Hoot 15 bands

Yeah, it has gotten out of hand about how long this has taken. The bands were good this year, albeit more "Phish-like" than the wide-spectrum show last year. In order of appearance-

Hootenanny Band Reviews
Grateful Buds We missed the beginning of their set, but they are a heavily blue-grass influenced Grateful Dead-ish band. Think Dead covers with a banjo, but better than that.

Bottleneck Blues I thought they'd be a blues band, and at points they were. At other times, they were more of a middle-of-the-road rock power trio. Pretty good festival music, and the crowd liked them even if most were busying themselves with setting up camp more than grooving.

Joytribe One of our favorites from last year, and they held up to a foggy memory. Lead singer can belt, and her multi-instrument skills are better this year than last. Very fun, active, get-your-body-moving music.

The Hillwilliams were one of the bands we loved last year. These guys rocked the late-night tent last year, though we missed their late show this year. Solid blue-grass / country / Americana music.

Kina Lyn and the Hat Rack Kina can wail. I mean fantastic pipes. The only weak point in their performance was in her rhythm guitar playing: it jacked the beat. They should add a second guitar so she can focus on singing which she does incredibly well. Her singing was so strong, that I really can't remember the Hat Rack. It's almost like seeing Big Brother and the Holding Company back in the day. You remember Janis just wailing, but the band? Shrug. Can't remember. Keep the guitar for writing, Kina. Great stuff.

Jesta wasn't as good as I had expected them to be. Think Phish-like songs with odd segments cutting against the groovy. The vocals weren't terribly strong and the vocal lines weren't very advanced, but the instrument musicianship was really good. Maybe they should pair up with a stronger singer who can write vocal lines?

Urban Shaman is a new formation of Vivid Curve. We absolutely loved Vivid Curve last year, so we were very excited to see their new formation. Unfortunately, part of what made Vivid Curve so good was the charisma of the guitar player. Without him, Urban Shaman lacked the draw-them-in magnetism. The didgeridoo was, of course, spot on, and the drummer was so much the same, he even wore the same hat as last year. Still, without the guitarist, they weren't quite as good.

Rainbow Electric Of the run of bands, Rainbow Electric may have been the weakest, but I think its probably better said as least experienced. They looked under 21, but had a great vibe. They were just new at the game, and didn't have the chops or material to carry a full set. Given time and practice, they'll be good.

Yur Daddy Last year, Yur Daddy arrived with a huge entourage. All weekend, the YurDaddies walked around with bandannas around their heads to draw attention. They had a dedicated camping zone. When Yur Daddy took the stage, their crowd jammed into the front of the concert bowl. This year, the entourage didn't come to the Hoot. That changed how Yur Daddy played. Their songs were the same, but didn't have as much life. The solos were good, but didn't have that cock-of-the-walk energy that was prevalent last year. We're still Yur Daddy fans, but missed the energy they had last year.

Shafty We'd never seen Shafty before, though I've seen Phish a few times. Shafty does a very good carbon-copy of Phish. Extremely good. If you like Phish, you can close your eyes and imagine Trey and company when you hear Shafty. If you've never seen Phish, and want to experience their sound in a tiny venue with less than 100 people, go see Shafty. Great show fellas; you should have closed the first night if not the whole festival. I'm not a very big Phish-head, but you really nailed it.

Garcia Birthday Band Somewhere along the way, GBB changed guitarists. I don't know when, and I can't tell from their website, but the guy who started the whole thing isn't in the band anymore. Oh well. I think that makes the entire band has turned over since I first saw them play under the trees out at the Edgefield to celebrate Jerry Garcia's birthday so many years ago. Since they cover the Dead, I'm probably a more harsh critic of GBB than everyone else. Still, they played a good show, and ended the festival on a high note.

Again, I'm sorry its taken me so long to get this out. It was a great summer music festival season, so I'll blame the delay on my going to more festivals and trying to keep my notes clean. Next Summer, I intend to start the season right with the Hootenanny again. We're going to hit Four Peaks and I want to make it to Pickathon. I'd like to add in another festival that I've only just heard of, like Summer Meltdown or maybe mix it up and hit a hemp festival. We'll see. Planning for next summer festival season is only a few months away :)

Finding Waldo

One more post before I get to the band review for the Hoot. I guess I just don't want to do that. Anyway, today is a take on those who weekend-warrior themselves into trouble. We call them "Waldo".

Who's Waldo?

