Day 191 - September 19th 2009
I hear a soul crushing beeping noise as I lay in bed. It’s Saturday…What in the blue hell am I doing with my alarm clock on so early. I’d hit the snooze button but my cell’s downstairs. I wipe the crust from my es and mouth in on fell swoop and look at the time, it’s 7AM. Am I on crack? Then I remember. Today ‘s the day…the really BIG day.
The 1st (hopefully annual) Jefferson Square Music Festival was going to take place today in South Philly and boy did it take me less than 5 minutes to be excited about it. Ever since I started booking bands I’ve always wanted to put together a music festival. Just before I got the gig with Bang Camaro I was actually attempting to plan one for this summer, that was not to be unfortunately. But in June Steve Lamonica, Kelvin Cochrane (from The Absolute Zeros) and Mark Hurst, the entertainment director for Jefferson Square came to me and asked me for my help planning the festival. I helped them secure Dick Valentine as the Festval’s Headliner and then we took off from there. By the time we were done we had two stages, 21 acts, and 12 hours of entertainment and it was pretty much left up to me to run most of the procedural stuff. I was stoked. We had some great bands in store for the day and to boot it was being broadcasted on radio volta.
Phrequency.com said this about our festival; “The festival is being pretty ambitious with its 21 band line-up, but it is a nice way to get a taste of what’s being created in the city.”
Ambitious…Ambitious! I took this as an insult of sorts like they were saying that it was impossible for us to start on time and end on time with 21 acts. Of course it’s possible if people show up when they’re supposed to, set up quickly and don’t run over their time. This little write up was motivation to make sure things ran off without a hitch.
I got there about 9am with Steve and I was pretty tired right off the bat. 3 hours of sleep will do that. We kicked things off with our flea market/feel out bands The Parachuting Apostles and Wyldlyfe, two great young bands with a lot of energy and a great sound. There were some initial problems, The Apostles were a few minutes late and Wyldlyfe had some equipment issues but we started on time.
As the day wore on I realized that you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to do this. Weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Me running back and forth between stages making sure people know that they have to get the lead out. So many great acts over the course of the day, particular Highlights included The Parachuting Apostles, Wyldlyfe, Andrea Nardello, Victor Victor Ban Amy Regan, Lee Morgan, The Absolute Zeros, Menya, Chang Chang, Wes Mattheau and The New Way Down, and Allison Polans just to name a few. I was really inspired by so many different people doing such different music in one place.
By the time it was time for me to go on I was already spent and I hear a voice behind me I turn around and there he was…Dick Valentine of Electric Six right there shaking my hand, I can’t thank him enough for showing up and playing. Kelvin introduced me as the star of the show, with a guy who’s performed all over the world still to take the stage, no pressure right.
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
How Can This Be Love
The Way You Make Me Feel
Feels So Good
Hangover
Leavin
It was one of those gigs where it probably sounded a lot better than it felt at first. The sound guys were putting weird delays and what not on my vocals and it took me back a bit. My cable wasn’t working wither which also prevented me from enjoying the moment at first but then I realized what exactly was going on. I’m fulfilling a dream playing at a festival that I helped put together. This is my moment ad I was determined to step into it, pretend I was a superstar and finish the set in such a fashion. Hangover with the Zeros was a bit strange we probably need to rehearse it before we do it again. But all in all it was a good set.
Dick Valentine graced the stage and rocked the crowd and at 9:50 the festival was over…on time just like I said. I really had a lot of fun and thought the festival was a roaring success. Maybe not roaring but still a success.
We had some fun at the after party at Lickety Split and then I went home and hit the bed.
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