With this recession brings more FREE FREE and… FREE!

If you can travel down to Maryland (or up, wherever you’re coming from) this August 30th… you DON’T wanna miss Virgin Mobile’s FREEFEST! Featuring artists such as Blink-182, Wale, The Bravery, Taking Back Sunday, Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Weezer, Public Enemy, and MANY MORE… for the precious price of FREE!!!

ALL 35,000 TICKETS GO “ON FREE” ON JUNE 27TH AT 10 AM!
www.virginmobilefestival.com

P.S. Do Virgin Mobile a favor and donate $5 to youth homelessness! Hey, it’s the least you can do!

Check out past years’ festivities! JUMP!

Now. Who’s lookin’ to carpool?… ROADTRIP!

The Virgin Mobile Fest is back and this summer it’s FREE. No pressure to change cell phone providers.  No contracts to buy new phones. Just simply FREE! 

Starting June 27 at 10am you can get your tickets free from Ticketmaster for the August 30 festival in Columbia, Maryland.  Sure it’s a trek from Atlanta, but with a lineup boasting Blink-182, Weezer, Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk, Jet, The Bravery, and the Hold Steady(and it keeps going), how can you not just jump in the car and go?! Seriously, give us one good reason why you can’t.

One of America’s largest music festivals, the Virgin Mobile Festival, will return amid speculation that the event wouldn’t take place this year. Pitchfork.com is reporting that the festival will trim down to one day at a much smaller venue. The festival, which will take place August 30th, features a lineup that has some serious weight, with bands like Weezer, Blink-182, Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy, Jet, Girl Talk and more.

Oh, and did I mention it’s going to be FREE?

Check the Virgin Mobile Festivale website for details.

Crise, é? Que nada… Fechamento das megastores na Times e Union Square? Nem ligo.

Então, a Virgin, aquela que sofre com as mudanças no mercado fonográfico mundial, está simplesmente aumentando o festival que promove no Canadá. Fique tranquilo, as coisas parecem estar indo muito bem para a empresa, obrigada.

O Virgin Festival já tem data para começar: 20 de junho em Montreal. As outras 4 cidades ainda não foram anunciadas nem suas respectivas atrações. No ano passado, os planos eram para 3 cidades, mas uma delas, Vancouver, foi cancelada.

Ah, o line-up da primeira data em Montreal ficou assim: Black Eyed Peas, Simple Plan, Akon, New Kids on the Block e Hedley and Live. Ainda bem que o festival é bem longe.

Além desse mega-festival no Canadá, a Virgin também promove o V Festival na Inglaterra (agosto) e o Virgin Mobile Festival nos Estados Unidos, com artistas um pouco mais interessantes.
EUA: Cat Power, Gogol Bordelo, Wilco, Bloc Party, Black Keys, Iggy Pop and Stooges, She and Him e (oi) Bob Dylan.
UK: The Killers, Lily Allen, The Wombats, Peter Doherty, Keane, MGMT e (oi) Oasis.

Resumindo: não fique assim porque as lojas fecharam. Torça para um dia eles fazerem um festival aqui, certo?

We’ve mentioned previously that there is an emerging trend of partnerships in the music industry, with bands and brands joining forces to explore new ways of reaching consumers and cultivating common passions. We witnessed more of this trend while attending the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore. One attraction at the Virgin Festival that seemed to draw a ton of people in was the Dell Dome.

The dome is part of the Dell Summer Rocks tour. They are road tripping to all the summer’s hottest music festivals and the tent adds to the sensory experience of the weekend by offering a combination of technology, art and music for visitors to show off their individual style. Festival goers can meet urban artist Mike Ming, or personalize their own digital mix tape, rock ‘n’ roll hairstyle and airbrush tattoo. Also, media are invited to ask questions of any of the performers lined up for interviews inside the Dome. A pretty cool way of promoting the new (very colorful) studio laptops (check out their creative Towel Drop promo).

Dell is working with festival promoters to include the brand where it can be experienced by this passionate community of people who align themselves with a lifestyle of self expression. They are giving them an interactive experience. Here we see yet another trend that is hard to ignore: music fans are craving interaction with the music and musicians they like more and more. The days of sitting around listening to music passively are fading.