One thing that seems to appear at every festival or jam-band parking lot is that one guy/girl that didn't know their psychic limitations and over indulged on something. Maybe it's a person standing way off by themselves screaming into the air, or a person passed out under a car, half-eaten hot-dog still in their hand or simply someone so messed up they are simply mumbling and drooling. Boo and I call this person "Waldo" in memory of the one such case that landed in our camp at the Black Sheep Family Reunion last Summer (See: Black Sheep Family Reunion).

Hoot
The 2015 Hoot had a Waldo too. Waldo and his girlfriend set up their tent near us that first day, and set immediately to drinking. I'm totally down with that. For a 3-day music festival, though, pacing is important and food is a necessity. They had neither, and quickly found themselves on the ugly side of the generally groovy support staff. Admonished multiple times, they were threatened to be kicked out of the festival for repeatedly peeing on the road rather than walking the shorter distance to the flush-toilet restrooms. Awesome. At one point, we spotted Waldo barely sitting upright on the hill so we gave him some water. He wasn't able to form words, but there was clearly gratitude on his face. We think they were ultimately kicked out because when we arose on Monday morning, they were already gone, though they had been raging the night before when we went to bed. Neat.

Like I said above, there's usually one at every festival. The Hoot is rare in that the indulgence is usually very low, and the crowd is calm. Don't get me wrong.. its a party, just the party-goers know their limitations. Except for the inevitable Waldo.

Four Peaks

I think the Four Peaks Music Festival was the exception that proved the rule: we couldn't find Waldo. There were lots of partiers. On that first night, we couldn't go more than 10 minutes without hearing someone shouting "One!... Two!... Three!... Four Peaks!" from the distance. Hilarious. There were plenty of Walking Dead in the camping zones in the morning, slowly shuffling from their respective bedrolls to the porta-potties or the food vendors. At no point, though, did we see anyone completely blotto, incoherent or out of control. Like all the other festivals we go to, there was a White Bird tent, so maybe the White Bird volunteers were able to find Waldo before we did. Maybe we just simply didn't venture out from Hapy enough to do a real search. I'll just go on believing that it was a festival of fest-hardy folk who knew their limitations, had a f-ing blast, but never got too over the top.

That's it for today. I'll keep searching for Waldo. Boo and I scored an unexpected invite to the NW String Summit, so it looks like there's at least one more festival for us this summer.. so, we'll have at least that one more opportunity to play "Where's Waldo".

Coast Road Trip

With the arrival of the MT3, there has been considerable chaos. Still, we were able to pull off a family gathering at the Oregon Coast. Today's post covers that. For those only interested in hearing how the bus handled carrying 6 people plus coolers and luggage, I left that for the end :) I can't get to my pictures, so I swiped the one below from the internet. Neskowin looks just like this, and yes, the beach is that empty.

Out of the City

It still amazes me how hard it is to get a group of humans to do just about anything. Kids especially. After talking about plans, setting expectations and defining what was going to be done by whom and when... rather than leaving around 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon on Friday, we left as rush hour started at 5. I guess, all things considered, that's really not too bad. My folks, T and C all arrived within a few minutes of each other. After a few minutes of strategy, we combined 3 cars into Flash and Hapy: 10 persons in total. Since it was the first weekend after the end of the school year, I had reservations about how long it would take to get to the coast. We were pleasantly surprised.

MT3
The MT3 are natural travelers. I should have known this from their epic journeys from western Montana to western Oregon, but seeing it firsthand is pretty amazing. For such youngsters, they self-assign into seats without fuss, grab a pillow and a book and belt in as soon as you say "go". They don't complain, ask where we are or how long it'll take to get there... they didn't even ask to stop to go to the bathroom. Crazy. In fact, before we hit Dundee, the 2 boys were asleep.

Dundee
No trip to the coast is complete without some mention of Dundee. For the unfamiliar, Dundee is a tiny no-traffic-light town in the middle of Oregon's exploding wine country. Once home to drab, empty storefronts, Dundee now houses many tasting rooms representing the vineyards from across Yamhill County. Sounds like a fun place to visit, eh? It can be... if its your final destination. The empty storefronts didn't slow down the passing cars nearly as much as the wine connoisseurs who flock to Dundee. To be fair, 99W chokes down from a 4-lane 55mph highway to a 2-lane 20mph drag to pass through the center of town, and has for 20+ years. The cork-sniffers just bring traffic to a stop when they want to cross the street, or make sudden left turns into particularly interesting looking wine bars. Neat. On this trip, however, Dundee did not slow us much at all, and we only came to a complete stop once between the 2 trips through it. Maybe its just too early in the season for wine yet. We did happen to notice during the coast-bound slog through town that construction has finally started on a by-way around Dundee for the Portland-to-McMinville (and beyond) traffic. Hazah!

