Srol
08-17-2003, 10:13 AM
Yes yes, I exaggerrated a little in the topic. It's called a hook :p
Anyway, down to business I just returned from seeing Nickel Creek at the Newport Folk Festival, and I'm still not sure whether it really happened or whether it was some dream I had from sleep deprivation due to the blackout. Either way, IT WAS AWESOME!
A bit of a warning to any Creeksters who went to the festival, but left early. You may not want to read this, as you're probably going to be kicking yourself when you find out what you missed out on.
Okay, so my dad and I arrived at the Newport Festival around 12:40. We missed Jimmy Lafave and Mary Gauthier, but we had never heard of either of them, so we weren't too shook up about them. After we parked and took a bus to the main festival area, we arrived just in time for the middle - end of the The Waifs's set. I reccommend them to everyone here. Pretty neat tunes, and it's the only Australian band I've ever liked(not a fan of the safety dance).
The stage itself was humongous and there was an incredibly big crowd on hand. About 50,000 I'd guess. They had HUUUUGE speakers and a gigantic TV screen which always had a close-up of the current act.
Anyway, the Waifs finished up and they began to set the stage for Nickel Creek. So I waited....and I waited...and I waited. The program said they were supposed to come on at 1:40....1:40 came and went and still no Nickel Creek. Their set was only scheduled for 40 minutes in the first place, so I started to get very nervous....until FINALLY at 1:54'ish, they came out on stage.
Sean started tuning his guitar and I almost got knocked over. It was sooooo LOUD! My dad leaned over and whispered, If they do 'She Can't Complain', we're all gonna dia. I giggled a bit at the joke.
Anyway, after a few words at how honored they were to be there, they got right down to it. I don't remember the exact set list, but I think it went;
Smoothie Song
I Should've Known Better
The Fox(with unknown song and Subterranean Homesick Blues)
This Side
The Lighthouse's Tale (with Yellow)
Jacksmith
Short I know. They wound up only playing for 35 minutes when Chris was told they only had time for one more song, so they closed out with Jacksmith. They then said goodbye and thank you and exitted stage right.
I immiedietly stood and raced to the Borders book tent. Sure enough, there was a line there and I was informed they'd be there any second to start signing autographs. While waiting on line, I got to talk to two very nice Creekster girls that really showed off the diversity of this fan base. One was 15 and first heard of Nickel Creek through a John Mayer concert, and the other was 22 and sounded like an absolute diehard fan. She had drawn up a little thing in her notebook for them to sign. That's such a cool idea, and when she gave it to Sara, I remember she thought it was cool too.
Anyway, the three of them showed up and sat down at the table and the line started moving forward. I caught a few glimpses of them through the line and I thought it was pretty funny when Chris started doing a recreation of Boromir's death scene from the movie version of Fellowship of the Ring.
Anyway, my turn finally came up. I had brought my This Side cd for all of them to sign, and I also brought 26 Miles, hoping I could get Sean to sign that too. I handed my copy of This Side to Sara(she was sitting closest to me). She looked up and said, Hello in a friendly voice and smiling.
My mind was a complete blank.....I couldn't remember what you were supposed to say to someone when they say, Hello to you. I finally took a while stab in the dark and said, Hi back. Aren't I such a genius :D . Anyway, as she took This Side from me, she asked where I was from. When I said, New York, she looked up and asked me how I had been hit by the blackout.
Man, let me tell you I was stuck right in the middle of it. I was stranded in Manhatten
OH MAN! What happened
I was quite shocked to suddenly realize all three of them were staring right at me. I had their complete attention.
Wow
After they had signed my stuff, I stood off to the side talking with them for a few minutes about the blackout while the autograph line kept moving. I felt a little bad because this meant they weren't really talking to the people on line...but I wasn't about to pass this oppurtunity up.
Anyway, I finally said Goodbye and Thank you and walked away. Well...I didn't so much 'walk back to my seat as I did float. I know some of you talk to them all the time after concerts, but this was a first for me, and I felt incredible.
They had all signed my This Side Cd with their names, and Sara had written Seek Him on it too. I had heard she does that, and thought it was really cool. Sean had also signed by 26 Miles cd, and wrote in big underlined letters, Thanks! on it. I wasn't sure if he was thanking me for coming, or for bringing the cd. I wonder how many people ask him to sign 26 Miles?
