Admittedly, it took me a while to get this final post up and I have no good reason other than I’m roiling with the winter-is-a-comin’ blues and other life things keeping my mind occupied. Going through these photos and re-living the festival has been a bright spot since the last day of the fest’s weekend and I’m a little sad it’s all over. But one fantastic thing about this is you get to enjoy the spoils of my trip and check out some of the great bands I encountered over the very full weekend. The highlights for me were in no particular order (and no particular night):
- Shaina Shepherd: Holy crappola, I mean I know I’m WAY behind the curve on this one and of course I knew of her, but I’d never seen a live show before and it most definitely won’t be my last.
- Beverly Crusher: I’ve known these dudes (at least in a previous iteration) for a while now and their individual members are such rad people but put together they are one hell of a show and one hell of a band.
- Iska Dhaaf: Welcome back fellas because hot damn, it’s been a minute but it was great to see you up on that stage once again. I was talking to a friend about who these folks are and brought back crazy memories of Mad Rad and their absolutely insane on-stage antics.
- Oliver Elf Army: A friend has been gushing about this trio for ages, but they don’t play down in the city all that often so catching them in their hometown was rad. What a fun show and what a talented set of folks, can’t wait for the next chance to see them in all their glory.
- Blood Lemon: These three are from Idaho and I’m so excited that they came all the way over to the coast to hang out with us. Not only did they absolutely shred it during their set, but their bassist ended up filling in with Built to Spill too. I’m telling you, keep an eye on this band and more importantly set an ear to their music asap.
- Black Ends: While I didn’t get to catch much of their set because it was late on the final day and I’m an oldster (and I was headed over to Iska Dhaff to boot) but the few songs I caught I were really exciting. I can’t wait to get a bigger bite of them both listening and in person.
And there you have it folks. Feast your eyes on some sweet sweet live music, lets soak it in while we can.