Neskowin

Those traveling in Hapy arrived about 10 minutes after Flash. About 30 minutes before Flash arrived, my brother E landed at the beach with his 2 little girls. All told, there were 13 of us, pulling into Boo's friend's beach house. Boo had been going to this house since she was a very young teenager, and treats the house like the home she never had. The kids spent nearly all of the daylight hours on the sand in front of the house, digging holes or splashing water. A weekend without television or electronic devices had a calming effect on everyone, sending all of us home much more relaxed than we were when we arrived. Boo and I were the last to leave (with 4 kids in the bus), since we had to clean the place top-to-bottom before we left. We discovered a plumbing issue and had to solve that first, delaying our departure until after 9:PM. By leaving so late, however, we missed any traffic.

Hapy
The bus ran incredibly well. From start to end, his temperature barely popped over 190*, and he took the hills well. At no point did I need to down-shift below 3rd, and that includes that massive hill on the US101 heading north from the OR18 / US101 interchange while loaded down with 3 adults, 3 kids, 2 full coolers and 6 people's luggage. The cross-winds from McMinville to the foot of the coast range made handling a challenge, but otherwise weather had no meaningful effect. After sitting on the driveway at the beach for 2 days, there wasn't a single drop of either coolant or oil. I checked both anyway before heading home and they were spot-on. Last, how was the mileage? When I filled up on Thursday (before our Jun18-21 adventure began), the fuel jockey topped-off the tank. This skewed the numbers downwards, but even with that caveat, we got 28mpg. Based on how much fuel was in the tank when the nozzle popped (as in, if we hadn't topped off), we effectively got 31mpg between the Hoot and the coast run. Carrying camping gear, coolers, and extra people through cross winds and over mountain ranges... Hapy killed it.

That's it for today. I am still working on the music review for the 10th Annual Hornings Hideout Hootenanny. Additionally, Boo and I hit another festival this past weekend, so I have another set of travel posts and festival / music reviews to come. Thanks for following along. It's looking to be a fun, travel-filled Summer!

2015 Hoot

A year ago, Boo and I took Hapy to our first Horning's Hideout Hootenanny (HHH). Today's post is about our triumphant return this year.

Pant... Pant... Pant...
After a crazy can-I-finish-it month of April and May, we entered Memorial Day weekend with a bus in one piece. I took the bus on a few short test drives, starting the Tuesday evening prior to Memorial day with T. We simply drove down our street, turned up the hill, drove about 500 feet and drove home. Thrilled, we parked and called the bus ready to roll. I drove the bus to work that Thursday, to prove that he could handle traffic, as well as to get him all the way up to normal operating temperature. While a little nerve-wracking to drive to work with a mystery car, I was grateful for the proof on Saturday morning.

Exodus

proud owner

Saturday, we awoke having done virtually no planning nor packing. We hit the grocery store the night before, so we had food and drink, but nothing else was ready. I've lamented preparing for the first camping trip of the season before, never really being sure you had everything you needed. This time, the week leading up to the trip was 80* or hotter and we were super-focused on getting the bus ready. So, we didn't notice that the weather forecast changed, leaving us a little under-dressed for the Hoot. Still, the camping stuff is pretty well sorted now, so packing is simply tossing a couple of storage shelves worth of stuff into the bus, some clothes and the food and we were off.

We stopped first at the fueling station. Since the last filling, we pulled 32mpg. Again, that's amazing, and its starting to appear to be a trend. After a final stop for forgotten bits, we headed for highway 26 West and Horning's Hideout.

When I re-assembled the bus, I neglected to install the outer door seals in the front doors. One of them was damaged anyway, but because they were not in, the drive at highway speed was louder than it used to be. Boo and I agreed that putting outer door seals in before the next, longer, drive would be a good idea. Unexpectedly, the overall noise in the bus at city-traffic speed is quieter than expected, especially after removing all of the wood floors and leaving the steel floor in the center of the bus uncovered.

Give a Hoot

Scotty with Hapy

Since we slept a little later than we had meant to, hadn't packed the night before and had to make a couple stops before we left for the Hoot, we arrived a little later than we wanted to. Still, the first band started at noon and we arrived at 12:15. Close enough.

So, what's the Hootenanny anyway? Starting 10 years ago, the organizer (Scotty, in the pictures) decided to celebrate his birthday with a few bands, some disc-golf and whoever else wanted to join in. 10 years later, he throws himself a birthday party requiring a staff of 23, 12 bands over 2 days and a disc golf tournament that attracts up to 500 people. For Boo and I, it represents the start of the music festival season with a very mellow send off. The attendees are an interesting blend of disc-golf fanatics and jam-band music fans. While there are a few that cross-over between the groups, most disc-golfers miss the daylight music, but make the evening shows so there's a good sized crowd after dinner.