In addition to the hands-on experience Dell offers in their dome, they have been chatting with artists at the festivals and posting video interviews. As our readers know, we here at Evolving Music love interviews. The Dell Lounge interviews are a great way to get to know some up-and-coming artists and see them kickin back in a casual festival setting. As of today, the Dell Summer Rocks tour is halfway through their road trip.

Starting at Lollapalooza, they snagged interviews (check any of them out here) with the likes of Bang Camaro, Cadence Weapon, beautiful Swedish crooner Sofia Talvik, and The Whigs.

Click around in the Virgin interview section to hear from Soulwax (one of our favorites from the DJ tent), Taking Back Sunday, and Deadmau5 among others. I had never heard of Deadmau5 before Virgin, but am definitely a fan now.

Outside Lands, which was in our own backyard, of course had all the big headliners like Jack Johnson, Tom Petty, and Radiohead (who kicked ass but dealt with some unexpected technical difficulties) to please the masses. But let’s not forget about some of the lesser known acts that rock as well. Dell caught some of these kids on tape here. Don’t miss the Howlin Rain interview. It takes place during a ping pong game.

Lastly, check out the class=”xLink”Bumbershoot Festival interviews from Seattle here for a personal look at Tapes ‘n Tapes (they opened for the Black Keys, who we like, earlier this year), Shim, and many more. I like the dude from Shim with the crazy mutton chops. He’s goofy.

So there you have it. A personal look at some of the artists from this summer’s festival season and the interactive experience offered to festival goes in the Dell Summer Rocks tent. When it comes to the intersection of technology, art, and music, you know where it’s at: interaction, personalization, and self-expression.

I first came across Philadelphia trio Sisters3 this past Valentine’s Day when they performed a show rife with local talent at Northern Liberties’ Fire Bar and Grille, most commonly referred to as The Fire. I was there that night to see songstress Birdie Busch perform but was glad to have arrived early once I’d heard the lovely sounds of Sisters3.

I hadn’t again encountered the group until I ran into acoustic guitarist and lead vocalist Anna Christie at Philadelphia Popped! Festival while interviewing Hoots & Hellmouth, another local act, and again on day 2 of this year’s Virgin Mobile Festival. We chatted a while and discussed the girls’ release of their debut full-length Star Spangled.

Star Spangled features 13 minimalist tracks focusing on Anna Christie’s songbird vocals that are both strong and beautiful. The three part harmonies created along with Beatrice and Cassandra are rich and phenomenal. From start to finish, Star Spangled is beautiful and cohesive through its love and nature motifs. The album begins with a brief but sweeping piano melody later joined by a soft violin part before tambourine kicks in atop low keys on “Heart Disease,” a tune of love and longing.

“Heart Disease” jump starts the records showcasing the sisters’ beautifully blended harmonies over the music’s retro girl pop vibe and sweet xylophone undertones. “Patsy Cline” follows in the same retro girl pop vein with a tinge of country while showcasing the warm quality of Anna Christie’s vocals in contrast the more nasal quality of Beatrice’s and Cassandra’s vocals.

My favorite track on the record is “Little Lainy Lou,” a soulful and jazzy number about a young girl who loved to dance. The chorus is completely fluid with low harmonies and has a sultry air about it thanks to guest snaps and ch ch chas by Dave MacIntosh. “Little Lainy Lou” is absolutely catchy and the kind of radio song I would expect to hear on WXPN.

The title track follows with a folkier sound and immediate hook as Anna Christie sings about her American dream versus the daily grind that gets her down. She croons with the best of them through the drawn out verses before the album takes a more lighthearted turn with “Giggling Gremlins,” complete with slide whistle and upbeat, melodic keys.

The girls’ vulnerability shines through in the songwriting on “Subway Song” as Anna Christie sings, “Prince Charming missed his cue a thousand times / I don’t even think he memorized his lines.” The devastating and heavy tone of “Subway Song” is lifted as “All The Working People” blasts through with a jaunty and infectious beat that has definite radio potential.

