Well, we made it to Detroit Lakes Minnesota and the 10,000 Lakes Festival around 6:00 yesterday. We didn’t leave Madison as soon as we wanted to, cuz after the Council meeting, I gave someone a ride home and my car finally broke down (alternator) and I didn’t get home until after having my car towed . . . it was after 3:00, so I “slept in” and we didn’t leave town until 9:00. When we got here, we set up camp and were able to find one of the last trees in Lake Sallie that gave us some shade this morning so I could really sleep in. After setting up the tent and the canopy tent, we had a few beers(Guinness for me and Island Wheat for Rob) and then went to check out the bands.
First up – Blueground Undergrass. At first, all I heard was pretty straight up rock and I asked Rob if they were going to play bluegrass. He said, well, it may sound like rock but they are playing a banjo and a fiddle. And sure enough, after listening for a while, the blue grass started to come out. My favorite song they did was Midnight Moonlight which I think is a Peter Rowan tune. I was amazed that at 9:22 in the evening it was still light out. (I’ll try to add photos later)
Next – we checked out That 1 Guy and I’m glad we did. I expected some weird Art Paul Schlosser thing to be going on based on the description in the pamphlet: A magnificently insane one-man show, That 1 guy performs on the unwieldy homemade instrument “The Magic Pipe”. And not only did he play the magic pipe which was some kind of harp/drum/slide guitar. He also played the electric boot and electric saw. It really reminded me of seeing Rob Wasserman playing his electric stick bass on the same stage a few years ago and it sounded a little like Les Claypool. And it reminded me even more of Les Claypool as the crowd caved in to the bounce – the whole crowd, bounding up and down in unison. I said the music was funky, tho Rob corrected me and said it was ultra-funky. That 1 guy was as fascinating to watch as he was to listen to. He had pointy porkchop sideburns and his amish/hasidic jew/cowboy hat and curly hair.
I was really impressed by all the sound coming from the stage until I saw the DJ off to the side and then I couldn’t figure out which sounds were coming from the magic pipe and the looping machine and which were the DJ. However, it was well worth the trip up the hill, not only for the music, but for the Guinness. Most of his songs were orginal, however he did do a version of “Word Up” by Cameo which was a little surprising.
So far, the festival was like so many festivals, hippies, glowing things that are cool the first time you see them and annoying by the end of the summer. It was as crowded as it was on Friday and Saturday night last time I was here, so I suspect this festival has grown more than I realized. And as far as festival grounds, this place is hooked up, complete with “taxis”, showers, flush toilets, internet access (obviously) and just about everything you could need. The only annoying thing so far, is the pebbles that keep getting caught in my shoes But I digress . . .
On to Wookiefoot! The soul reason we made sure we were here by Wednesday night – I even had my Board of Directors reschedule the meeting so I could be here for this! And they did not disappoint. They kicked it off with bagpipe solo and went into Mushroom Jazz. The stage was filled with dancers. The second song they kicked it up a notch and the dancers were fire dancing to Get Out of My Way. The third song was one of my absolute favorites The Frog and the Scorpion. The fourth song was All You Can Eat Buffet (Go USA!) and then, I just stopped keeping track and enjoyed the rest of the show and as always, with Wookiefoot, it was a show, not just on stage, but all around. The fans are as much of the show as the band. Well, ok, there’d be no show without the band, but the fans are one of a kind.
I’m not sure if you can see this, but the big guy in the black t-shirt has a tree branch duct taped – er, majorly duct taped – to his head.
The evening was full of random weirdness, like the girl who insisted that I “put em up” for a hug attack, and the obligatory things like getting hit by at least one flying glo stick and the hippies cleaning up the garbage after the show, most likely looking for groundscores as much as worrying about the environment and being kind. Over all, a great way to kick off the festival and I hope the sign that the rest of the weekend is going to be wonderful.
So far this morning, I slept in, Rob made breakfast and we grabbed the computer and wandered up to the Saloon Stage to hear the Super American Happy Fun Good Time Jamband and the Saloon is packed and hardly a place to sit outside. They’re a good jam band, and its great to be blogging, drinking a Guinness (with ice in it! Ick.) and sitting in the shade. Next up Green Lemon on the Saloon Stage. More to come.
See here for Thursday , Friday and Saturday 10K Lakes reports.
