A friend suggested we see Ray LaMontagne at opening night of Summerfest, and I happened to win free tickets from Miltown Moms (which is a great resource for moms, and you should definitely check out) the day before. I can’t tell you the last time I was at Summerfest, but I can assure you it was more than a decade ago! We parked in some free parking downtown, then paid $1 and hopped on one of the busses heading to Summerfest.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Ray LaMontagne (my dear friend Jessamy even sang one of his songs at our wedding), but it was somehow too mellow. Maybe it was because I haven’t listened to too much of his music since his second album, and I was surprised at how psychedelic it sounded. We stayed for a few songs, but ended up leaving that stage and walking around. I should add that it was way colder than any of us dressed for, so part of the motivation was to keep warm.
Because I’m apparently an old lady, I basically just gawked at drunk folks and how short teenage girls’ shorts were. My friends and I stopped at one stage that had country music, and then ended up upon Trombone Shorty.
This was definitely the musical highlight for me. I let go of feeling embarrassed about dancing, and got my groove on to some seriously good music. The crowd was having a blast, myself included. I’d go back to see Trombone Shorty ANY day!
Next we stopped to see Neon something or other, a band which my friends had heard of. Mostly in the context of “my niece loves this song!” or “yeah I think this is on the radio”. They were doing a Pixies cover, and I’m pretty sure much of the audience didn’t know it was a cover. But the next few songs were alright and then we realized it was almost midnight.
We made it back to the bus with a million other people, and got dropped off near the car. It was pretty easy to get to/from the grounds, and worth it to go. There are of course a ton of bands I’d like to see, but this night will probably be my only attendance at Summerfest for this year.
Any of you been to Summerfest this year? Who did/do you want to see?
A. Storm
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