WE FEST 2007

I'm back.

This weekend was WE FEST in Wilmington, a totally DIY art/music show that lasts all weekend. Thomas was on the board of it, and so we have been recieving CDs from bands for the last couple of weeks. We'd been listening and developing favorites and went into WE Fest this year with a vengeance.

Here were some of the highlights:



Second Dan, an awesome band from New York that has a very driving, melodic, "Old Radiohead" kind of feel to it. They were my favorite from the outset, and I was very excited to see them Friday night. On Saturday, they did a show from Thomas's store's parking lot, which is what you see here. They were awesome people, and very enthusiastic just to be heard and get their music out there, even if it meant playing in the sweltering parking lot of the comic book store. Initially, we had intended for them to do an acoustic set indoors, but since all the other stores in the strip mall were closed, we decided to go ahead and do the whole thing outside. It was awesome. And the awesome was compounded by the fact that the whole time we felt like the police could show up, a la the concert from Apple Studios.



Chris Cubeta and The Liars Club was another great band from New York. I was really impressed with these bands who drove all night to get here in Memorial Day traffic to play for free. What incredible, talented people made up this band. Thomas arranged for them to play a pre-show gig at Lula's (our favorite bar downtown). I was not a believer in this idea, as Lula's is tiny and I thought it would be too crowded...too loud. As usual, I was totally wrong and it was brilliant. I'm hard pressed to say whether I enjoyed them more plugged or unplugged. Excellent lyrics, vocals, harmonies, and seriously, some of the nicest people I've met in a long time. They sound a bit like the Counting Crows.

Other highlights:

The Sammies (The song "Falling Out" kills me).
Olivia and the Housemates (Very nice horns--a bit of a ska feeling to it).
FilthyBird (Awesome girl vocalist: Grace Slick meets Robert Smith).

I had a great time all around and consumed enough beer to fell a small elephant. Today I feel moody and silent because of it.

I kept thinking throughout the festival that I'm so proud of Thomas for getting involved in these things and grateful to him for bringing me out of my shell about them. I would have never, ever gone to WE Fest without him and I had a wonderful time.

I also thought a lot about the fact that although sometimes the ticking of the biological clock in my ear drowns out all other noise, I'm glad to still just be the two of us, going to music festivals and getting drunk and staying out all night.