Of all the years I’ve been, I would say that this year’s concert was one of the more mellow ones. We were surrounded by a good crowd, no one so annoying we wish they’d roll down the hill. Well, there was this one guy. He obviously had enjoyed quite a few spirits and was now convinced he was Tom Waits.
My favorite for the night would have to be the real gravel voiced one, who performed with the Kronos Quartet. He’s a pretty weird dude; right up my ally, and reminded me a bit of a Tim Burton movie.
I have to give props to John Mayer – he may look like the second coming of the ice man, but he’s got a good set of pipes. And does quite well acoustically.
Jerry Lee Lewis, on the other hand looked like a robot. He could walk and he could play the piano – but that’s about it. The rest of him didn’t really move; except his lips, and understanding him was a challenge.
Metallica gets the award for the act that performed least like how I thought they would. They only sang two of their own songs. But, if you think about it, most of their songs are hard to convert for acoustic performances, so I can understand why they would sing covers. Don’t get me wrong, they sung those songs well, it just wasn’t necessarily what I expected.
The evening was pleasant and the night not very cold. The moon and clouds were beautiful and added a bit of the mystic to the evening, so close to Halloween.
There are a few things I will do differently next year. First, I will bring a chair like a friend of mine has, which inflates into a thin mat that you fold in half and clip together to stay in place; it basically moves with you because it has no frame, and must be far more comfortable than the ground for six hours. There will also be larger blankets involved, so more people can comfortably be covered as the chill of the night sets into place. I also want a pillow.
Other than that, I think my group’s got things pretty down. There are members of the group that I only see at the Bridge School concerts; it’s become a tradition – a reunion of sorts.
I hope to have some pictures soon that are decent enough to warrant sharing. Will keep you posted.