The most experimental track on the record is “The Soldier Song” with its warped keys and ending drum beats. The amps on this track seem to go to 11 as Anna Christie sings, “I will sing for you / I’ll be your musical! / Will you wind me up? / Wind me up (x3)” with passion, intensity and increasing volume as the song draws on. Another personal favorite is “Morning Glory” due to its referencing Roman mythology (“Mercury is standing still / the winged messenger took a sleeping pill”) and it’s hook-laden chorus.

The record ends with a soft and gorgeous instrumental track that betrays classic training and would fit perfectly in any love scene in a black and white film. It’s lovely and low piano melody will relax you after a stressful day or lull you to sleep if you sit back and close your eyes, sinking into the sounds. If you’re the patient, or forgetful, type and allow the record to play on another minute, you’ll be rewarded with a brief hidden track.

Sisters3’s Star Spangled is a beautiful album start to finish and it more than a fine offering as a debut album. Anna Christie, Beatrice and Cassandra have created a true gem. You can catch the trio live at their CD Release party at Johnny Brenda’s on September 12th with fellow Philadelphians The Extraordinaires and Hezekiah Jones.

Tracklisting:
01. Introduction
02. Heart Disease
03. Patsy Cline (download)
04. Little Lainy Lou
05. Star Spangled (download)
06. Giggling Gremlins (download)
07. Subway Song
08. All The Working People
09. Bermuda Triangle
10. Counting Footsteps
11. The Soldier Song
12. Morning Glory
13. Constance
14. hidden track

Sisters3: website | myspace | CD release show
Vibewrangler Records: website | myspace

Somehow, day 2 of this year’s Virgin Mobile Festival was even better than the first. While I was still on a high (all natural!) from the Foo Fighter’s set the previous night, each of the sets I was honored to see on Sunday blew me away, especially that of the closing act performed by the one and only Kanye West (the other major reason along with Lupe Fiasco, I needed to hit VFest). Again, I was a bit of a late arrival, but only missed Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Go! Team this time, making it to catch half of Shudder To Think’s set.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – 12:00-12:45 // North Stage

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The Go! Team – 12:20-1:05 // South Stage

The Go! Team

Shudder To Think – 1:05-1:55 // North Stage
I kind of missed the Shudder To Think train when it first came around (to be fair, they did form when I was just a year old and disbanded while I was still in my middle school girl power pop phase), but after a ten year hiatus, a quasi-reunion occurred last year and the band pulled off a solid set at Virgin Mobile Festival.

Shudder To Think

Andrew Bird – 1:25-2:10 // South Stage
Andrew Bird, whose 2007 Armchair Apocrypha I (and many others) adore, played a phenomenal set last Sunday to a packed South Stage. He’s recently sold out 2 New York City shows in just 2 hrs for his upcoming tour! Not surprising in the least. Get in on some Andrew Bird tour action, if only to see him rock out with a violin — it’s magnificent.

Andrew Bird

Paramore - 2:15-3:05 // North Stage
One of the most touted national acts, I was disappointed with how boring Paramore’s set was. Haley and the guys had fierce energy, but every song blended together making the set feel like one long song. Then again, that’s what pop punk usually is.

Paramore

She & Him – 2:35-3:25 // South Stage
Having seen this magnificent duo before, I ditched Paramore and made my way over to the South Stage to be as close as possible to Ms. Zooey Deschanel and her counterpart Mr. M. Ward. The set list was almost exactly the same as when I’d see the band headline at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, but it was just as good the second time. The one noticeable change was a cover of “I Put A Spell On You” which wonderfully displayed Deschanel’s vocal range, and the addition of an original song by back-up singer Becky Stark, who’s also got a great set of pipes.
Why only these two pictures of Deschanel are available, I can’t say, but you can check out some pictures from their Philadelphia performance here.

She & Him: Zooey Deschanel

Taking Back Sunday – 3:30-4:20 // North Stage
Taking Back Sunday was totally my jawn in high school. For nostalgia’s sake, and I still really dig Tell All Your Friends and Lazzara’s mic swinging action, I caught out part of the band’s high energy set. An oldie but still a goodie.

