Anyone going to the Kate Wolf Festival in NorCal next week? I’ll be bringing a few lights with me including both DIY contest lights.
Report in the last post.
I can’t make it, as too many thousands of miles away, but it still looks awesome……
http://www.katewolfmusicfestival.com/
thanks for the heads up on this event regardless.
Wow, what a line up (the bands and the lights, that is). Should be a great time.
Wine, women, and song. :party:
Report:
It was awesome. :party: The talent was great, no duds, and some real eye opening new performers. Amy Helm( daughter of The Band’s Levon Helm), David Luning, Jackie Green, Paper Bird from Colorado, Joe Pug, Playing for Change( a group of extremely talented musicians from around the world put together back in ‘08 and now releasing their 3rd album). A slew of oldsters including Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, the Indigo Girls, Rodney Crowell, Los Lobos, Darlene Love, and 3 long time veterans Lynn Miles, Mary Gauthier, and Eliza Gilkyson. All very entertaining. Way too many wrinkles, muffin tops, and faded tie dyed clothing for me though. I also have to say that old hippies and folk music fans aren’t any different than anyone else in this regard; peace, love, and I wanna sit in front. They did have it well organized though, even with 4 separate stages you only had to wait in line once a day(beer tent aside) to get a good place to put your chair. Once there, your chair stayed put in the main stage meadow while you where free to check out the side venues. Anyone could sit in an unoccupied chair but had to relinquish it if the owner came back. The very best spots were always taken by those willing to spend the night sitting in the next days line. At 8:00am the two gates opened and they allowed groups of 8-10 in to place their chairs. After that you went back to your tent, camper, or 30’ luxury RV for breakfast and a bit of relaxation before the first shows around 11:00-12:00. They ran until midnight each day with 1hr breaks at noon and 6:00pm.
The site stretches for maybe a mile or so between a 2-lane section of hwy101 and a small river north of Laytonville on Black Oak Ranch. They had a tractor trailer producing both block and cubed ice for sale, free hot showers(donations accepted thank you), and plenty of well serviced porta potty’s. The main stage is located in an oval meadow ringed by tall oaks and bays with two additional majestic oaks near the stage offset left. These trees provide welcome shade and beneath their wide canopy is prime real estate. The “shadows” cast by the trunks (blocked view) provide some of the pathways with one more cutting across midway and parallel to the stage and another just inside the boundary ring of trees. Under these outer trees were some of the many tents for you-name-it-they-sell-it vendors. A short vendor packed avenue leads from this meadow through more trees past a misting station to two of the other three stages, one, a small stage with concentric semicircles of hay bales for seating, and the other an intimate tent with folding chairs surrounded by more bales. The last stage is located “back of the main meadow” and bands play there while the next group gets ready on the main stage. Since all but the few headliners played several times you can see the others up close and personal on these other stages.
For the music: Thumbs up
For the organization: Thumbs up
For the people watching: About what you’d expect from a large crowd skewed by age and loaded with hippies, some very colorful, some very large, some very pretty, and some very plain. Wavy Gravy was there, bad poetry and all(he mixes metaphors with a high speed blendor) but did sit down with Tom Paxton to share stories from The Gaslight which was entertaining.
All in all an experience I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a variety of music and doesn’t mind a bit of walking around(they did have a pedicab and a special section set up under the two trees for the altered able(I know they’re trying to be polite but really?)
I came away with a new list of groups to look for at Bay Area hot spots and only a mild sunburn. 8)
Sounds like you had a ball. Where you camping?
Replaced the lumber rack with a shell, pitched a tent, and set up a 10’x10’ canopy in between the tailgate and the tent. Also had a nifty tableinasuitcase that leveled out with the tailgate on the truck. 2 coolers with lots of brews. You definitely need all the shade you can get.