Blues and Roots

what a weekend! what a ridiculously busy and fun filled weekend we've had.

it all started on friday evening, when my ultimate team hosted a fundraiser at Rosie O'Grady's in northbridge. it was good times had by all (some more then others, it appeared). a late night train ride home, followed by an extremely frustrating experience trying to get a cab from freo (because my feet were sore and there was no way i was walking home), we didn't get in until rather late (well, for me. some fo you would probably consider it early). the evening was a success and we've raised enough money to fly our coach in with us, as well as knock some cash off of the registration fees. if you've been meaning to sponsor me but have simply let it slip by, don't worry, you still have 3 weeks to wire me the money (no, i'm serious)

saturday was the first day of the west coast blues and roots fest. this was supposed to be headlined by dave matthews and the roots, but both of the bands pulled out unfortunately. but not to worry. many other amazing acts were lined up for the day, including bela fleck, the ubiquious banjo player. the festival venue had a main stage and a smaller stage set up in a tent, with music being played continuously from approximately 11am until 10:30pm (on both days). we didn't know many of the bands because a lot of them were australian, but we know them now. and i'll recommend them to you further down this blog. we left during the last band on saturday night as we were tired from the night before, and from standing all day. thankfully, it cooled down at night (a bit more then we had planned for, actually).

sunday began with a nice long ultimate practice, then right into day 2 at the festival. sunday was headlined by john mayer and ben harper. john has informed me that ben harper and the innocent criminals has stolen the crown of "best live act" from the beastie boys...which were tough shoes to steal. needless to say, it was awesome. we stood pretty close to the main stage for the better part of the day because everyone we wanted to see was playing there. i couldn't stand any longer for ben harper, so my friend amanda and i headed to the back and leaned against some trees. which isn't a bad way to go when you're not tall enough to see the stage when you're close anyhow. john perservered and got some good pics for all of you.

some bands that i recommend to people from this weekend (in no particular order, other then how i can remember them): john butler trio, missy higgins, ben kweller, the waifs, xavier rudd, the cat empire and custom kings. the rest were good too, but these bands stood out to john and i.

i was informed by my most musical husband that this was not a typical folk festival but rather a mainstream music festival. there are differences...including the amount of alcohol consummed (less at folk), sitting vs. standing for the shows (folk vs. mainstream), artists playing more then once (folk) etc.

the festival had your typical group of pseudo-hippies - dreads, macrame-top, patchouli oiled, barefoot, music lover - in droves. many of them smoking cigarettes (which seems to me to go against the hippy lifestyle, but i digress). there was also a new breed of festival goer that i discovered. i'll call them "faris" (for fake paris...hilton). tons of girls in their little dresses, -many with the black leggings, many without- cleave tops, stilettos, 'uge sunglasses that hide their face so well they don't need sunblock. it seems odd to me to wear that kind of stuff at a festival where you walk over people, you sit in the dirt and you stand all day. but whatever. i'm guessing they were trying to score john mayer. in that case, maybe i should call them "fessicas". :)

the plans for this easter weekend are to hit up the Avon valley (pronounced aaaavon, not ehvon. i'll have another lesson up soon) to do some camping. it's supposed to be quite warm so it should be nice. hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!

-- the pics are bela fleck, xavier rudd, john mayer and ben harper. for some reason, blogger isn't very compatible with our Mac and i can't add titles to pics.

xo