Taking Back Sunday: Adam Lazzara

Lil Wayne – 3:50-4:30* // South Stage
The asterisk on Lil Wayne’s set time denotes that this time line was not accurate since Lil Wayne showed up on stage 40 minutes late, making fans wait almost two hours, as many staked out their spots during She & Him’s set. I don’t like to be kept waiting, so I opted to catch a good spot for Iggy & the Stooges over at the North Stage instead. I’d seen Iggy at Download: Philadelphia so I knew I was in for a great set. I’m bummed to have missed Lil Wayne’s performance, but if I ever get the chance to see him again, I hope he’s prompt.

Lil Wayne

Iggy & the Stooges - 4:50-5:50 // North Stage
If you want some punk rock and roll, no need to look further than Iggy and the Stooges, or just Iggy. The man, in his sixties, has more energy than an entire kindergarten class. He ran around the stage, jumped on amps, and yelled at the crowd to ‘get the hell up on stage!’ and went so far as to demand that security allow the crowd to jump the barricade and thrash about on stage. Sadly, these demands were not met, so rather than accept defeat, Iggy jumped down and engaged himself with the crowd running around through the open space that was barricaded off from the stage, since security also refused to let him actually jump into the crowd.

Iggy and the Stooges

The Black Keys – 5:15-6:15 // South Stage
I also skipped over The Black Keys in favor of staking out a spot for Stone Temple Pilots as I figured my future opportunities to see STP was far less great than the future potential of catching a Black Keys set.

The Black Keys: Dan Auerbach

The Black Keys: Patrick Carney

Stone Temple Pilots – 6:20*-7:35// North Stage
No pictures have been made available for Stone Temple Pilots.
The band arrived on stage 20 minutes late, but rather than have their set extended like Lil Wayne’s on the other stage, they were forced to finish up at 7:35, keeping at least one stage on schedule. They powered through their hits and Weiland — who was layered to the max with clothing (t-shirts, vests, 3 or 4 ties) — removed a piece of clothing with each new song played. The crowd eagerly sang and moshed along for the entire set.
In addition to making their fans wait 20 minutes to begin their peformance, with maybe 15 or 20 minutes to go, STP left the stage for 5 minutes — maybe they needed a hit? — in which Weiland removed his t-shirt and put on a black leather vest before coming back out to perform their last two songs. Perhaps it was supposed to be an encore, but making the audience wait 20 minutes initially should’ve sent a red flag to Weiland and co. that we wanted more songs, not a lame attempt and a pseudo-encore.
Despite time issues, all and all a decent set.

Moby - 6:30-8:00 // DJ/Rave Tent
Never actually went into the DJ Tent (though everyone referred to it as the “Rave Tent”) for fear of club kids and getting molested by those on X, but walked by slowly during Moby’s spinning session. It was fab and had I not been rushing to catch the legendary Bob Dylan, I probably would’ve stopped and raved it up for a bit.

Moby

Bob Dylan – 6:45-8:00* // South Stage
No pictures have been made available for Bob Dylan.
I’ve never seen Bob Dylan perform before. I think that perhaps since I’d been building him up in my mind for the 23 years I’ve been alive, I expected too much. He was great, no doubt, but it wasn’t the magic I’d expected. And he didn’t even let the cameras (neither photo nor video) get close enough to even show his face. So for all I know, it wasn’t even Dylan. Just saying.

Nine Inch Nails – 8:05-10:00// North Stage
I’m not big into Nine Inch Nails. What?! Yeah. It’s true. I can only take at face value what Ajay told me in regards to this: I’m “a happy person.” I stuck around for a good portion of their set and I was impressed by the ridiculous light show they put on, but I was definitely eager to get over to the South Stage for Kanye West.

Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor

Kanye West – 8:30-10:00* // South Stage
No pictures have been made available for Kanye West, which is unfortunate because his stage show was a visual assault of lights, colors and fog. If I owned a point and shoot digital, I’d have pictures of my own to show you, but I always manage to drop them. A lot. They don’t last long in good working order in my possession.