Besides the music and disc-golf, there are vendors. Boo and I trolled the booths before we set up in the music bowl on the first day. One woman had Indian tapestries, there was a couple slinging tye-dyes from an ancient yellow school bus, an espresso cart, T-shirts, etc. Central to the car-camping side of the bowl was an old green school bus from Montana running a wood-fired pizza oven. Their call for "pizza" during song breaks became a dependable running joke through the festival.

There have been concerns about whether the Hoot can or will continue at Horning's Hideout. Last year, some attendants were unruly, creating noise the Hormings objected to. This also made Scotty question the integrity of the event, and whether it could continue. We saw some curious behavior, mostly from the Trust-afarian couple next-door, but the security folks contained things very quickly. For the most part, there were lots of returning families with little kids, twenty-somethings playing disc-golf and a virtual melting pot of good vibes folks otherwise.

Band Preview
I'm going to dedicate another posting to a deeper review of the bands, but there was a strong crop this year. Returning favorites from last year included Yr Daddy, the HillWilliams, JoyTribe and the Garcia Birthday Band (GBB). Returning after a few years absent, were Kina Lyn and Jesta. New to the festival were the Grateful Buds, Bottleneck Blues, Rainbow Electric and Shafty. Urban Shaman was new, but featured most of the folks from Vivid Curve (one of my favorites from last year). The music was good, and while the styles were not as widely varied as last year, the music-fans had a great time.

Homeward

entrance volunteers

Leaving the Hoot is hard. It lasts for such a short period of time, and just about the time you get your groove for the event, its time to go. We took our time, enjoying our coffee and slowly pulling our things together. We weren't hassled out at all. We took that as a good sign for how the Hornings considered the event. We talked to Scotty about the event both on our way in and on the way out. Based on those conversations, and his stage announcements, it sounds like my fellow Hoot-villers collectively behaved much better this year, and the Hornings will welcome us back next year. From Boo and me to the Hornings, thank you.

That's it for today. The drive home was uneventful, though I think my tires are low on air. I'll post a band review soon, hopefully before I forget all of my mental notes. As always, thanks for following along-

Hapy at Hoot

$50 paint job

Hapy Cinco-de-Mayo!
A few years ago, there was a sensation across the car-centric internet about a claim that you could paint your car for $50 (original web site). This concept generated an amazing backlash of "myth" web sites and postings de-crying the process. In my usual fashion, I decided I'd try it anyway.

Running Some Numbers
Yeah, that's right. I decided to paint part of the bus with the $50 paint job method. I already had gloss white Rustoleum paint from painting the pop top a few years back. I used the same paint on the bumpers, and they look okay (except for where I dropped the rear bumper on the ground, but that's an easy touch-up). I have all the other usual stuff for non-spray painting... sandpaper in various grits, blue tape.. So, in terms of materials and supplies, I'm sorted. Incremental cost for supplies: $10 can of primer.

I live in a typically-rainy-in-spring area and in a rented house. So, other alternative ideas like shooting paint outside or setting up a temporary spray-shed were not options. Hanging plastic all over the garage wasn't cost-effective, and even if it were, the fumes would have either leaked into the main house, caused an explosion from the open-flame furnace and hot water heater or both. Over-spray and other evidence of painting all over the floor or driveway would have voided the lease too. I even considered setting up a paint shed on the lawn, but the paint would have killed the grass... and the rain could have been a factor anyway (thinking muddy undersurface and humidity disallowing paint to dry). Last, I don't have the skills, equipment nor time.

I went looking for someone to do it for me. Craigslist netted one person and my network was fruitless. Everyone is either already busy or the job is too big. The one person would have required me to tow the bus across town ($75/day for a tow dolly from UHaul) and run me around $1500. He would have taken a week or 10 days from drop off to pick-up.

Calendar Pressures
Since my only real options were either to do it all myself or pay $1500 for someone else to do it, I went digging for a third option. Festival season starts in a few weeks, and we already have tickets to the Hootenanny on Memorial Day weekend. I realized that about a week ago, and forced a third option: only paint the section above the belt-line so I can get the windows back in. I want the upper section white, and that's the paint I have, so I can make decisions about the lower 2/3 later. With that decision effectively made by the calendar, I set off.

