was awesome to hear. He is Brady Blade's brother, and an awesome jazz drummer.
After that I went to Galactic. The lead singer of Living Colour, Corey Glover, sang with them for the entire set. They played a sick Total Destruction with a shout out to the gulf coast. They played Baker's Dozen with a crucial drum solo by Stanton Moore. He brought a drum to the front of stage and played it on the floor and made some amazing sounds from a tambourine. He also played a guitar with his drum stick. I really hope to get to see this video. Their encore was a Led Zeppelin cover of "How Many More Times", which I hadn't seen Galactic do before, I'd seen "Kashmir" and "Immigrant Song" before.
After that we headed to Gregg Allman, and walked up on "Sweet Melissa", which was incredible!!! They also did a Warren Haynes cover I can't place the name of. We stayed and grooved for a bit and left right after they finished "Whipping Post", which was all I needed to hear before going to Robert Plant and the Band of Joy.
Plant opened with a raucous "Black Dog" and kept the energy up from there. It was more of a country feel to the show than expected, but I liked that. I stayed for a while and danced and sang before heading over to That Tent for Explosions in the Sky.
I was able to get pretty close to EITS, but moved to the back to meet up with Hali and Michelle. They played "To West Texas" right after I met up with them. They played some stuff of The Rescue EP, which was nice to hear, and they played a song off their new album. I'm guessing the last song was "Trembling Hands". The crowd was much more into the show than when I saw them in Oxford, MS. Great show, and I'm glad I got to see it! I left before the end to go see the Superjam.
The Superjam featured Dr. John and Dan Auerbach along with other musicians. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band got onstage for a great rendition of the creole song "Iko Iko", and I danced my way all around the crowd during that song! I then had to leave to go get to work at 8:30.
I was supposed to work in Golf Cart Land again, but they said I was "needed" in VIP coordination. We just spent all night packing up chairs and all the other things the VIPs need to keep thier nice little asses comfortable. Where we were I did get to hear almost all of Panic, and I could see parts of the stage, but from like a half mile away.
Panic had a horn section, but I don't think it was PHJB, maybe someone else. The songs I was able to keep track of were: Fishwater, Tall Boy, an AMAZING as always Protein Drink>Sewing Machine followed by Shut up and Drive. There were lots of prayer lanterns released during the show, but not nearly as many as during their show at All Good. They played Red Hot Mama with Bruce Hornsby!! That was all I was able to catch, but their lights could be seen from all over the festival grounds. Very sick stage setup.
After I was done working I passed out before my head hit the pillow and woke up this morning to Kelci coming to tell me by, and then I packed all my stuff this morning and hit the road around 11. I've been posted up in McDonald's using their WiFi for the past couple of hours and I'm about to try and find the Krishna Farm to stay for a night before Phish tomorrow. If I can't find the farm soon I'm just gonna head to GA now.

