Firefly Music Festival

Ah, Firefly Music Festival. It being my first multi-day music festival, I really had no expectations going into the weekend this past July in Dover, Delaware, except that I knew I wouldn’t be showering for 3 days (gross, right?) Well the weekend turned out to be an amazing one, and here’s why.

• Almost 50 musical artists, some I knew and loved, some I knew, and some I didn’t know
• Friends, old and new
• Outdoors
• Beer
• Grilling
• Face paint
• Dancing

They really packed us in there

This was the first year for Firefly Music Festival and it went off without a hitch. It was so well run, so organized, a manageable size crowd, and they didn’t try to drain our wallets  with absurd food and drink prices. The weather was not typical July weather, but instead cloudy, rainy, and cool, which worked in our favor since no one wanted to hike to the showers and pay $5 to take one.

The weekend was relaxing, and a mix between hanging out at the campsite, laying on blankets and listening to live music, and having a dance party. The hardest thing about the weekend wasn’t even the port a potties, since you get used to them and there were so many you barely had to wait in line, but it was choosing which artist to see, since there were always two shows going on at once. A few times we did half and half, which worked just fine.

The headliners were Jack White, The Killers, and The Black Keys, who were all amazing. I had high expectations for The Black Keys since they were the main reason I bought a Firefly ticket, but maybe my expectations were too high, because I didn’t love them live as much as I thought I would. Other favorites of mine were Girl Talk, Michael Franti, Mayor Hawthorne, Modest Mouse, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Wallflowers (mainly because they performed “One Headlight” and it took me back to 1997), and The Head and the Heart.

I’ll wait to see next year’s lineup before I decide if I’ll go again, but if they can pull it off as amazingly as they did this year, I highly recommend going.

The Killers

Michael Franti

 

M

The Great Googa Mooga Festival

The Great Googa Mooga Festival went on this past Saturday and Sunday in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. What is Googa Mooga? The definition according to the event’s website:

The Great GoogaMooga: n. an amusement park of food & drink; adj. something wonderfully great; excl. “oh my goodness!” or “how bout that!”

General admission tickets were free, but you had to register for them, and choose one of the 2 days to attend. Or you could pay $250 for “Extra Googa Mooga,” which included free stuff. It was the first time this festival went on, but the hype was huge, proven by the press both leading up to and at the event (a Food Network interview happened right next to us), and the high number of well known eateries, breweries, wineries, musical artists, and well known contributors (Anthony Bourdain!). I attended Saturday, along with thousands of other people looking for food, drink, sun, music, and fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a LOT of complaints by some of the attendees, especially voiced on the Googa Facebook page, mainly about the crowds, extremely long lines for food and drink, confusion about having your ID checked, how to purchase drinks, and the sparse cell phone service. My friends and I experienced all of this – it took us awhile to figure out where to go just to purchase a drink, and we moved lines 3 times before figuring out we were in the right place where we then waited over an hour to get a beer, the whole time not receiving phone calls, and our text messages taking extra long to go through.

Fun for all ages!

But it didn’t really matter to us; we were there to enjoy each other’s company, the (very) warm weather, and the experience. We also know there are kinks to work out, some of which they even did for the 2nd day. While in the beer line, we took turns waiting in the food lines. Once we finally figured it all out and got our drinks and food, a couple hours after arriving, we set up shop on our blanket next to some other friends. For the next few hours we enjoyed some of the best things of summer – being with friends, playing cards, eating and drinking, listening to live music, and soaking up the sun. If a couple of us dared to go wait in another long line for drink or food, at least we knew we had a home base.

The day turned into evening and ended after an awesome hour long performance by The Roots. Overall, a great day and way to get the summer going.

 

 

M

Epiphany

Well, maybe not so much an epiphany as a realization.  Or, better … a recognition.  Let’s go with recognition.  (Apologies, as although I know what I want to express, I never liked English class so much, and never did well on the SAT verbal section).  I was listening to Pandora this morning and a very recognizable song played.  Thanks to the wonders of technology I was able to find out the name of the song and its performer.  It happened to be “Sway” performed by Rosemary Clooney.  Now, I’ve heard this song innumerable times and most definitely recognize her voice, but hadn’t the slightest idea who the singer was or the name of the song.  Next time it comes on, I’ll forever remember the song, the singer, and most definitely, the moment of recognition! It’s the little things …

P