First Annual Bay Area Indie Music Festival -- August 25

I honestly do NOT know where to start; a full day of sun and music could have that effect…by the end of the night one was on live music overload. The festival’s sound technicians ditched the gig the morning before – so there was a brand new crew scrambling to get the show on the road. The bands in general weren’t THAT great – thought the few that were awesome, were worthy of buying the CD and I did buy a couple. (The Frail, Scissors For Lefty, and a couple others – Push To Talk sounded pretty good as well as Audrye Sessions) The festival line up appeared to be at least 2 hours off schedule, so Eskimo Joe didn’t come on till about 6:15 or so…but it was so worth the wait. I was entertained by some Australians who happened to be living in Berkeley (about a half hour away from the venue, maybe) – both really nice guys, and asked me a few questions of what I knew of the guys.

They arrived to the venue about an hour or hour and a half before their set and Stu and Kav walked right by me…and immediately my nerves were totally buzzing. I couldn’t believe they’d just walked right in front of me and I couldn’t find my voice to call out to them…but more so – I couldn’t believe I was finally going to see this band live. We still had a while to wait…but before their set started, my friend and I walked over to watch them set up – and I took a couple pictures. I waved at Kav, and immediately felt like a dork, because it was a tiny wave that showed just how nervous and excited I was – but he still smiled at me. With the [harsh] encouragement of my friend, I went over to Kav, and shook his hand, and told him I was a HUGE fan and couldn’t wait to hear them play. It was obvious he was concerned about the sound system, as almost every band had some kind of issue with instruments or microphones…I was worried too, because they were setting up to play on the problem stage. Then finally, it was their turn to play. The guy who did their intro was obviously excited too, to hear them play, which made me happy to hear how much he appreciated Eskimo Joe making this their last stop on their first American tour. Song by song breakdown:

Set List:
Sarah – I was surprised that they were going to open with Sarah, but I was still happy as I love the song and especially the instrumental break. With the first vocals I immediately had goose bumps – this song is amazing and I look forward to hearing it again. They totally rocked out…if people weren’t paying attention to them before the break – they were then.
Comfort You – I’ve been told they love playing this song live…and now I can see why. They totally rock out to this song, and it was a blast to see. Though given the songs they cut because of the delay – I’d rather have heard How Does It Feel or Breaking Up. Still, the piano alone makes this an amazing live song.
New York – A dream-like experience live. Great instrumental to a wonderful song that definitely sounds better live than on the CD. It was a beautiful song…and it was amazing to see 200 or so people who had no idea who these guys were, totally starting to rock out.
From the Sea – When I looked at the set list before they started…I was so excited to see that we were going to hear an older song as well. Kav’s voice really shines live, even when you’re standing next to the speaker like I was. I think this is probably the song that made me love the band more, simply a brilliant live moment.
London Bombs – I don’t know what I can say about this song that I haven’t said already about the others. Absolutely beautiful live, between the acoustic guitar and piano…and again, Kav just sounds amazing live; as well as the band, possibly better than the CD version.
This Is Pressure – I was so happy they played this song…that I literally jumped. I couldn’t help myself. Easily the highlight of the set…absolutely amazing because you can feel Kav’s bass in you, which I could the whole night, but I love the bass in this song so it made it even more amazing.
Black Fingernails, Red Wine – I knew that they would play this, I was hoping anyway. I really wanted to hear it after I saw it on Live Earth. There’s no way around it that the kick drum in this song would get anyone pumped up to hear the song…and the crowd was certainly enjoying this song.

Missed out on (due to huge delays getting started):
Beating Like A Drum
Breaking Up
How Does It Feel

After their set, I quickly went to get my drawing out of my bag, because I wasn’t going to leave this place without him seeing and singing the drawing. So when I went up to the stage a second time, I was so much less nervous and that made it a lot easier to be able to show the portrait I’d done. When I walked to the stage with the pad of paper that had my drawing, he immediately spotted it and asked what it was…so I pulled out the copy I had made to give to him; immediately he said, “Oh wow, this is awesome! Thank you.” Then when I showed him the original, he said how clearly I hadn’t just drawn it…which made me laugh; I admitted it had taken me about a week. Then when I asked him to sign the original, he said he would only sign it if I signed the copy I’d brought…which totally shocked me but also really made my day (and then some) – so I did. For some reason, I had the drawing upside down and I was ready to sign the back – but Kav had no problem telling me exactly how and where to sign it; “You have to sign it on the front in the corner, like an artist.” Anyway, the point of this drawing in a way was to show my admiration – and hopefully so he’d remember me the next time I saw them. I had been anticipating this show for a month so it was a huge relief when they didn’t have any major audio issues. Overall, the whole night was fabulous…one I won’t soon forget.