Final Prep
Like the interior job, there's always more that you find at the last minute. New tiny rust holes. Little dings. After all that's settled, the old paint got a sanding with 150 grit sandpaper and then a re-sanding with 400 grit. I sanded the entire exterior that way. Then I applied Rustoleum primer with a brush. Yes, a brush. After it dried, I wet-sanded the whole thing with 400 grit paper. It was ready for paint.

Paint
Like the guy in the $50 paint job link, I thinned the Rustoleum 50/50 with mineral spirits. Using a few different sized foam brushes, I brushed on the gloss. Like any other painting, it is important to always maintain a wet edge, and to brush from the unpainted area into the wet edge as you lift off the surface. Those little things will make for a much better brush job. Of course, its still a brush job, so it will only look as good as the sanding you do when it dries. With the thinned paint, it dried overnight and it didn't drip, run or sag as some detractors claim. My garage wasn't terribly warm, but I left a fan going all night. Once dried, I wet-sanded with 400 grit and did another coat. Wash-rinse-repeat, and now I have 3 coats of paint on there. I intend to do at least one more, but I will probably keep repeating until my seals arrive from BusDepot.

That's it for today's installment. The pictures along the right side show the bus in various states with the last couple showing the result after 4 coats with wet-sanding between each. As always, thanks for following along-

Black Sheep Family Reunion

The last weekend in July, Boo and I took a road trip to the central Oregon Coast mountain range for a multi-day music and arts festival.  This post covers the road trip and the festival.  Sorry I've been away from the blog for a bit.  It being Summer, I'm doing more, and writing less.  More content for later!

Drive to Waldport, Almost

Signs at Entrance

In another classic planning mishap, Boo had to work the morning we intended to leave for the Black Sheep Family Reunion music and art festival (BSFR).  Our destination was 3 hours by car (so 4 hours by microbus) and the gates opened at noon.  While Boo worked, I leisurely got the bus packed, and we hit the road just after noon.  Since Boo hadn't slept much the night before, she crawled into the back and napped after we passed Wilsonville.  She re-appeared between Corvallis and Philomath, joining me for the incredibly fun drive down OR-34.  The drive prior to OR-34 was typical Summer Friday freeway stuff: slow, hot and filled with impatient drivers.  The sides of the bus acted like the edges of a bubble, though, keeping that energy out, while allowing our smiles through.  OR-34 is a grapevine of switch-backs, steep climbs and drop-offs along the Alsea River.  As I drove it, I laughed with joy.  I dare to dream it in a sports car that's tuned for that kind of thing.  I imagine it would be spectacular.  We were buffeted by an older Subaru from a particularly angry pickup truck who appeared to flick chewing tobacco at us as he later passed.  Hilarious.

The BSFR was first marked with a small sign "300 feet" before the otherwise not-terribly characterized turn-off.  There was a small sign, though, and we were able to navigate it, bringing 2 others from the "main road" with us, including the older Subaru.  We climbed a narrow "this has to be the wrong" road, bore left at a "Y" which was marked with a simple arrow on a cardboard box onto a gravel road.  Holding Hapy at a 5mph lumber, we eventually happened upon a gate with a troupe of hippies hanging around.  "This must be it," Boo mused.  We were greeted with a chorus of "nice bus" comments, and a vague direction about continuing down the road to the next gate.

Camping the Glade

View of stage from bonfire

A few more turns and road dip/climbs and we suddenly were upon the festival camping.  We asked a Vanagon driver what we were supposed to do and he said "get out and join us for a beer".  LOL.  We ended up doing that later, actually, but first we met with the next clump of hippies running the place to get a camping spot.  At that second gate, we were waved to the side so the older Subaru could get by.  Turns out, the driver was the drummer for one the Friday bands (KrazyFingers, I think).  We later thanked him for running interference on the pickup, and we had a good laugh about it.  Once the Subaru was past, we were pointed to the grassy area just to our left.  "Just don't mess with my cones," he said.  We rolled over to where we were pointed and Kenny, a blonde-haired, beaded fella with a huge smile, waved us in, and helped us get level.  The rest of the weekend was spent making friends with that group of festers.  We even found Justice, a friend we made at Horning's Hideout Hootenanny over memorial Day weekend (See: So Starts Camping Season 2014).  Between acoustic guitars, bubble-making equipment and a soccer ball, the grassy glade had activity most of the weekend.

