What's Up This Weekend?

I found it hard to believe that it had been 4 years since I had been to the Second Annual Nelsonville Music Festival when it was located behind the Rocky Boots factory in the relatively small field bordered by the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway Station and the Hocking River. Back then our posse had gotten in on the pretense of helping John Boerstler with his equipment (he was performing with Megan Palmer & the Hopefuls, I believe) and I vaguely remember enjoying Leon Redbone, Brave Combo and Todd Snider at what was clearly a fledgling festival just getting off the ground with one stage and a handful of vendors. I’d actually been at the first one the year before when it was in the village square and I hold dear the memory of sneaking into an empty Stuart’s Opera House singing and cavorting on the stage with a girl friend who shared my state of mushrooming silliness.

Friday Night

This year it took another promise of a free ride in by way of volunteering to “work” the beer tent 10 AM to 1 PM Saturday and Sunday. With no must-sees in Columbus, I decided to take advantage of my volunteer status on Friday night and check it out. Any money I might have saved on admission ($60 for a 3 day pass) was blown on an incredible gourmet dinner at Zoe’s in Athens which began with a roast turkey and duck proscuitto slider, ended with my first Baked Alaska and, what else but a wild mushroom crepe in between, all washed down with a vanilla bean mojito So I’m feeling pretty primed for further pleasurable sensory indulgences by the time I turn the down the road to the Hocking College campus and pass by the Main Stage, lit up in the twilight against a creamy blue and orange swirl of clouds, sitting with its backstage on the edge of a sunset pink pond and the retro-rock sound of the Detroit Cobras filling the air.

This is how I begin my article on the Nelsonville Music Festival that I hope will be published on cringe.com soon. If you want to read about the rest of my Friday night experience, I will be sending a follow-up email and Facebook link. Hopefully, I will get around to writing about the entire weekend which was really nice.

Thursday, tonight, Joey Hebdo is at The Basement. Dan Dougan's Listening Hour at Gateway Plaza has Cur Dogs with Matthew Hoover. Fox 'N Hounds is at Dick's, The Shrunken Head has Miss Molly & Friends featuring Miss Tess with the Boki Quartet and Chase Potter and Treehouse has Erika Carey and Elisa Nicholas.

Friday, Dick's has Jesse Henry & the Royal Tycoons, Hal & Al's has Tin Hearts, The Wells and Miller-Kelton. Hells Fire Sinners and Vegas 66 are at The Shrunken Head, The Kyle Sowashes and Wussy are at Treehouse, Wexner has Go Analog and Bonneville and Summit has the Dangerous Curves burlesque bump-n-grind national tour.

Saturday, This Is My Suitcase at Carabar, Brasileira is at Dick's, Mary Adam 12 is at Rumba, The Spikedrivers are at Skully's, Treehouse has Number One Cat and, speaking of cats, Summit hosts the Cat Welfare Association Benefit with Flu Faker, Adult Fiction and Daycreeper.

Sunday, Nick Tolford & Co. and Mt. Carmel are at Carabar.

Monday, Ruby's has Pirates of the Scioto and Rumba's Cowtown Round features Sam Brown and Josh Kayser with Jason Quicksall. Good one!

Wednesday, The OSU New Music Collective and Carpe Diem Strings perform Charles Ives and similar modern fare at the Goodale Park Shelter House, free admission and Jeni's ice cream from 7 to 8 PM. Sounds tasty.

Next week on the twentieth of May, da-da-da-da-da-da-DA,
I proclaim Eliza Doolittle Day!

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