Anyway, the show had to go on and the rest of the acts of the Folk Festival went through. Angelique Kidjo was pretty neat. Eddie Brickell was ...alright. Every song she played started to sound the same after a bit. Jonathon Prine was apparently really popular, although I wasn't exactly a huge fan of his music either. The only other act that ranked in the AMAZING category was the ending one when John Hiatt, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovvett, and Some Other Guy traded off back and forth on songs on acoustic guitar. THEY sounded awesome. The best was when John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett did My Baby don't Tolerate together.
Anyway, about an hour into that final set, my dad elbowed me and motioned towards the exit. We had a long drive, and he wanted to beat the other 50,000 people out of there. So we got up and headed for the shuttle bus that would take us to our parking lot.
Keep in mind as I narrate the following events, that they took place more than 5 HOURS after Nickel Creek was signing autographs. I knew they had a concert the next day in Virginia, so I figured they were LONG gone by then.
Dad and I got on the line for the busses. The line was pretty long, and there were only three busses in operation in total. We figured we'd be waiting there for a while, but we still had a jump over the huge bulk of the crowd at the festival. My first hint was when I noticed that there was a bus waiting with the engine running nearby. I wondered who's it could be, and assumed it was John Prine's since his set hadn't ended too long ago. My second hint was when I saw the back of a girl in a baseball cap and cargo pants walk by in the corner of my eye holding a violin. I had only ever seen Sara with her head uncovered and wearing skirts, so my mind just didn't put two and two together.
I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder behind me. I turned around and there she was. Sara Watkins, standing behind me holding her fiddle. I should've remembred from my previous experience earlier that I respond now with hello, but my mind was a complete fluster. I just wasn't processing the information. I still didn't quite realize what was going on when I realized Chris Thile was next to her tuning his mandolin.
We felt sorry for you guys waiting on line, so we decided to come out and play a little for you.
They played about 4 songs for the crowd. They were right in front of me. Less than 3 feet away. I was dumbfounded. It was amazing. I have to say that that is how Nickel Creek music was meant to be heaard.
Anyway, after the fourth song, all of a sudden two park rangers showed up. Chris and Sean had each had a beer with them, and there was no alcohol allowed in the festival. The rangers looked like they were about to lead them away, and the crowd started booing. Chris and Sean just poured out their beers into the grass, but the rangers still weren't satisfied. Apparently since they started playing, no one was getting on the bus now ^^
They asked them to move down farther away from the bus line, so they wouldn't block it. At this point, my dad who had been patiently waiting, said that we really had to go, so unfortunately we left Nickel Creek and Newport behind. ANyone stick around and know how long they played there for?
I'm not gonna be forgetting this day ANYTIME soon.
Anyway, down to business I just returned from seeing Nickel Creek at the Newport Folk Festival, and I'm still not sure whether it really happened or whether it was some dream I had from sleep deprivation due to the blackout. Either way, IT WAS AWESOME!
A bit of a warning to any Creeksters who went to the festival, but left early. You may not want to read this, as you're probably going to be kicking yourself when you find out what you missed out on.
Okay, so my dad and I arrived at the Newport Festival around 12:40. We missed Jimmy Lafave and Mary Gauthier, but we had never heard of either of them, so we weren't too shook up about them. After we parked and took a bus to the main festival area, we arrived just in time for the middle - end of the The Waifs's set. I reccommend them to everyone here. Pretty neat tunes, and it's the only Australian band I've ever liked(not a fan of the safety dance).
The stage itself was humongous and there was an incredibly big crowd on hand. About 50,000 I'd guess. They had HUUUUGE speakers and a gigantic TV screen which always had a close-up of the current act.
Anyway, the Waifs finished up and they began to set the stage for Nickel Creek. So I waited....and I waited...and I waited. The program said they were supposed to come on at 1:40....1:40 came and went and still no Nickel Creek. Their set was only scheduled for 40 minutes in the first place, so I started to get very nervous....until FINALLY at 1:54'ish, they came out on stage.
Sean started tuning his guitar and I almost got knocked over. It was sooooo LOUD! My dad leaned over and whispered, If they do 'She Can't Complain', we're all gonna dia. I giggled a bit at the joke.
Anyway, after a few words at how honored they were to be there, they got right down to it. I don't remember the exact set list, but I think it went;
Smoothie Song
I Should've Known Better
The Fox(with unknown song and Subterranean Homesick Blues)
This Side
The Lighthouse's Tale (with Yellow)
Jacksmith
Short I know. They wound up only playing for 35 minutes when Chris was told they only had time for one more song, so they closed out with Jacksmith. They then said goodbye and thank you and exitted stage right.
