July recap

I snapped this pic on a street wandering in venice beach.

I feel I sorta ended up doing a poor job recapping my July on here. Really, it was just so FULL. Briefly, from where I left off...

July 12: Big Light and Surprise Me Mr. Davis @ cafe du nord. got there for the last song of Big Light cuz I had popped in at the independent for a little New Mastersounds, but the Big Light song I heard was really cute. It was Gillian Welch's "Wrecking Ball", which they learned I guess earlier that day, cuz they were in Santa Cruz, which is referenced in the song.

The SMMD portion of the show was ridic, per UJ. Can't say enough great things about their shows, and songs. Seriously. When their new album comes out, you will not be able to get me to shut up about them. Hey...smoke 'em if you got 'em...

July 13: Big Light and Surprise Me Mr. Davis...AGAIN!!! This was your quintessential hippie Sunday afternoon party. So awesome. Seriously.

July 16: The Police @ Concord Pavilion...missed Elvis Costello (I know, shame on me) but had to get my bearings. This show LARGELY exceeded my expectations in a big way. It was AWESOME. I was so pleasantly surprised!!! Had heard the 07 shows weren't that great, so figured this wouldn't be either. But it was!!! Had the pleasure of making Mr. Copeland's acquaintance and he was really, really groovy. Great human, great drummer.

July 18: Big Light and The Mother Hips in Redwood City...FUN. Really cool room, the Little Fox. Big Light sounded great, and I sound like a broken record but I don't care, The Mother Hips are A M A Z I N G.

July 19: Download Festival @ Shoreline Amphitheater~ saw lots of new music that I enjoyed: The Whigs, Cut Copy (whom I had remembered from Coachella), Mute Math...those were the stand outs for me. Each of whom were REALLY great.

July 21: N*E*R*D @ the Fillmore...my friend Matt Iarrobino was doing lights for them, and WOW! He was really good at it!!! I hadn't really clued into the music before the show, so didn't know what to expect, and was very stoked I was there. The crowd was PUMPED!!! On a Monday night!!! Great show.

July 31: Chuck Gonzalez & Stereo Glitter opened for Big Light @ 12 Galaxies~ per UJ, yeah, Big Light AGAIN. Whatever, they are our local band and I LOVE their songs.

And thank Goddess, that wraps up July. Don't make me pick a fave*

High Sierra 2008: Friday

Big Light: rallied bigtime to catch some of this set. Good for them for rallying, too!!! With a 10:45a slot, who knew so many people would be up groovin'. And with good reason. One of my two favorite new bands of the fest. Go see them, if you can (pictured here at Shady Grove stage, snapped by Kevin Runde).

The Weather Underground: good stuff. Caught part of this set and it was what I was thinking it was: REALLY GOOD.

For most of the rest of the afternoon, I was cackling with my girls, laughing harder than I have in years, to the point of tears, several times. I couldn't even drag myself out to music, we had our own little entertainment going. I missed some really good music (Akron/Family, SMMD), but what I gained in the giggles, was...well...worth it.

Mike Gordon: finally pulled myself together, and walked out to the mainstage. GREAT GREAT sound from Mike. Seriously. I was mega impressed. Go MIKE!!!

The Mother Hips: cruised over to the Hips stage, then headed back to camp where we could hear their set, so I was dancing and listening, and loving it, of course.

BLVD and MC SoulEye: this is my other new favorite "band"/artist of the fest. I was dancing so hard to this, super unexpectedly. It's like electronic hip hop that flows better than anything I've ever heard. Think Sound Tribe Sector Nine meets a hippie version of eminem but BETTER! Love love love them.

James Hunter: I could hear this from where I was mingling, and it sounded great. Def a great groove.

What happened after the official sets were done for the day was a set of music by High Sierra favorites, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, which is The Slip featuring Nathan Moore. This late night set at Camp Harry was to turn into the highlight of the festival (for me), with a very special influence taking over the whole camp. The music was, well, pretty much amazing, and the faces and mingling, and dancing and groovin' had a soundtrack that included a couple precious covers, like the Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun, and the Jackson Five's ABC, not to mention the regular epic grooves of SMMD and The Slip. DAMN!!! If I could rewind time, I would pause and go slow-mo thru that night over and over and over. EPIC!!!