Binky, risking life, limb and her sense of smell for the rest of her life, went off to the AllGood Festival yesterday. She went (obviously, for those that know her) mostly to see the The Flaming Lips, but was content to sit through the rest of the hippie-jam-band music/experience. She reported in this morning:
1. The Flaming Lips were awesome. They played a long set, including "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "War Pigs", and finished around 3:30AM. They remain the most awesomest band ever.
2. The traffic getting into the festival was bad. It took 6 hours to drive 2 miles. Someone didn't plan well.
3. Les Claypool wasn't bad, had some sort of strange bass/mic-stand combination thingy that he beat on with a stick, and wasn't too tricky/techy/Geddy Lee like (older people will understand that reference).
4. It has rained much in the last two days. There is mud. Lots of mud.
5. There are no showers. She danced around a bunch last night. There is mud (see #4, above). Draw your own conclusions.
6. Her original plan called for her to return tonight. Since no plan survives contact with the enemy (see #4, above), that plan has been discarded in favor of attempting to drive out of the mud in daylight, to reduce the chances of getting her car stuck up to its axles in, well, mud. Hence, she now plans to return tomorrow.
7. Her cellphone works. Sort of. In high places. Sometimes.
8. It is 85, with 70% humidity, and there is no shade. It is "hot".9. She has peanut butter and Starbucks Doubleshots, and thus won't starve or get cranky
10. She is having fun.
11. The Flaming Lips were, are, and will be awesome (see #1, above)
Mud, hippie-jam-band-shit, oppresive humidity, peanut butter and hippies. I think I'm glad I'm here. Good luck, binky.
(I'm sure we'll get some sort of report from her in a day or two. We might even get another update today. Stay tuned...)
Posted by baltar at July 16, 2005 09:50 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Music"Most awesomest band ever"? Well, I'm not sure I would go that far. But most awesomest live band ever, yes. And most awesomest band that's together recording music (cough Pink Floyd cough Led Zepplin cough cough) maybe.
And, I'll have a full report over on the Zine side of things after I've had a few showers and have time to write up/collect some more pieces we have in the works (e.g. I think J. Young will also have something to contribute).
Posted by: binky at July 17, 2005 02:47 PM | PERMALINKAll Good was everything it was built up to be, 16,000 people in a place that only holds 15,000. Rain, mud, snow, hurricane, the Lips, Les Claypool, and Umphrey's... How can you have a bad time????
Posted by: Allen at July 21, 2005 03:54 AM | PERMALINKIt's definitely hard to have a bad time when seeing the Lips (see item #10). Baltar was ribbing me when he sad they were the "awesomest" (not a word I would choose but a sentiment I endorse). I even dragged him, a man whose first concert was Iron Maiden (or was it Judas Priest? I forget) to a Lips show, and got the admission that they are one of the best live acts he's seen.
I was a little, ah, peeved however that it took me as long to get to a festival virtually in my back yard as it did to make it to Coachella on the other coast. I had heard from friends that Allgood was getting too big, and also that they were capping sales/admission at 10,000. he problem is WV roads... perhaps if Byrd get re-elected we can get him to widen the access with federal taxes.
And a final note, I'd say the woman having the drug freakout in her tent a few feet away from mine was experiencing one way to have a bad time, and her friends trying to get her to cool down were experiencing a second. It's too bad, but to be expected in thta kind of setting.
Posted by: binky at July 21, 2005 08:47 AM | PERMALINKAll Good had its moments and it's moments:
Good:
Umphrey's!!!!!!
Lips!!!!!
Ozolmatli...see this band soon!
Dark Star...sick set(unreal eyes of the world)
the pitas at the Irie Kitchen..yum and only $5
our parking/camping spot exactly 10 feet from the ticket booths (ie:no getting stuck, no waiting in line to get out, no flooded campsite
not good:
rain & mud (to be expected though-no worries)
no schedule or map of venue given
shows didn't stick to schedule anyway
didn't clean the port-o-johns
WV roads - yikes
any show other than the lips on friday