Events, Art, Food, Crafts

Black Sheep Circus

Once the pop-top was up, and the camp-couch pulled out, Boo and I grabbed a couple of beers and headed for the stage.  The main bowl was lined with craft vendors along "house-left" (left side facing the stage), food vendors at the back, circus acts practicing on "house-right" and a large installation art piece at the very front of "house-left".  There were multiple artists working on that large piece all weekend.  In the circus space, there were a variety of events happening.  Sometimes, there were jugglers or tumblers.  Other times, Kevin (neighbor from the Glade) would bring down his bubble-stuff and create massive bubbles that would float across the front of the stage.  The mixture of performance art and music was really fantastic.  I didn't know what to expect of the performance stuff, so I expected little; we were well rewarded.  The fire dancers on Saturday night (Black Sheep Circus) were really great, and, though we missed them, we heard that Circus Luminescence stole the show later that night with an interpretive performance about technology and how it's over-use is creating barriers between us rather than connecting as FB, etc promise to be.

Hiking
The venue offered more than just a stage and booths.  Being located in the middle of the coastal mountains, there were many acres of trails.  Boo and I went exploring with some of our new-found friends on Saturday, missing the early acts.  Mary Sue pulled us together and gave us a walking history of the festival while Doug and Paul played botanist, identifying plants for medicinal, recreational or food purposes.  We found a second venue where another festival stage could be used.  We saw old-growth forest, small one-tent dug-out camp spots sprinkled along the trails, deep ravines.  As much as the festival was a break from day-to-day work, the exposure to deep nature was especially unexpected and resonated deeply for the next week.

Abbreviated Music Review

Jug Dealers

No music festival attendance is without some form of music review.  We honestly didn't see many of the bands.  Some were really good, like Candelaria whose lead singer gave all she had wiggling on stage and belting out in Spanish to a well-kept backing band.  Jim Lewin was a festival highlight, getting called back for an encore while the Smirkin' Merkins were a definite must-miss.  Frankly, they were just awful.  Weird, poorly executed and for an afternoon festival crowd, their lyrics were highly not kid appropriate.  If they come back next year, I'll make a point of being far far away during their performance.  Late that evening, McTuff was dialed so loud that it hurt my ears, but they were so well mixed that we could hear them perfectly back at the bus.  We sat in the dark staring at stars while their music washed over us.  They were really good.  Just loud :)

The Jug Dealers were a band in need of direction: songs arranged with the female vocal as a lead were great.  Any tunes where the guitarist led, and she was supposed to be backing vocal didn't work as well (she just overpowered the lead, making the vocal line confusing).  Last, they had an older guy on house-right either painting a picture or joining on vocals.  He simply created chaos, honestly, and made them appear more amateurish than they really are.

Drive Home

Kevin and Mary Sue bus

Boo had to work Monday morning at 8:AM, so staying for the Sunday afternoon performances wasn't really practical.  Unfortunately, that meant we were going to miss Scott Law, Ducky Pig and Brothers and Sister; three bands we were aiming for.  Ah well.  The first year is to see if the festival is a fit.  Next year, we'll get more time off so we can do it start to finish.  Our new friends lamented our early departure nearly as much as we did, and we agreed to camp the same spot next year... for the full festival.  Hapy fired up on the first try, though we drove out of the festival grounds in limp-mode.  We stopped at a siding along the Alsea River and stood in the cool water to offset the increasing heat of the day.  By the time we hit Philomath, we figured we had pushed our luck on fuel, so we stopped.  We got over 38mpg on that partial tank.  yeah, that's right.  38mpg in a VW bus.  That's more than double what I used to typically get with the old 1700.  We stopped again at the Charbonneau District rest area to cool our heels, before the final push into Portland area traffic.  Because of some driving mis-arrangements, we collected T&C on our way through the southern end of the metro area.  While a wise use of time, it didn't create the buffer between our festival mental space and our parenting one.  That transition was especially hard.

That's it for today.  Lots of things going on, so lots of material for future posts.  As always, thanks for following along,

Scarlet Fire Department :-)

HHH Day 2 band review

Boo and I camped the 9th annual Horning's Hideout Hootenanny (HHH) over Memorial Day weekend.  We had a blast (see So Starts Camping Season 2014).  Here's our review of the 4 bands who played on Sunday.

Vivid Curve

pulled from myspace, but its Vivid Curve

Imagine this scene.  It's the morning of day two after a late night of music (past midnight) and unofficial partying.  From the main stage, a long low drone rolls up the concert bowl to those sleeping in hammocks and tents until finally they slowly drag themselves into the morning light.  With the approaching march of the zombies, Vivid Curve starts up a set dressed in bathrobes and toasting the crowd with mimosas.  Upon the conclusion of this comical intro, Vivid Curve erupted in a psychedelic frenzy under-pinned by a didgeridoo and a talking drum played by a chap in a viking helmet.  Rhythmically supported by an Okee on a drum kit and a tie-dyed mountain-man on a washboard, the seemingly mild-mannered lead man leaped around with his acoustic guitar entertaining us with spoken word and melodies.  Boo and I were blown away.  These guys were amazing.  Their set flew by, and we loved every minute of it.  We will definitely seek these guys out.  By far, Vivid Curve was the biggest pleasant surprise of the weekend.  They simply crushed it.

