The urge to continue to sleep is strong, however so is the urge to finish up some work for the office. Or at least attempt to wake up at a relative hour today. Being as stubborn as I am, the idea of not going to City Stages because of the knee was unthinkable. I think its silly until I see others in worse shape than I trying to get to their favorite stage.
The smaller festival footprint (along with the buzz about Taylor Hicks making an appearance at the Miller Lite stage during Snoop Dogg’s performance) made for a much more “close knit” experience as the day went on. Standing over at the mypeople.com stage during the Los Lonely Boys one couldn’t help but realize the crowds as they left early to scout out their spot for one of the two big shows. I cannot speak for the Coca Cola Classic Stage, but the Miller Lite Stage was packed. The second video screen was definitely helpful for some, especially as some realized that the harmonica licks being heard through the night sky were from the mic of Taylor Hicks. I think I can now say I’ve seen everything in music: The American Idol playing harmonica for a live version of “Gin and Juice” with the crowd singing along the whole way. The crowd won out though; the idea of trying to find a spot to set up a chair in that area would have been crazy.
Other interesting finds and comments from during the day:
Rantings of Eva – probably the tightest sounding band I’ve heard at this year’s festival. They were on the Homegrown stage but they’re out of Atlanta. Here’s the link to their MySpace page.
Los Lonely Boys – Second time they’ve been at City Stages. They sounded better this time.
The drum line and the climbing wall were pretty busy yesterday afternoon. I doubt I’ll make it all the way through this evening. We’ll see if I can’t find some more pictures later.
So, if you’re a resident downtown= no ATM access – Interesting to note that as downtown’s residential base has grown, their needs have as well. The days of the second Southtrust ATM sitting on 2nd Avenue outside of the festival grounds are over, so with more than 3,000 people in the downtown area, why cut off access to their ATMs for the weekend? Just a thought if the guys from the festival read this.
More later.
Cheers.
P.S. The pictures are over here.
