It was a hippie fest...and I got a free CD out of it!

Saturday, June 28th

It was the first annual Lazy River Arts and Music Festival in Vasa Park for South Elgin, which hosted bands from across the country, unique vendors and concert goers from all decades---and a large group of traveling - camping - music - loving - stuck in the '60's modern-day-hippies. That might even be an understatement!

Finding our way to this fest on a Saturday morning in Elgin, Ill., was the first task to complete---and it wasn't that easy. If you have ever been to Elgin, trying to find this festival in the middle of the woods is quite the challenge. Compared to other

festivals I've been to, this one wasn't exactly planned as well. Granted it was their first year to hold this event, but it was poorly planned and executed. We had a hard time finding our site and the people in charge lacked communication skills.

Putting all that aside, Kristen (intern) and I set the tent up in an open field to the right of the main stage. To reiterate, the staff in charge of this really had no idea what was going on, therefore by putting us by the main stage was one of the best things they could have done for us. I have mentioned in previous entries that this internship has done a pretty good job at teaching me about music and introducing me to some really great bands.

Although my six hour shift was slow, there are a few events I must document:

• I encountered many hippies - who, by the way, live in tents, some that don't fully clothe themselves
• Hippies like to hula-hoop to music---any music...even if it's in their head
• Kristen and I were almost taken away by a microburst that resulted in getting soaked and shaken up by the lightening and thunder that we swore struck the ground we were standing on--we constructed a makeshift umbrella/poncho out of plastic banners
• Canadians are very opinionated; XRT is Chicago's top rock radio station. We're interns, not DJ's, so we cannot play your garage band music, sorry.

My favorite memory of this event had to be meeting The Bridge, a band from Maryland that combines "various elements of blues, folk, funk and bluegrass" to create a unique sound among their several instrumentalist and vocalists. Their easy-listening and approachable music is a key element in all of their compositions. After their set, I decided to see how much their CD's were, but instead sparked up a conversation with their lead singer, Cris Jacobs, and he gave me a complimentary copy of their recent album.

Although I was skeptical in the beginning of the day, it turned out to be a great experience---especially because I got a free CD out of it! I hopped on a train back downtown, to quickly learn the Sox beat the Cubs in one of the Crosstown Classic games of the series and went home.

All in all--I'd say it was a good day.

Check out >>The Bridge