Lots of VFest attendees shared my enthusiasm for Kanye’s performance and packed out the lawn in and around the South Stage to dance and sing/rap along with the oft-controversial rapper. His set list was long and inclusive featuring “Good Morning”, “Champion”, “I Wonder”, “Get Em High”, “Through the Wire”, “Heard Em Say”, “Diamonds from Sierra Lione”, “Touch the Sky”, “Good Life”, “Flashing Lights”, “Homecoming”, “All Falls Down”, “American Boy”, “Put On”, “Jesus Walks”, “Gold Digger”, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”, and “Stronger”. He also spit some original lines on the spot — or so it seemed, anyway.

I was definitely impressed with West’s set and cannot wait to see him again. He mentioned that he was bummed out to have to be put up against Nine Inch Nails again (the first being at this year’s Lollapalooza) because he wanted to be in the crowd for their set. He did, however, praise VFest for their choice of venue since those who couldn’t afford tickets to the event (think in the hundreds) were still able to see and hear many acts through the fence. He was very honest in his sentiments about loving his fans and never wanting to do anything more than perform for them because it’s what he loves and lives for. I absolutely walked away from VFest with a greater admiration for Kanye West.

Here’s looking forward to Virgin Mobile 2009 — I can’t wait to see how they try to top this year.

This year marked the 2nd Annual Virgin Mobile Festival, and while I wasn’t at the first, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this year’s topped last year’s. V-Fest 2008 was expanded to two full days with over 40 bands and DJs performing in 2 different locations. Hot indie acts, superstars and living legends all played the 2-day festival held at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course.

PopWreckoning photog Ajay Malghan attended last year and accompanied me this time around. Saturday morning proved to be very directionally challenged, so we didn’t show up at Pimlico Race Course until halfway through the Swell Season’s set, but check out what the day had in store:

Cat Power - 12:00 -12:50 // North Stage

Cat Power

KT Tunstall – 12:15-1:00 // South Stage

KT Tunstall

Duffy - 1:00-1:55 // North Stage

Duffy

Gogol Bordello – 1:20-2:10 // South Stage
Due to some bad directions from a gas station attendant who clearly hated her job, Ajay and I missed

Gogol Bordello

The Swell Season – 2:15-3:05 // North Stage
No pictures are available of The Swell Season’s set, but they played beautifully to an eager crowd.

Lupe Fiasco – 2:30-3:25 // South Stage
One of the main reasons I headed down to Virgin Mobile Festival was to see Lupe Fiasco and it was not short of absolutely worth my time and effort. He opened up his set with the energtic “Kick/Push” and played other favorites off last year’s The Cool including “Hip Hop Saved My Life” and the super infectious “Go Go Gadget Flow.” On the latter, Fiasco’s guitarist played with his teeth, which was quite impressive.

Halfway through the set, Fiasco experienced problems with the monitors, but hardly let the issue affect his hyper energy and resumed the set with hit single “Super Star” once the matter was resolved. Lupe got the crowd riled asking, “Can I get an ‘Amen!’ Can I get a ‘Shalom!’” before performing tracks from his debut Food & Liquor, most notably the drawn out “Daydream.” Definitely a must see.

Lupe Fiasco

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – 3:25-4:15 // North Stage
I’d seen Ms. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings at The Roots Picnic in June and there was no way I was missing their set at VFest. Jones was her sassy self, shakin’ it on stage and constantly telling the Dap Kings to kick it up. At one point, she brought a young man on stage and sauntered up to him telling him that she was going to teach him how to love his girlfriend “slow and easy.” In addition to her cheeky demeanor, Jones can sing! Don’t miss out on seeing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

Bloc Party - 3:45-4:35 // South Stage
No pictures are available for Bloc Party’s set, but rest assured that their set was both crazy and fantastic.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela – 4:35-5:25 // North Stage
This duo played a beautiful acoustic set with a welcomed exotic tinge.

Rodrigo

y gabriela

Wilco - 7:00-8:15 // North Stage
Wilco is just amazing and not much else needs to be said on how wonderful their set was.

