Computer quirks can't kill this good time

Now that I've officially been at Langerado for more than 24 hours, I can completely admit that I did not realize what I was in for with this festival.  After I wrapped up shooting groove-a-liscious sets by The New Deal & Perpetual Groove last night I slipped and slid through the ankle deep swamplands while my right ankle got attacked by fire ants as I walked down the scary path to where I had originally parked my car.

A very courteous vendor named Jason helped me find my car amongst the disorganized and now sparce RV's and I drove it through the festival grounds and crowds of people roaming aimlessly until I found the only friends I had connected with at the festival yet.  They helped me set up the tent that Jeremy (Afterglow Radio) lent me and finally I felt like I was in a safe place to start blogging from when I realized it was 4:30 a.m. and the sun would be coming up soon.

As I fell asleep, I could feel the bass of random car stereos thumping the ground through the night, not to mention the occasional fireworks and late-nighters hootin' and hollarin'.  I awoke to a very, very hot tent (that had turned into a sail of sorts with the 25 mph plus winds on my face) and realized it was time to get up and go!  There was meeting at noon that would decide our fate with photographing the Beastie Boys and I didn't want to miss that!

After the meeting I caught a little bit of the Dynamites set.  They were bustin' out some serious James Brown-esque tunes that just made you wanna "get on up", all while dressed in very nice suites.  I thought that they had to be dying from heat under there, but as I returned to camp to finish uploading and writing, I could hear them carry on for a good 45 minutes without missing a beat.

There have been a few computer/internet issues since I've been here and it doesn't help that the media tent is a good half mile from camp - so power is sparse and it takes a lot of it (and time) for me to upload images and blog, but I finally figured out a way and headed back in to the grounds to catch the tail end of Ozomatli.  They have always been a high-energy band  with some of the most original song structures I've ever heard, especially with the beautiful Latin influence, but this time the end of their set blew me out of the water...er...swamp.

Then it was off to catch The Wailers and then I realized how much the media has really jumped on the Langerado bandwagon.  There were too many other photographers to count between the band and stage, but that didn't play a role the connection everyone was feeling to the music.  Matisyahu joined The Wailers for an entirely goose-bump provoking rendition of "No Woman No Cry" and then I had to head back to the media tent to sign the waiver needed to shoot the Beastie Boys.

Once that was taken care of, G-Love was just going on stage as the sun started to creep a little bit closer to sunset.  Every time I've ever seen G-Love he has exuded this air of confidence and swagger that is just undeniably sexy.  He's a bad ass in a skinny body and boy can he make his version of blues infused funk and hip hop tasty!  I walked away from his set groovin' to "I Like Cold Beverages" and then it was time to be escorted into shoot 311.

The sun had just disappeared behind a cloud skimming the horizon and by the time 311 came out it was dusk.  These guys knew how to kick off the beginning of a great night because the roar of the crowd and the soundscapes they created as they dove head first into favorites like "All Mixed Up", "Amber", "Beautiful Disaster" and their version of the Cure's "Love Song" were completely infectious.

Now I'm charging everything up, I've got my waiver in my pocket and unfortunately am missing The Roots (who sound oh-so-good from back here) as I type this and media is slowly gathering to get escorted into the photo pit for the long awaited set from the Beastie Boys.  I'll back with you all on how that went as soon as possible!