Bonnaroo Saturday

Saturday I woke up super late, around noon and got ready for work and headed there. I worked in Golf Cart Land again, which was awesome. I got to take a nice nap in the A/C and we threw around the football some. At one point we saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar walking down the street, apparently he is part of Eminem's posse.
After my shift was over I headed in to catch some of the Black Keys, but only stayed there for like ten min before going to Bootsy Collins to meet up with Zack Friday. Bootsy was over an hour late coming onstage, and the crowd started to chant "We Want the Funk" until the band came on. The Funk University was a huge band with all sorts of instruments and people. His guitar was somthing straight from the funk universe. It was a giant star with a star for the end as well, very flashy! Bootsy put on a GREAT show, and it was one of the highlights of my weekend. Now I just gotta see James Brown and I'll have seen the 3 funk greats! We left before the end of the show to make sure we got good spots for Buffalo Springfield.
We were pretty close for Buffalo Springfield, right by the sound tent. We got there like 20 min early and chatted with the people in the crowd. Right after they came on it started to sprinkle a little bit, but not enough to get my clothes too wet. Just the right amount!! Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, and Neil Young were up front on guitars, and Rick Rosas and Joe Vitale were in the back on Drums and Bass. We were lucky we were close, because the sound was wayyy to quiet, and during the breaks between songs the crowd at the back would chant "Turn it up". By the end of the show it was louder, but it took a while. Neil Young looked soooo old, but he can SHRED!! He played his own song, "I am a Child" and played harmonica for it. Richie dedicated the song Kind Woman to his wife of 44 years. Neil shreds Mr. Soul, and the crowd goes crazy! They all 3 got together and jammed for like ten min at one point, and it was transcendent!!! Neil played the piano for several songs, and he interacted really well with the crowd, leading several chants and getting the crowd swaying and moving. The highlight of the show was the last three songs, "Broken Arrow", "Bluebird", and then "Rockin' in the Free World"!!!! Broken Arrow was very moving, and had the crowd relatively quiet, then they said "well now we're gonna play our hit. That's right we have one!!!" and went straight into "Bluebird" which of course made the crowd go crazy, and everyone was singing along. Then they played Neil Young's "Rockin' In the Free World" which was such an amazing way to end the show, and with such a great message. Neil Young speaks the truth.
After that Zack left and I met up with Meagan and Aaron to head to Eminem, and we walk up on the song "Kill You". What song to hear after Neil Young haha. Eminem had a full live band playing with him, which I wasn't expecting, and he had a huge stage setup. During the song "Sky full of Light" there were thousands of lighters in the air. He interacted well with the crowd, and put on a good show. During "Real Slim Shady" the whole crowd was singing to each other. Overall it was a fun show, and he is really talented, but it's not my style.
I Kelci and them to go to Dr. John with The Original Meters and Alan Toussiant performing Decisively Bonnaroo. The show started with just the Meters on stage, and they opened with "Down on the Bayou" They played for about 30 min before set break. They wet up a sound screen separating Dr. John and Alan Toussaint from the rest of the band, which leads me to believe that this will be offered as a live album in the future. Dr. John had a voodoo skull on his piano. It was a great show, and they all rocked it!!! Great dancing music!! It was a once in a lifetime show, and I am grateful that I got to see all those New Orleans greats playing together!!
Over halfway through the second set, we left to go see String Cheese Incident on the Which Stage, and walked up on them playing "Mrs. Brown's Teahouse". First thing I noticed when we got there was that Jason Hann cut his hair. There were giant parade floats being carried through the crowd, including a giant TRex and a guy suspended in air by lots of balloons. The guy in the air was being walked through the crowd for a while. They had fire at one point, and tons of screens onstage. Jason freestyle rapped a lot, which he does a lot at EOTO shows. I missed them opening with Tennessee Jed, which is dissappointing, but I caught most of their show. They ended with "Texas" and their encore was "Outside and Inside" > "Mysterious Ways". I totally called that they'd do a cover after "Outside and Inside" to end the night, and they ended with a U2 cover!
We then walked to STS9, and sat near the back. Their lights looked very similar to Umphrey's McGee's lights. They played a sick Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature, which we thought was the last song so we went to try and see Gogol Bordello, but they had already finished. We got back to tribe and they were off stage, but apparently they came back and kept playing until sunup, which I would have liked to have seen. But we went back and went to bed cause we were tired.