Joy Tribe
Joy Tribe was interesting.  Following Vivid Curve wasn't easy to start with, and the beautiful sunny morning started to disappear as they took the stage.  None of that helped.  Adding insult to injury, the lead vocalist's main vocal range was squarely in the same range of notes and close in tone to what the guitarist and trumpet player were doing.  As a result, you couldn't make out anything she was singing.  I think they purposely had the vocal and trumpet lines match, but the mix was not quite right.  They tried to compensate by boosting her vocal near to the point of feeding back the mic, but I think the guitar needed to be quieter or the whole band needed to focus on dynamics: play quieter while she's singing.  The lead vocalist played sax and flute, exposing how multi-talented she is.  Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to engage with the band because of the loss of fidelity of the vocals.  Like a couple of the bands on the first day, I'd probably stay at a venue if they showed up and started playing, but I wouldn't seek them out.

Lewi Longmire and the Left Coast Roasters

rain? what rain?

Lewi Longmire is a Portland icon.  I'd never had the pleasure of seeing him play, and now I look back on those years with regret.  He and his band were fantastic.  They found that careful balance between energized and professional that neither Wood Knot nor Blue Lotus could find the day before.  They reminded me of Derek and the Dominos in terms of vibe and sound.  While the rain poured down.. and then sprinkled... and then poured... and then sprinkled, their sound slowly drew folks out from under their tarps into the sand pit.  By the time they finished their set, there were multiple pop-up canopies and 40 people dancing in the rain.  Powerful stuff.  Lewi was probably the best start-to-finish band of the weekend; most professional and arguably the most magnetic.  I will definitely seek Lewi out.

Garcia Birthday Band
I hadn't seen the Garcia Birthday Band for years.  Since then, it seemed like just about everyone in the band has changed.  I know Jon's been there since the beginning and I recognized him, but no one else.  I knew my old friend Steve had stopped playing keyboards for them years ago; it didn't matter, though.  They are still the Portland-area Grateful Dead cover band, so if you want a taste of that shuffle beat, they are the only game in town.  They're much tighter than they were when I saw them play on the lawn in Troutdale way back when to celebrate Jerry's birthday.  Still, I think they made a mistake booking a week full of shows prior to headlining the closing night of the Hootenanny.  They didn't have much energy.  It felt like they were tired, and wanted to rock, but just couldn't.  There were flashes of "here comes something", but that wouldn't last.  I'll see them again, and I won't wait as long.  Turned out, we waited less than a week and drove the whole gang out to the Rock Creek Tavern in Hapy the wonderbus.  The bus drove great and the band played much more energetically.  Boo and I were talking about going to their Fest in August, but its adults-only, and we have the full brood that weekend.  For those thinking about it, look to see what other acts they're bringing (I suggest Vivid Curve and Wood Knot :-)) and whether they're playing 5 straight nights before it.

Monday Morning
Unannounced and without pretense, there were two last artists performing on Monday morning while folks woke up, cleaned up and packed out.  First, someone made their way to the center of the concert bowl and played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes.  Well executed, and, once completed, whoever it was disappeared as quickly and quietly as s/he arrived.  Second, a guy with long blonde dreadlocks and a Cello set up under the canopy where the Hillwilliams had played late the first night.  He had a couple of effects pedals routing his sound through the small amp he was sitting on.  With that simple set up, he created basic loops on top of which he then solo'd.  He was joined at points by a woman on a cajon.  It was almost spiritual how the Cello cut through the morning dull.  When the morning sun broke through the clouds, a younger woman would compliment the music with free form dance behind the musicians and a screen, casting a willowy shadow.  It was a very cool effect.  I don't know who they were, unfortunately.  I'll update if I find out.  Regardless, it was a very foggy-morning-after way to end the festival.

That's it for the HHH reviews.  We had a blast and are ready to reserve our spot for next year.  I hope some of you can tear yourselves away from your typical Memorial Day traditions and help create a bus-zone under the trees at Hornings next year.  Thanks for following along.  Maybe I'll have more bus content next time.

HHH Day 1 band review

Boo and I camped the 9th annual Horning's Hideout Hootenanny over Memorial Day weekend.  We had a blast (see So Starts Camping Season 2014).  Here's our review of the 6 bands who played on Saturday.

