Folkin' Around In Newport (And Other Weekend Adventures)

This weekend was incredible.  First and foremost, I didn't have to work for five solid days.  After months of working forty hours a week without any vacation time, I was more than ready to get away.  And let me tell you, getting away really put some things into perspective regarding that job.  But we'll get back to that later.

My original plan for this past weekend was to leave on Saturday for Boston, stay there for a night, head to Newport in the morning for the festival, and leave Newport for Rochester on Monday.  A couple days before I was supposed to leave, my friend Caroline (who, obviously, came along on the trip) invited me up to her cottage on Little Long Lake in the Adirondacks.  Figuring that a little time in the woods would probably do wonders for my sanity, I agreed to come up on Friday night--making my trip start a day early.

Part I, Adirondacks: I arrive at the cottage to find Caroline's entire family there.  This doesn't bother me, as the first thing I'm handed on the way into her cottage is a beer.  We went for a booze cruise, and I watched all of them jump off a (much to high for me to even consider jumping off of) rock--apparently one of their cottage gathering family traditions.  The night went by a little too fast, mostly because when I was done with one drink, another one came pretty much out of nowhere.  The Millers know how to have a good time.  The absolute best part of the night came when we played a game called Cards Against Humanity.  It's basically the same game as Apples to Apples, but with really, really offensive answers on the cards.  My absolute favorite play was when the dealer had, "What is the most emo?" and someone put in "flightless birds".  The "two midgets shitting in buckets" card came as a close second for favorite moments.  I highly suggest that we all get super drunk and play this game when we get together next.  Immediately following this game was a Fifty Shades level poetry reading, all done in a Rochester accent.  It's kind of impossible to explain, but it was the perfect ending for the night.  Not so perfect ending for the night?  Waking up at 5 AM and realizing that I didn't eat anything and consumed an obscene amount of alcohol.  Puking was imminent.  However, I retained my gold medal in the "very small people who drink way too much but never puke" category.  High fiving a million angels!


Part II, Boston: We left the cottage in the morning, and stopped in Saratoga for lunch.  The drive from Saratoga onwards (about four hours) was a bit horrific.  We were essentially chasing a rain storm.  So every time the rain got better, and we thought we were in the clear, it suddenly got worse again.


Anyway, we got to Boston at around 5.  It was still raining pretty hard.  We stayed with my cousin and her boyfriend in Brighton.  We did some illegal things then went out for a beer and then watched "Wildboyz".  I wish that we could have stayed longer, and seen a bit more of Boston--but the rain got in the way.  Which obviously means that I have to go visit again soon.


Brief side-ish note: my cousin is one of my absolute favorite people to see.  She's the kind of person who reminds me of exactly who I am--and she makes me feel centered and calm.  This does not happen for me with most people--I tend to be an incredibly nervous person--so to be relieved of that feeling, even for a little while, is always wonderful.



Part III, Newport: We left Boston in the morning for Newport.  The drive was easy.  The parking was easy.  The water taxi we took over was easy.  Everything was easy.  It was a nice change from the day before.  The sky looked a bit ominous, but there wasn't any rain--yet.


We arrived at the site, and we were both surprised at how small it was.  The site consisted of three stages--which weren't far apart at all.  Someone must have put a hell of a lot of work into figuring out those acoustics.


The first show we saw was Deep Dark Woods.  They were more electric/rock than folk. The lead singer broke a guitar string.  He awkwardly tried to fix it on stage.  Somebody found him a new guitar.  All was saved.  Then I had to pee, so I missed the rest of the set.  Typical.


We found Caroline's friend, who had a tarp set down in front of the main stage.  We stayed there to see Trampled By Turtles.  Not only do they have an awesome name, but they also rock out pretty hard.   The fiddle player (Or, fiddlest?  I want to give him a cool nickname, too) was insanely good.  He also resembled Zach Galifianakis.  So I guess what I'm saying is that Zach Galifianakis is moonlighting as a fiddlest in a semi-popular bluegrass band.


Next, we grabbed some lunch and a few beers.  Beer could only be consumed on the beer pier.  This was stupid to me.  I wanted to drink and watch music simultaneously.  Isn't that what music festivals are all about?


After that, we stood in front of the main stage, in a gigantic crowd, to see The Head and The Heart.  Before I saw them on Sunday, I didn't especially like them (I know, shame on me), but they put on an excellent, energetic show.  By the end of the set, I was a little bit enamored with them.  If you guys ever get the chance to see them live, DO IT.  They have some great fans and they really keep their crowd entertained.


We grabbed a few more beers in between H&H and our last, most anticipated, act--The Tallest Man On Earth.  We did a drive-by of Conor Oberst and Of Monsters and Men.  We stood and listened to TuNe-YaRdS for a while--who were fucking insane.  If there is anybody that really surprised me at the festival, it was them.  They really put on an intriguing and impressive show. They are officially on my list of bands to see live someday.  The crowd was really loving them too, even though they aren't folk at ALL.


After that was our beloved Tallest Man.  Ironically, I was too short to see anything.  I joked with some fellow festival-goers about bolting up the "fire lane" when he started, to get a better spot.  Instead, some really nice guy offered me his place, and I could see him a little better.  I spent most of the show moving around, trying to find a spot where I could at least see him a little bit.  I was pretty angry that I didn't have a view, because he was really the draw for me, as far as the festival acts went.  But I realized that I tend to ruin a lot of potentially wonderful moments in my life by being angry about stuff, and I stopped trying to move and just listened to him play.  He was absolutely perfect live--everything I could have hoped for.  In the middle of his set, it started to rain.  I didn't bring a raincoat or umbrella.  Some people peaced out, but most stayed.  It was a beautiful image--this huge crowd of people who were willing to stand in the rain to hear this man's music.  During the last couple of songs, I found a spot on a hillside, where I could see him perfectly.  I just looked over the crowd and soaked (pun intended) it all in.  It was definitely a moment I will never forget, and it perfectly defines why music is important to me.  The whole festival, did, actually.  Just to see that many  people full of joy and love--brought together by music.  That is such a powerful thing.


So, I realized that I have to quit my job at Starbucks.  I'm giving myself until the end of August.  I want to make a living working with musicians.  Whether it's performing with them, or writing about them, or something completely different--I don't know.  But it's too important to me to be working a shitty forty-hour a week job doing something completely unrelated.  It's not good for my soul, and I would rather fail at music than succeed at Starbucks any day.


This was long, and sort of angsty--and for that, I apologize.  But that is what I did with my weekend.  And it was the best weekend I've had in a long while.