Bonnaroo Friday

Friday we went to Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones to see Jimmy and Victor Wooten, since they're from Shreveport. The sound was quiet, but it was a great show! Victor slapped the bass like crazy, and Jimmy's homemade drum machine was incredible!!! And Bela of course tore it up with some crazy banjo tunes! After that we went and sat at the back of Grace Potter for a while in the shade and listened before heading to Warren Haynes. It was my first time seeing Warren Haynes, and he really can shred!! We stuck around for around 30 min before heading to Atmosphere. Atmosphere was a really fun rap show, and the whole crowd was moving in sync. He played Hang my Head Low which the crowd loved. After that we headed to the Decemberists, and we walked up as they were playing O Valencia. They played a lot of their new stuff, but I was pleased that they played lots of old stuff as well. They were a fun show for sure. After that I wandered a bit before heading back to mainstage for My Morning Jacket. I got fairly close for MMJ, I was right by the sound tent on the left. They put on an even better show than last week at Waka. Jim James payed on a Kaossolatior which was supremely cool, and he had on furry white boots, and had a teddy bear onstage with him. My fav songs of the show were Outta My System, Smokin from Shootin after a sick Steam Engine jam, Touch Me Pt. 2, and Wordless Chorus. And Golden was sick! Preservation Hall Jazz band came onstage for the last couple of songs, but Aaron, Meagan, and I were already heading towards Primus.
Primus had a cool stage setup with two GIANT spacemen onstage with screens for facemasks. Les Claypool had on his pig mask for a lot of the show, and he played his sick upright bass. Primus absolutely THREW DOWN!!!! SOOO much fun, I can't wait to see them again. They played a sick Racecar, and at one point a half dozen hang gliders came parachuting from the sky dropping thousands and thousands of led lights over the mainstage and it looked like tons of glitter dropping from the sky. They were attached to paper helicoptors with a QR code and the words Mission Icefly on it. I haven't figured out what it is quite yet, but it was def an awesome way to advertise.
Arcade Fire really surprised me, they put on a great show with lots of energy. Their stage setup was quite cool, and reminiscent of old-school drive in movies. They were extremely talented, and had good control over the crowd. I would go see them again, and I do have a new appreciation for their music.
We then went as a group to Bassnectar and raged HARD!! It was without a doubt the loudest show of the weekend, that tent kept all the bass in and vibrating our bodies :). He played a lot of the same songs from last week, including Pink Elephants. We then went to check out Wayne for a bit before catching Shpongle. Wayne had a huge screen, and appeared to be putting on a good show. We only were there for like 15 min, but we enjoyed that time.
Shpongle was insane as always, but he had a smaller version of the Shpongletron it appeared. After Shpongle we walked past Pretty Lights on the way back to camp to sleep

Bonnaroo Thursday

Thursday morning I woke up and headed over to Kelci's camp and hung out with her and Lee and Dale and Gretchen and Yohanna and Lauren, and I'm forgetting someone's name right now, but they're all new friends! We sat around for a bit talking and a guy came around with some badass Dead coasters that he made out of cherry wood. One has a stealie on it and the other has the American Roses skeleton on it. I then found out that my friend Walt is camped in the same campsite as me, and I went to find him before going to work, but he wasn't there so I left a note. Its weird, everyone I know who is at Bonnaroo is camped in the same group of campsites, which is but a small portion of all the campsites here.
I went to the WET tent and got assigned to the motorpool with a new friend named George, which ended up being an amazing job. All we have to do is whenever a golf cart gets returned we had to go park it and keep the parking area organized. The rest of the time we were sitting on a couch in air conditioning!!! And our supervisor, named Ben, is awesome. He likes to joke around, and he even gave us each a case of water to take with us when we left.
After work I went back to camp and hung with George for a bit before going to meet Meagan and Aaron and Walt at their campsite. We hung there for a bit before I decided to go into Centeroo to check out Sleigh Bells and Beats Antique. I got into Centeroo and found Kelci, Lee, Dale, and Gretchen and we went forward to catch some of Sleigh Bells and get a good spot for Beats Antique. Sleigh Bells had lots of amps and BASS, which is very nice. Beats Antique came on right on time, and they put on a great show as always, with dancers and everything. It was the drummer's birthday, and so the whole crowd sang him happy birthday, which was cool. After a while everyone else was tired so we left to get food, and as we were walking someone over heard me say we were gonna go to Band of Heathens, and he stopped to ask me where, and he bought me a beer and followed Kelci, Gretchen, and I to the show where we sat for a while before heading back to camp. Everyone else pretty much passed out, but Kelci and I stayed up for a while before going to sleep.
This morning after I had woken up the first time and gone to sleep outside, Meagan comes and like lays down on top of me to wake me up, which was quite the surprise haha. Her and Aaron had come over with Hali and Michelle and we hung for a bit, and now I'm in my car writing this on my computer since I no longer have a good phone haha.