Wilco

The Silver Beats / Chuck Berry – 6:30-7:30 // South Stage
From the way the line-up was arranged, it was assumed that Chuck Berry’s backing band would be the Silver Beats, a Japanese Beatles‘ cover band. This, however, was not the case. The Silver Beats played a half hour set of meticulously well-played Beatles songs including “Daytripper” and “Hey Jude” which, though unexpected was rather enjoyable, before legend Chuck Berry hit the stage in a red sequined shirt, bolero and sailor hat.

The Silver Beats

Despite fashion choices I would neither make for myself nor suggest to others, the 82 year old Berry totally owned the stage and showed every other guitarist at the festival just how the guitar should be played. It was nothing short of an honor to be able to watch Chuck Berry perform, even for just a half hour.

Chuck Berry

Foo Fighters – 8:15-10:00 // South Stage
Pictures for the Foo Fighters are unavailable, but they were hands down the most impressive act of the night. They owned the festival as the crowed rocked hard and cheered along as Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and a handful of tour performers powered through their hits [think of a Foo song on the radio, yeah they played it] and some randos. Grohl is hilarious on stage and his banter/mocking is reason enough to attend the Foo concert nearest you.

An overzealous fan threw his car keys on stage during a particularly rowdy song and Grohl picked them up saying, “Who’s the jackass who threw his keys on stage?” He then went into how the keys and car (an assumed Toyota Celica) were Grohl’s 2008 bonus. He also informed the crowd that drummer Taylor Hawkins’ real first name is Oliver and proceeded to call him ‘Oliver’ and ‘Ollie’ for the remainder of the night.

Having never seen the Foo Fighters before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I can now honestly say that it’s got to be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Jack Johnson – 8:45-10:00 // North Stage
I wasn’t missing a second of Foo Fighters, especially as Ajay and I worked our way as close to the front as possible, so I missed this set. The thing about Jack Johnson, though, is if you’ve heard one song, you’ve really heard them all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but I’m just sayin’.

Jack Johnson

Photos: all photos provided by Virgin Mobile USA Media

I brought my camera to the Baltimore music festival, and I was allowed in the press pit for Rodrigo y Gabriela and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. I took a ton of pictures – you can find a selection of the ones I deemed the best below, and find more after the jump.

Sharon Jones

Guitar picks portrait

Rodrigo Sanchez

Gabriela Quintero

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

Art wall

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

Hulahoops at Gogol Bordello

I think I should tell you. I love wrap. 

1. First, when you are wrapping a project, gravity is working with you. You are no longer trying to get things up, you are bringing them to the ground, where they naturally want to be.  This makes work much easier. 
2. you aren’t measuring or figuring out stuff when wrapping. You must’ve had it figured out when you put the dang thing up. You know what to do. 
3. Wrapping always takes less time. 
4. you never are searching for things when wrapping. You are putting them back where they belong. 
5. People all smile during wrap, mainly because we all know it is almost over. 
6. Unscrewing out is easier than screwing in. Just is. 
7. It’s an attitude thing. You have done the job (hopefully well) and now you are pulling down your good work. 
8. There is a clear end in sight. This becomes truer as the day goes on. 
9. I love loading the truck. I have been planning this the whole time. ABW (always be wrapping) is my mantra. 
10. When that door on that truck closes. You are really done. There is nothing more to move. You head to your car and go home. Bliss. 

Welsh firecracker Duffy performed at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday. She has been working hard to promote her first album entitled, “Warwick Avenue.” She is garnering the right kind of attention, her fellow Welshman Tom Jones wants to duet with her!

Tom is quoted as saying: “That’s because she’s Welsh and she can sing, not just because she’s Welsh. I’d like to do something with her.”

Nine Inch Nails – Lights In The Sky: Over North America 2008 tour dates and tickets at tour.nin.com.

Photos by Rob Sheridan.

all pictures taken from nin’s official flickr account.

I have a ton of lame-ass excuses. I’ve been working. I haven’t felt like it. I’ve been too busy. I was up all night chatting with friends on the internets and phone. Tribe has been down and I am too lazy to update all that stuff. 

