Update Jazzfest Day Three

Ok, it's finally here, the final update on jazzfest. If I don't get this done now I'm going to forget everything that happened.

Sunday was supposed to be a lot cooler than the previous two days. I decided to wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt over a t shirt. Plus I really didn't want the sun to touch my body again, I was pretty sunburned. I met Larry at the store and we set off for the last day of the first weekend. It was pretty chilly outside too, so I was feeling pretty smart with my choice of clothes.

We got to the site with no problem, parked in his great parking spot and was waiting outside the gate with two hours to spare. It's actually pretty fun, we set up our chairs and before long there's a group of people with us. Most of these people come to Jazzfest every year and they know each other. One guy came up and asked the people working on the other side of the gate if they wanted anything to eat and than proceeded to go get them some breakfast sandwiches.

Today we would not be at the Sprint stage. The first two days most of our time was spent at the Sprint stage. Today we headed towards the Acura stage. This was the biggest stage area at the site. It had a huge screen on the side for the people way in the back to watch the show.

First up was a group called 007. We set up our chairs and then headed out while they played. We made the rounds. Ended up at the Live Fest tent, where they were selling cds of acts that have performed from the previous two days. Some of the shows were taped and transfered to cd and sold within hours of their performance. I asked the guy working the table how they picked which act to record. He said at the start they got the list of whoever was going to be at the Fest and sent them a letter telling them what they do and asking if they wanted to be recorded. Than if the act said yes they contacted their record company and got permission. They said Wilco said yes, but their record company said no, so there was no live recording of their show. They said that was probably the most requested show so far. I ended up buying the Meters show. Buddy Guy was recorded either or I would have bought it.

We got our food and drinks and headed back in time to catch the end of 007's act. They were pretty good. We found out later their keyboard player was the drummer for G Love & Special Sauce.

The next act was Jon Cleary. I had saw him perform with Snooks Eaglin from the first day, but today he was playing his own material. Jon is a transplated Englishman. He lives in New Orleans now and is a local landmark in the music world here. His show was really good.

After Jon was G Love & Special Sauce playing hip hop blues. He plays blues music and raps over it. He brought with him his own fans. He was good, maybe not exactly something I get crazy over, but I enjoyed it. I had heard some of his stuff before, I actually have one of his cds. Larry had never heard of him and was pleasantly surprised. One nice thing during his set was he brought out Charlie Musselwhite, the great hamonica player to play a song with him.

Next up was Dr John. What can be said about the Night Tripper? This is my fourth time I've been able to see Dr John. The last time was a few years ago and he seemed to be in poor health. Today he looked and sounded great.

The final act was Brian Wilson. The genius behind the Beach Boys. This was a show I really was looking forward to. It was packed by the time Brian came on. A girl, she couldn't have been more than twenty if she was that old, came pushing up from behind us. She made her way in front of me and than Larry. She turned to Larry and told him that she had been waiting all her life to see Brian Wilson and she was crying. Crying like in the old films you see of girls in the audience for Beatle shows. She stayed up front for three or four songs and every now and than she turned back to look at her boyfriend in the back and she was in tears all the time. It would be easy to make fun, but I think it was wonderful. She loved his music so much that it moved her to tears. It most be nice to be so moved by something.

Brian had a keyboard set up in front of him, but he never played it. Sometimes he looked a little lost on stage, but he sang great. One point he was introducing a song and forgot the name of it....his first song he ever wrote, Surfer Girl. Can you imagine your first song you write is a song of the quality of Surfer Girl. It might not be Good Vibrations, or California Girls, but it still is a classic. He was such a genius and it's such a shame.

When they finished playing his back up singer came over and took him by the arm and lead him off stage. But they were back in a few minutes to do a few more songs. He even put a guitar on and played a few chords.

Listening to him was something special. So many of his songs are classics and have become part of our everyday life that hearing them come from the creator was awesome. Only a few times have I felt like this, with people like John Fogerty. You just hear a few chords and your whole body tingles and you know what's coming. It's special and almost enough to even bring me to tears.

I hated to see the day end. I wasn't going to be able to make it to the next weekend, I had to work. But end it did. It was a great day and a great weekend.