I saw a handful of concerts while I was on the road. The first was the 3-day Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis. It rained all weekend, turning the grounds into a disaster area. My favorites shoes were ruined.
The music wasn’t bad. Everyone from Snoop Dogg to Jerry Lee Lewis rocked the house. The singer of hard rock band Rise Against went out into the crowd.
My next concert wasn’t until I got to L.A. We checked out raunchy dance singer Peaches. Evidently, Christina Aguilera and some other celebs were in attendance but we didn’t see them from our perch in the balcony.
In Seattle I discovered an in-store performance at a record store by Carbon Leaf. I’d never been to an in-store, since we rarely have them in Pittsburgh. So even though I wasn’t familiar with Carbon Leaf, I checked them out. They put on a good show.
The in-store was so much fun I went to another one in Vancouver, checking out party punk Andrew W.K. & the Evaporators. Here’s a pic I haven’t published yet of Evaporators frontman Nardwaur crowd-surfing while wearing a helmet and playing keyboards.
My most unexpected concert was at the rodeo in Greeley, Colorado on the fourth of July. I went with my couchsurfing friend Jackie and we checked out Blake Shelton and Bucky Covington. It wasn’t my normal scene but it was fun to visit that world for a day.
Bucky Covington performs with the ferris wheel and other rides in the background.
After that I found myself in Minneapolis at the Basilica Block Party, with one of the city’s best-known exports, The Hold Steady, headlining the show.
Next up was the Chicago indie hipsterfest known as Pitchfork. The Flaming Lips were great headliners. The National, Matt and Kim, and Japandroids were also quality.
Here’s a shot of Frightened Rabbit.
The last concert was the All Points West festival in New Jersey, another mud-soaked fest with miserable conditions. St. Vincent was one of the many great acts.
It was a great musical summer.
9000 Miles 