Left Coast Country
As their name implies, these guys have some country flair, but it felt more folk/bluegrass than country.  The 4 main guys (dobro, bass, mandolin and violin) were well connected musically, standing in a tight circle just wailing away.  On the outside, both musically and physically, stood their departing guitarist.  He had a rockabilly thing happening that ran counter to the rest of their work.  The bass-man was described as the "knife and fork", probably because he was the time-keeper, the one who counted everyone in, and sang a bunch.  He even took a solo.  The mandolin player (Boo and I named "Red" for his big red beard) sang high, and brought the emotion or passion for everyone.  We greatly enjoyed the dobro player's vocal tone (butter) and hope that in the vacuum of the departing guitarist, he'll sing more songs.  As they finished their set, Boo and I agreed that Left Coast Country will probably be better without the guitarist, but they were a very strong start to the day.

HCH @Hootenanny

Hot Club of Hawthorne
HCH is a kind of old timey big-band jazz sound.  They had many instruments and they played them very well, but they didn't have the passion for the material.  While the guitarist / centerman (Jeffree White) played well, I think his being seated constricted his vocal range because he fell flat on some of the higher notes.  Overall, they were enjoyable, but not a group I would seek out.  If they're playing somewhere I was already going, though, I'd still go.

Wood Knot

Wood Knot @Hootenanny

Wood Knot had passion where HCH had skills.  These guys came out with their pants on fire and ran around on stage for 2 hours.  Having played on a festival stage before, I know the adrenaline surge that hits when you start playing.  If you aren't careful, you can burn yourself out.  Wood Knot played up against (and sometimes over) that line throughout their set.  Their songs were interesting, well chosen and lively, though the execution was kind of sloppy.  We both noticed the guitarist on stage right (grey hat in left edge of the picture) probably shouldn't play solos, or maybe at all, but who are we to judge?  Also, some songs just petered out or just stopped as if they were trying to figure out how to end the song as they were going, lost interest before the end and then started something else.  No, they were not segues.  With some practice, Wood Knot could be a really fun band to see.

Yur Daddy

Yur Daddy @Hootenanny

I admit that I braced myself for these guys.  Their name is un-impressive, drawing a pronounced eye-roll.  They were all wearing bandannas on their heads, as were the fans they brought.  Running against that headwind, they converted me.  They were great.  The keyboardist played the best electric piano of the weekend by far, and he was a guest artist for the day.  Wow.  They self-identify as reggae, but its more like a blending of ska and dance.  Definitely fun.  My only criticism would be in their set construction.  They jumped styles and tempos from song to song so much, it was hard to get a good flow going.  Just by rearranging their material, they could create an energy that slowly builds and falls, pulling the crowd in.  I'll definitely see Yur Daddy again.  They stayed all weekend, and partied in the bowl, even sharing a bottle of whisky with us.

Blue Lotus
As much as I was not looking forward to Yur Daddy, I was anticipating Blue Lotus.  Voted "best new band" by the Wow Hall in Eugene, these guys were headlining the first night of the festival.  The lead singer had a vocal tone and manner like Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders).  They stayed all weekend too, and generated a great vibe both on and off stage. Blue Lotus was a jam band, but they were almost too clean.  If we could take the songs and passion from Wood Knot and apply Blue Lotus' skill and polish, you'd have the next great band out of the North West.  After 45 minutes, I was checking my watch, which was not at all what I expected.  I don't think I'll go see them again, but if they're playing another festival, I'll give them another shot.  Frankly, I was hoping for something a little more raw and unscripted from a jam band.  Maybe I went in with my expectations too high.

the Hillwilliams
After Blue Lotus, the main stage was shut down for the night and a 10' by 20' canopy hosted the Hillwilliams and about 30 people.  Boo and I were among the 30 who fit under the canopy, but there were another 30 or more crowded around the bonfire outside.  More wandered the Shakedown Street scene running along outside.  These guys were a ton of fun.  The lead mandolin player knew how to work the crowd and keep everyone engaged.  By the 4th song, everyone knew guitarist "Daniel" by name, and would hoop and holler when he stepped up to solo.  He brought a sweet vocal tone too, making a nice contrast to the more gruff-voiced mandolin-man.  We enjoyed some nice banjo and sweet violin throughout.  Midway, we were treated to some guest guitar work by the lead man from HCH (Jeffree White).  We'll definitely check these guys out again soon.  They were just too much fun, making the canopy crowd a very intimate scene.

That was it for day one.