Whatever. I haven’t been writing. It annoys me and I always feel less myself, (and less a man) when I am A.W.O.B. (Absent without blog). 

Done apologizing. 

I flew into Baltimore on the top of a huge thunderstorm. Who’d have thought that flying to work for the Do Lab would be a break from work in LA. As I got onto the plane, I breathed a sigh of relief. The UR Votes Count thing that I was working on for the weeks before this job had been really stressing me out. Once I got on that plane, there really was nothing I could do about that (and to Adam, Art and Eric H’s credit, they haven’t called me once about the project). I was on a red eye. Two hours of fitful sleep. Tops. 

I arrived and dickered with the schmarmbag rental car agent. Of course, i got put in the phattest ride they had. A Town and Country minivan. A godsdamned bimbobox. It was pretty banged up and a powder blue that was sure to pull the soccer moms of the Maryland suburbs. First things I do when I get out of that rental car lot is get lost. I lead myself on a tour of the roughest neighborhoods of Baltimore.  But you know how it is when you haven’t slept. It’s not even me driving. It an autopilot. Some other guy. I miss the hotel, when I turn around I find a whole foods and a starfucks. Civilization. Baltimore suddenly aint so bad when I have a grande triple soy latte in my hands. I even have time for a shower. 

I meet up with Jedi and Tristan in the lobby and we go to work.  We measure three, four times. We lay out giant squash and onions. I spend the day pounding metal into earth. I feel like a blacksmith. I find my rhythm. I hit my toes with the hammer.  We work until 10pm, when the Hulk Hogan biker clone locks us in. But the hardest work, the figuring out part, is done. It’s gonna be great. 

I return to the Raddison. And my huge hotel room. My bed is a king and either side has it’s own control for softness. It’s epic. Free Internets, a plus. USA Today at the door when I wake up. A great AC. I decide pretty quick that I am going to skip All Points West in NJ. I may as well kick it here. It’s pretty cool. 

The next day we are in at 10 am, right when they will let us in, after they have run the horses on the Pimlico racetrack. Today we finish the onion frames. We have the right tools. We have the right lift. It’s going really well. Then we realize that we are missing the key part of the Lumies that make them look so cool! So I am off to meet Y2 halfway between the other crew and us. The Do Lab has another team doing a much bigger installation at the All Points West festival. I have an opportunity to drive some more across the great state of Maryland. And then Delaware, to visit where my debt us kept. It’s a fun trip. I get back after nine and we decide to do one last day. There’s not much left. 

The last day we get up the Lumies, without having to pound in a ton of stakes or lay down guy wires, which is the hardest part of that. They go up instantly and they look perfect. Everything goes so smoothly. And just as we are wrapping up our day, the storm comes. We go and catch a movie. The Mummy 3. It was terrible. Painful terrible. 

The next day we go down to check the structures in the wind and end up going to the Inner Harbor, we mix with the tourists and anime cosplayers. It’s a surreal day. Strangely, the day among the toursts exhausts me more than working at full speed! We go back and check the lighting of the site. It looks amazing. 

Today was the first day of the Virgin Mobile Festival. I gotta say, it was a just okay kind of festival. The festivals we go to back in LA are so much better. Coachella, so much bigger and brighter. LIB, a dreamland compared to this. I am spoiled. But I am going to honest when I stumbled upon The Swell Season from the movie Once. I was so pleasantly surprised! They were so charming and cute! As an encore the two of them jumped down into the audience and did a little irish sing-a-long. It was so wonderful. I’ve been listening to that Once sountrack so much I knew the words to every song. Its been a while since that happened. Duffy and Underworld were also pretty amazing. I got some pretty cool pictures of the Foo Fighters. I also gotto hang out with some east coasters! My friend Kathy who I never get to see came out for the show with a couple of friends. And I got to hang out with Stryk, a great guy who I met through Wolfie. Overall it was a great day. 

Tomorrow is the last day of the festival and we will start breaking down as soon as Trent Reznor lays down his blood soaked guitar. I still don’t know the details of my return flight. I should probably figure that out soon.

I also need to meet Richard Branson and find out where he is camping at Burning Man.

more info here