Post-Festie (Lock'n) Musings: 

Now that I am home and bathed and scrubbed off the festie-dust, I find myself daydreaming about the jam-packed weekend of music and revelry.  Call it a mid-life crisis or call it re-connecting with my youth, but this summer I trekked to a couple of music festivals.  It was life-affirming, community-building and just plain so much fun!  Since it has been such a long time since I have been On The Bus, I thought it would be fun to compare and contrast the good ole days when i toured decades ago to some of the new generation's cultures and concert traditions.....

What's New at Shows: 

1) Totems - Long poles with some creative sculpture or knick-knack or stuffed animal or flag at the top (ie. giant heads, giant jelly-fish, flag of Jerry playing guitar, giant parasols, wind-socks, stuffed monkey with feathers in his hat, etc)  - a sort of rallying point for groups or fun identifying mascot (often accented with glowy things, see below).  These are fun! And they do help you find your friends without technology (see below), however, I could do without the larger more distracting ones that somehow get front and center and bob up and down in front of the performers all night.  Maybe I am just old and cranky, but I wanted to actually see them performing without having to bob and weave my head to see behind the giant jelly-fish or yellow balloon.  But in the campsite they were fun to see looming above the tent-line identifying the mini-villages of friends gathering around makeshift living rooms and kitchens under pop-up tents.  

2) LOTS of Glowy things - glow sticks flying through the air; hula hoops flashing and glowing as they twirl; hanging from totems; hanging on people and from their hats, wrists, necks, and (see below)

3) Costumes - Head to toe ornate costumes from super-heroes to dancing bears to cats in the hat to just crazy, fun attire (often adorned with glowy things)

4) Lawn chairs galore!  We never brought chairs to shows, but now there are a formidable pervasiveness of chairs forming Great Walls of Chairs which are difficult to maneuver around once it is dark and everyone is standing and dancing anyway! Makes me miss the days we either just laid down a blanket or just joined the mosh of shoulder-to-shoulder bobbing and weaving to the tunes.  Of course, I was glad to have one when my knees couldn't take the non-stop dancing and twirling anymore and I needed to take a load off!  

5) VIP Sections that are built up on platforms in the center of the venue and various prime view of stage locations and obscure the stage-view for the minions (boo, hiss!) 

6) Technology:  

On-line ticket purchases or last minute miracle grabs from stub-hub or Craig's List (remember when you had to just stand in the parking lot with a cardboard sign that said "i need a miracle!" or your fingers in the air for the number of tickets you needed); 

Email teasers announcing line-up additions to get your mouth watering months before-hand and a web-page chock full of venue facts and bands' info to study up on and pontificate to your fellow festie-goer's despite the fact that they probably read it too;

   

Giant screens so you can see up close and personally what is happening on stage (great for failing eyesight or when the VIP section is blocking the actual performers);

Texting friends when you can't find them and them texting back with a .jpeg visual of where they're sitting; 

Instant uploads to social media to let your friends back home see the fun they are missing; 

Venue updates tweeted directly to your phone; 

7) Shake-down Street is not run out of tail-gates open displaying bumper stickers and sheets on the ground full of fresh tie-dyes but way more organized vendor tents throughout the venue with everything from fair-trade macrame jewelry to bohemian fare galore!  But still room for roaming artists to sell their pins and t-shirts, too! 

8) Healthy food options:  There is still the variety of greasy food options with a very nice addition of the Jerry Roll (a Ginormous Egg Roll big enough for 2 meals), but also a local fare food-court with healthier alternatives including vegan fare and kombucha!  

9) The average age of show-goers used to be my age.  Of course, that is not exactly what has changed about shows, but definitely more about me :)  Yet, it was definitely a multi-generational crowd and although I may not have been the youngest, I was definitely far from the oldest.  and felt like a kid again :)  

What hasn't changed: 

One thing that hasn't changed much (along with the perma-cloud over the audience and hippie chicks in cool clothes) is the feeling of shared community that always made it so special.  I am feeling especially Grateful for my "village" for the advance team getting us a great camping spot in preferred camping (yup, that's a new thing, too - tiered areas according to price - see VIP above), saving me a spot and putting up my tent which was awaiting me upon arrival; Providing and making breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks; and Sharing just about anything and everything!  There was literally nothing you forgot that someone didn't have and was grateful to share and vice-versa.  And that genuine feeling of appreciating everyone for just who they are - no pretense or cookie-cutters here, folks!  Unless, of course, you want to make cookies in the sun-oven then someone is bound to have one you can use.  :)  

Originally written Fall 2014