Free Bluegrass all weekend...

Today was a day full of Schlepping. I schlepped groceries from Trader Joe's to work at lunchtime, and then shlepped them home again after work. I then discovered the flaw in the Laundry Locker service as I schlepped 40 pounds of laundry 8 blocks and three flights of stairs home. This really doesn't sound that far, but trust me, when you are carrying 40 pounds of bulky laundry, it feels like miles. Needless to say, I was ready to be done with the schlepping, but there was still Safeway to visit and two large bags of groceries, including milk, to be schlepped home. The two definitions of schlepping that I found are: 1) To carry clumsily or with difficulty;lug and 2) To move slowly and laboriously. These absolutely define my activities today. Oh the joy of living in San Francisco!

So, now that you've heard the word schlepping enough, on to the post about the weekend. It was really great. San Francisco puts on a bluegrass festival every year in Golden Gate Park with five stages and probably 50-60 performers. It was estimated that 400,000 people attended this year. And the best thing about it - it is absolutely FREE! YAY! The weather was more perfect than you could ask for - blue skies and 70 degrees with a really perfect sea breeze. Friday night was the opening sets and me and my co-worker, Linnea, caught a taxi over to the park to meet up with Neil and art school friends to catch Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. It was AMAZING!! Thousands of people were crowded into Speedway Meadow - people of all shapes and sizes and types. The music was fantastic and they sang "Down to the River to pray" from the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. It was beautiful.

Oh yeah, the sunny, beautiful blue skies didn't come out until Sat. Because the concert is free, there are no lights really set up and so all concerts ended around 7:30. This one started at 5:15 and ended at about 7:00, so we all headed out into the Richmond District to a little dive bar called Hockey Haven, which is ironic, because the only piece of hocky paraphernalia in the whole place was one Shark's jersey. But, I digress... It was not a place I would have gone into on my own accord, but we had a great time. Good beer, good people, good talks. Then we had the adventure of trying to find the right bus to take home at 9:30 at night in a neighborhood that we don't know that well. Luckily, Linnea had her iphone with her and GPS'd us home on the right buses. What a fun toy...

Saturday, Neil had to go into the studio and get some work done, so I went to the festival alone and met up with Linnea and some of her roomates and friends. I got there around 3:00 and saw three bands - Hot Rize, Odessa and Steve Earl. I didn't really know who they were, but we had a blanket, and some cold beer and it was a gorgeous sunny day. The whole vibe was just very mellow and there was just a general feeling of good will around. That could be a direct correlation to the large amounts of pot that were being smoked, but I couldn't tell you for sure... :) But the cross-section of people that were there was so interesting. Of course there were the hippies, but there were also frat boys and white-haired librarian-looking types. And everyone co-existed very peacefully. The people-watching opportunity was almost as good as the free music. Neil took the camera on Sat., so I have no pictures to post.

Sunday, Neil and I picked up some t.p. and coffee - two very important staples in life - from Costco in the morning and then headed back to the festival. It was really nice to have Neil with me - Sat. I was in a large group of people but felt strangely alone. I think it can be that way when you don't know the people in the group that well. We got there at 1:00 and set up our blanket at the Star stage to hear Ben Kweller. Neil's friend Lindsey from school joined us and we kicked back and listened to the good music in the sunshine. Elvis Costello followed Ben Kweller at the Star stage, so we stuck around for a little bit of that. Then we made our way to the Rooster stage to hear Iron and Wine.

I don't know who this is, but Neil did and, apparently, the rest of San Francisco knew who they were as well and also headed to the Rooster stage. So we ended up behind the stage, in a bush. But it ended up being a great seat, because there weren't very many other people back there, so what we lost in amplification from the stage, we gained because it was a lot more quiet than being in the crowd. Not to mention, we were in the shade and it was a gorgeous view.

I don't know if you can really tell the size of the crowd from this picture, but the stage was in a little valley and both hillsides surrounding the stage were covered.

So, after that show was over, Lindsey headed for home and Neil and I headed over to hear Pegi Young, who is Neil Young's wife, in the hopes that Neil Young would sit in on the set. He did not. :( By this time, the sun and all the walking around the festival had really drained us, so we decided to call it a day. On the way out we caught the end of Ricky Skaggs set, and I took a short video to give you all a taste of the bluegrass. So without further ado...

On our way out, Neil had to stop for the bathroom, so I snapped a few more pictures of the beautiful day and setting.

It was a great weekend, but all the activity took its toll on both of us. I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 at night and officially went to bed at 8:30. And slept like an absolute rock. What a great weekend, though - and the best part, absolutely free!! Well, except for the taxi ride and the beer... Oh well.

Last night I snapped this picture of the fog rolling down Russian Hill. Whenever the fog starts coming in it reminds me of that movie that Charlotte lent me - "The 13th Warrior". It's all about these "monsters" that come out when the fog starts rolling in and they sound their horns to summon all the bad guys. Well, let me tell you, the foghorn at Golden gate sounds exactly like someone is summoning the bad guys and then the fog starts creeping in... It's kind of a deliciously creepy feeling. But absolutely beautiful...