After a leisurely morning, and a breakfast of pretzels, a big apple & water, I wanted to see G-Love (who replaced Sugar Ray last-minute) at the East Stage, but he didn't start 'til a half-hour later, so I headed off to the West Stage with the rest of the group (vodka & cranberry juice bottles in hand) to see Oleander, one of Scott's favorite bands. They were pretty decent, and it was an enjoyable set.
When I finally left the others to head over to G-Love, I got distracted by the music coming from the Emerging Artist Stage (in a converted airplane hangar). I found myself at the Bijou Phillips show, and was enjoying the music (and my booze buzz) so much, that I volunteered to get up on stage to dance with her. Thankfully, she chose three other dudes instead, for she had them strip down to their skivvies, and today was the one day I had on colored briefs (brick red, if you care) instead of boxers. So they hammed it up for her, she sang her ass off, and I danced in the crowd and got a bit pickled. Fun was had by all.It was SO hot and humid mid-afternoon that I spent the next ninety minutes in the movie tent next door, watching "The Mask", catching my breath, guzzling water, and keeping still in one of the few (relatively) cool spots at the entire event. The film was as funny as I remembered, and it was good to get out of the press of humanity for a bit. After the movie, and stops to fill my empty bottle with water from the fountain, eat a couple of five-dollar hot dogs (meat goooood!), and buy a cool silver ring, I finally made my way to the East Stage, just in time to meet up with Scott & Lisa to see Live (who were very good), and then Sheryl Crow, who was fantastic. The three of us had seen her at The Orpheum in Boston back on May 5th with Semisonic, and she was just as good today as she was back then, but in a different way (more raw & powerful, and more playful too). We spent part of the time watching from the middle-back of the crowd, and the rest watching her on the big round screen off to the side, so we could breathe, and make it out quickly after her set. Plus we got tired of all the meatheads bellowing "Show us your tits!" at her between songs. Weak. Highlights included "Favorite Mistake", "Everyday is a Winding Road", and "Sweet Child O'Mine".
On the way back to the tents we stopped at the Emerging Artist Stage again, and caught a bit of then "It-Kid" Ben Lee. He sucked. Maybe it was the heat (mid-nineties and high humidity all day), maybe it was his music (probably a combo of both), but none of us really cared for his voice, and we headed off to our campsite slightly deflated. When we got back to the tents, we all compared notes for a bit, and the other five all headed back out into the mob to the East Stage to see The Offspring and then Korn perform. Personally, I was wiped out. So I drank a lot of water, had another apple, popped out my contact lenses, and read part of the book ("Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian) I had brought for any downtime I might have. After about a hundred pages, and George Clinton playing off in the distance on the West Stage, I was out like a light (circa 9:30 pm!). I wound up sleeping for twelve straight hours. What a first day!
"Bitch & Moan" Excuses #3 and #4 Spoiled: T-shirts were $30, and I didn't think that was a good deal, so I didn't buy one (in contrast, the silver ring with imbedded black salamanders all around it was worth the $25 to me). And sure, the hot dogs were five bucks each, but we had brought plenty of food with us (apples, pretzels, sports bars, etc...), and by planning ahead yet again, we weren't "forced" to pay the high vendor prices unless we chose to.
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