August 2 2008: Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown, the Infamous Stringdusters - Shangri-La Music Festival, Blue Hill Fairgrounds, Blue Hill ME
Drove up with Caitlin cause we had the weekend free and cause Josh Ritter in Middle Of Nowhere Maine sounded like a pretty good time. After eightish hours, when we finally rolled into Middle Of Nowhere, the weather was crisp and cool, the sky was low-overcast, and I changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. First time I'd been in jeans/sweatshirt in what felt like months. Goddamn it felt good. And the nice lady selling tickets was open to negotiation, giving us two admissions and one night of camping for pretty much half-price. To you, lady!
We set up the tent and went to watch the end of the Infamous Stringdusters' set. It was pretty good. I was mostly really really enjoying being at that exact physical location. Maybe 500 people, half in camping-type portable chairs, all surrounding a stage built in front of the county fairgrounds grandstand. After seeing Ritter play in the past few months to a packed Symphony Hall in Boston and a more-densely packed rock club in Brooklyn, this seemed like the perfect place to be.
Erin McKeown came on next. She was backed by Dave Hower and some bassist I didn't recognize. She was infinitely better with the band than she was by herself last month in Greenfield. I thought so. Caitlin thought so. And both of us were pretty sure it wasn't just that tasty Maine beer thinking for us.
And Josh Ritter! He opened with "Mind's Eye," played through a pretty standard setlist with the exception of "Bright Smile," which was really nice to hear. And Caitlin had never heard "Me & Jiggs," so I was glad for her (and for me) that he played that. "Kathleen" had the stupid interlude shit that he's been doing lately, but I didn't mind it so much. Ran over to the bushes to take a leak during "Murder On My Mind." And it was great to hear "Next to the Last Romantic" again. Shit, it was great to hear all those songs again.
What it comes down to is that it was just really really really nice to see Ritter play on a stage in the middle of Maine with only a few hundered other people in the immediate area. It was, pretty much, a perfect evening.
We set up the tent and went to watch the end of the Infamous Stringdusters' set. It was pretty good. I was mostly really really enjoying being at that exact physical location. Maybe 500 people, half in camping-type portable chairs, all surrounding a stage built in front of the county fairgrounds grandstand. After seeing Ritter play in the past few months to a packed Symphony Hall in Boston and a more-densely packed rock club in Brooklyn, this seemed like the perfect place to be.
Erin McKeown came on next. She was backed by Dave Hower and some bassist I didn't recognize. She was infinitely better with the band than she was by herself last month in Greenfield. I thought so. Caitlin thought so. And both of us were pretty sure it wasn't just that tasty Maine beer thinking for us.
And Josh Ritter! He opened with "Mind's Eye," played through a pretty standard setlist with the exception of "Bright Smile," which was really nice to hear. And Caitlin had never heard "Me & Jiggs," so I was glad for her (and for me) that he played that. "Kathleen" had the stupid interlude shit that he's been doing lately, but I didn't mind it so much. Ran over to the bushes to take a leak during "Murder On My Mind." And it was great to hear "Next to the Last Romantic" again. Shit, it was great to hear all those songs again.
What it comes down to is that it was just really really really nice to see Ritter play on a stage in the middle of Maine with only a few hundered other people in the immediate area. It was, pretty much, a perfect evening.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 12:47 PM
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