Slow day at Bonnaroo

Wedensday morning I woke up and just hung out at my camp for a while reading, I think this is when I finally finished Next, but it may have been the night before. Anyways I started reading Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, and I've enjoyed it so far.I went around putting up posters on the porta potties for Bear Creek and Electric Forest. By this point in the early afternoon, Bonnaroo had opened the gates to the festival, and people were pouring in. I tried to get to the WET tent to pick up more posters but the asshole security guard wouldn't let us through. It was "one way traffic". I even had the Shimon supervisor come try and get us but she couldn't get us through, so we had to walk the LONG way around. After putting up more posters, I went back to camp and took a nap. At some point in the evening I went and met up with my friend Kelci from Nateva last year. They happen to be one campsite area over, and we sat around and drank for a while. I was running to the woods to use the bathroom when I stepped in a pothole and fell down, and when I did, I head a crunch in my hand, and look over to see my iphone screen shattered, and the screen doesn't work anymore, so I got my GOphone that I'm using now.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Getting to Bonnaroo

This morning I woke up around 8 and half slept for another hour before going into walmart for drinks and spagetti-o's. I then headed south to Chattanooga to pick up promo materials for Dexfest, which took about an hour there and an hour back. I then went to Volunteer check-in which was at the local high school and got my credentials and waited until 2 to enter the event site. I got my campsite set up and met my neighbors and have just been relaxing in the shade reading Next all day, other than the barbecue earlier. Prob gonna pass out in like an hour or so.
Until next time...

Monday, June 6, 2011

Road to Roo

Not much to say in this one... Just been driving since Little Rock. In Nashville I saw someone with a SimplePlay sticker, so I figured they're headed to bonnaroo from waka and Louisiana too, so I kept up with them, but lost them in Manchester. Camping in Old Stone Fort State Park was $18, so I'm in WalMart's parking lot with towels over the windows reading Michael Crichton's book Next before going to sleep.

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Last night of Waka!

I woke up around 10 Sunday morning and hung out at the camp a while til Talia and Dana came wandering through, and we just sat in the shade drinking vodka and rum til almost 8 when we headed down to see Toots and the Maytals. They were really fun, and great to dance to. After about a half hour we headed to Zoogma, and continued dancing our asses off. After Zoogma we were headed to Dirtfoot and got separated, so I spent about 15 min running back and forth between the stages before giving up and staying at Dirtfoot. Dirtfoot killed, as always, and they had a pretty large crowd. After all that dancing and running I was pretty tired, so I headed back to camp and read a little before going to bed.
This morning I woke up around 8:30 and had my campsite clean and was leaving waka by 9:30, and now I'm at the CouchSurfer's house in Little Rock, and I just had the most amazing shower!! I think I'm gonna press on, as Bonnaroo is almost 7 hours away.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Waka 3

Yesterday I woke around noonish and just a few min after I got up Dana and Talia came into my campsite. We sat around drinking for a while before heading to Big Sam's Funky Nation. Big Sam's was lots of fun and in the shade! After that we went to mainstage for Galactic. Galactic was awesome as always, and we had a great time dancing on front row. They covered Hard to Handle, which DSO played the night before. After the show was over we headed back to camp and took a nap in my car. Then we 3 headed down to see the Nadis Warriors, and they were awesome as always. They had the flower girls doing an arrangement again this time, and they made an om sign. They played a Nirvana remix that I hadn't heard before and would like to find. Their last song was Michael Jackson remix. 
After that we headed to Ben Harper and sat down to watch that for about 20 min before heading to Hot Buttered Rum. I hadn't listened to them before but Dana and Talia recommended them. They were a really fun bluegrass band from San Fran. They covered Bertha by the Dead, which made me like em even more. From there we went to Papa Grows Funk, another band I hadn't listened to. They were a fun funk band from Nola, and I danced for a while before leaving them to check out Holding Space. On the way I stopped by Thievery Corporation right as they played Lebanese Blonde, and after that awesome song was done, I continued to Holding Space. They were impressive, they had lasers, dancers, people spinning fire, and they even had someone come onstage and do a poetry slam. I would definitely check them out if you get a chance. 
I then headed back to the Revival tent for STS9 again, and sat in the back mist of the show before going to Perpetual Groove. Both were fun but I was exhausted, so I went back to camp to sleep. Now I'm chilling in camp maybe going to go to the river in a bit. 

