Saturday, July 24, 2004
De La Soul
did you know that some fish eat dung? I just saw something about it on the national geographic channel. Apparently hippos are hounded by these fish that just hang out waiting for a meal. I tip my hat to the hippos for that kind of focus.
The first night of Bele Chere was last night. De La Soul was going to play and my wife (who apparently loves this group) was disappointed that she couldnt make it (babysitting). So I decided I would walk downtown and check them out.
Bele chere is this once a year street party where they close off the center of the city to traffic and thousands of people hit the streets. At first you just wander around looking at stuff, trying to find someone you know in the sea of people. then something dawns on you. All of downtown is just one big hill. Walking here is exhausting! i decided to cut things short and head over to where the band was going to play.
I did stop off at a bar. Vincent's Ear, home of the 24 oz PBR. It was kind of nice, sitting out in the courtyard, drinking my beer and watching all the people walk by. A couple of guys walked over and tried to sell me some oxy-cotin. Sonny and Ricky. ricky was just out of prison. 33 years for killing his younger brother when he was 15. Seemed nice though. A bit of mumbler. I decided to head back to the festival.
So i find the street where the stage is set up and work my way into the crowd. I can see the stage pretty well, im there early, the prior band is still playing their encore. the music ends and the roadies tear down the stage. everything appears to be fine.
the next set of roadies hit the stage and begin to set up. the "between set" music changes from bluegrass to hip hop, things seem to be going well.
40 minutes go by.
standing in the hot crowd slowly being packed like sardines i wonder if i just leaned back, could i take a nap? I keep watching moms with tiny baby's push their way through the crowd. Dads holding their strollers overhead. why would you take your baby to something like this? Am I in some kind of bizzaro world?
Finally the music stops and everybody screams. okay. here we go.
"Are you Ready to Get this thing Started!! well it should be any minute, they're on their way from the airport now."
son of a bitch.
The first night of Bele Chere was last night. De La Soul was going to play and my wife (who apparently loves this group) was disappointed that she couldnt make it (babysitting). So I decided I would walk downtown and check them out.
Bele chere is this once a year street party where they close off the center of the city to traffic and thousands of people hit the streets. At first you just wander around looking at stuff, trying to find someone you know in the sea of people. then something dawns on you. All of downtown is just one big hill. Walking here is exhausting! i decided to cut things short and head over to where the band was going to play.
I did stop off at a bar. Vincent's Ear, home of the 24 oz PBR. It was kind of nice, sitting out in the courtyard, drinking my beer and watching all the people walk by. A couple of guys walked over and tried to sell me some oxy-cotin. Sonny and Ricky. ricky was just out of prison. 33 years for killing his younger brother when he was 15. Seemed nice though. A bit of mumbler. I decided to head back to the festival.
So i find the street where the stage is set up and work my way into the crowd. I can see the stage pretty well, im there early, the prior band is still playing their encore. the music ends and the roadies tear down the stage. everything appears to be fine.
the next set of roadies hit the stage and begin to set up. the "between set" music changes from bluegrass to hip hop, things seem to be going well.
40 minutes go by.
standing in the hot crowd slowly being packed like sardines i wonder if i just leaned back, could i take a nap? I keep watching moms with tiny baby's push their way through the crowd. Dads holding their strollers overhead. why would you take your baby to something like this? Am I in some kind of bizzaro world?
Finally the music stops and everybody screams. okay. here we go.
"Are you Ready to Get this thing Started!! well it should be any minute, they're on their way from the airport now."
son of a bitch.
# posted by joel @ 1:00 PM 