Waka part two

Instead of Sharon Jones we went to An-Ten-Nae. An-ten-nae was fun but nothing too special. After antennae we went back to a buddies campsite to relax before STS9. We came up like ten min late, but right after we walked up they played Shakedown Street for only the second time. I was there the first night of New Years when they played it. After STS9 was My Morning Jacket, and they were incredible. They had a cool stage setup, and they jam really well. They played one of my favorites, Smoking From Shooting. After that I went to Dark Star Orchestra, and they opened with Bertha. They also played Tennessee Jed early in the set. After a while I went to check out The New Deal, as this is their last year together. They were quite fun, and great jamtronica. I then went to check out Bassnectar, and walked up right as he was coming on. His now stage setup is sick! It's a hue screen behind him and one on his DJ booth. I hung around for a bit, but then he played a Pink Elephants remix from Dumbo, and I decided to leave, as it couldn't get any better. I headed back to DSO and met up with Steve and checked out Skrillex, and then went back and we watched the rest of Dark Star. I met these two cool girls there named Dana and Talia, and we all went back to my campsite to hang out a bit before bed. 

Waka day 1

Yesterday I walked around for a bit in the morning and saw a bunch of people I knew. The first band I checked out was Minus the Bear which was surprisingly fun, then I went to check out Papadosio, which was sick as ever. I talked some new friends into coming to buckethead with me instead of going to Elliot Lipp. We both madethe right decision. Buckethead was AMAZING. He's like from another planet, and uses the bucket to hide his conehead. Haha. He played slap guitar and got real funky. 
After that I went to my campsite by way of Michael Franti and chilled there for a minute and listened with my friends from Nola Alex and Sarah. I took a decent little nap before waking up and realizing I was late for Umphrey's McGee. I rushed down the mountain and walked up on UM playing Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The show just got better from there, they did a 30 minute encore that included a cover of Baba O'Riley by The Who. Right after that was the Quixotic performance, which I hadn't ever hears of and wasn't sure what o expect. It was a full fledged performance art setup. They had awesome music, stage dancers, lasers, costumes, ariel acrobatics, fire dancers, and trapeeze artists. It was quite a show!
After that was Shpongle, and it was everything I imagined and more. The Shpongletron was massive and almost overwhelming. He opened with Divine Moments of Truth and the crowd went wild. After he was done he came back for one more because Ott hadn't shown up yet. For this encore he played I am You, another of my favorite songs. I stayed on that stage for Ott and most of Hallucinogen before making my way up the hill. I stopped by the Grassroots stage to check out Random Rab for a minute, and the Grassroots stage is set up SICK. Visual production everywhere. 

This morning I woke up and rode my bike to get water, which ended up being like a half mile away, and ever since I've been chilling at my spot waiting on the sun to go down and the festivities to start. Sharon Jones comes on in an hour. 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Waka! 6/1

After Sarah and Kevin finally met me we headed to waka. We got there and I waited in line at the box office to get my ticket, but they couldn't find me on the list, after I got everything sorted out I still didn't have a pass for my car. Sarah had a RV pass, but they didn't take it when they gave her the sticker so we reused that ticket. We finally made it to our campsite, and it is a pretty good ways from the main stage. But it has a great view. Our neighbors are awesome, they already gave us some leftover steaks and corn and salad they had. And they have invited us to dinner each night. They're good people from St. Louis. We're sitting here listening to music and just drinking and smoking the night away.
Waka tomorrow!!! Dirtfoot in the morning!

Waiting for Waka 6/1

Yesterday I woke up and no one else was awake so I watched Star Wars, which I haven't seen in a long time. There still wasn't anyone awake so I packed my stuff up and went to find something new in LR. A homeless man at a gas station recommended a park where I hung out awhile before continuing on. I drove all through the Ozark National Forest and saw some amazing things. Eventually I stopped at Redding Campsite and woke up this morning and went on a bike ride then swam with some new friends. Now I'm packed up and waiting on Sarah to meet me.