I immiedietly stood and raced to the Borders book tent. Sure enough, there was a line there and I was informed they'd be there any second to start signing autographs. While waiting on line, I got to talk to two very nice Creekster girls that really showed off the diversity of this fan base. One was 15 and first heard of Nickel Creek through a John Mayer concert, and the other was 22 and sounded like an absolute diehard fan. She had drawn up a little thing in her notebook for them to sign. That's such a cool idea, and when she gave it to Sara, I remember she thought it was cool too.
Anyway, the three of them showed up and sat down at the table and the line started moving forward. I caught a few glimpses of them through the line and I thought it was pretty funny when Chris started doing a recreation of Boromir's death scene from the movie version of Fellowship of the Ring.
Anyway, my turn finally came up. I had brought my This Side cd for all of them to sign, and I also brought 26 Miles, hoping I could get Sean to sign that too. I handed my copy of This Side to Sara(she was sitting closest to me). She looked up and said, Hello in a friendly voice and smiling.
My mind was a complete blank.....I couldn't remember what you were supposed to say to someone when they say, Hello to you. I finally took a while stab in the dark and said, Hi back. Aren't I such a genius :D . Anyway, as she took This Side from me, she asked where I was from. When I said, New York, she looked up and asked me how I had been hit by the blackout.
Man, let me tell you I was stuck right in the middle of it. I was stranded in Manhatten
OH MAN! What happened
I was quite shocked to suddenly realize all three of them were staring right at me. I had their complete attention.
Wow
After they had signed my stuff, I stood off to the side talking with them for a few minutes about the blackout while the autograph line kept moving. I felt a little bad because this meant they weren't really talking to the people on line...but I wasn't about to pass this oppurtunity up.
Anyway, I finally said Goodbye and Thank you and walked away. Well...I didn't so much 'walk back to my seat as I did float. I know some of you talk to them all the time after concerts, but this was a first for me, and I felt incredible.
They had all signed my This Side Cd with their names, and Sara had written Seek Him on it too. I had heard she does that, and thought it was really cool. Sean had also signed by 26 Miles cd, and wrote in big underlined letters, Thanks! on it. I wasn't sure if he was thanking me for coming, or for bringing the cd. I wonder how many people ask him to sign 26 Miles?
Anyway, the show had to go on and the rest of the acts of the Folk Festival went through. Angelique Kidjo was pretty neat. Eddie Brickell was ...alright. Every song she played started to sound the same after a bit. Jonathon Prine was apparently really popular, although I wasn't exactly a huge fan of his music either. The only other act that ranked in the AMAZING category was the ending one when John Hiatt, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovvett, and Some Other Guy traded off back and forth on songs on acoustic guitar. THEY sounded awesome. The best was when John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett did My Baby don't Tolerate together.
Anyway, about an hour into that final set, my dad elbowed me and motioned towards the exit. We had a long drive, and he wanted to beat the other 50,000 people out of there. So we got up and headed for the shuttle bus that would take us to our parking lot.
Keep in mind as I narrate the following events, that they took place more than 5 HOURS after Nickel Creek was signing autographs. I knew they had a concert the next day in Virginia, so I figured they were LONG gone by then.
Dad and I got on the line for the busses. The line was pretty long, and there were only three busses in operation in total. We figured we'd be waiting there for a while, but we still had a jump over the huge bulk of the crowd at the festival. My first hint was when I noticed that there was a bus waiting with the engine running nearby. I wondered who's it could be, and assumed it was John Prine's since his set hadn't ended too long ago. My second hint was when I saw the back of a girl in a baseball cap and cargo pants walk by in the corner of my eye holding a violin. I had only ever seen Sara with her head uncovered and wearing skirts, so my mind just didn't put two and two together.
I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder behind me. I turned around and there she was. Sara Watkins, standing behind me holding her fiddle. I should've remembred from my previous experience earlier that I respond now with hello, but my mind was a complete fluster. I just wasn't processing the information. I still didn't quite realize what was going on when I realized Chris Thile was next to her tuning his mandolin.
We felt sorry for you guys waiting on line, so we decided to come out and play a little for you.
They played about 4 songs for the crowd. They were right in front of me. Less than 3 feet away. I was dumbfounded. It was amazing. I have to say that that is how Nickel Creek music was meant to be heaard.
Anyway, after the fourth song, all of a sudden two park rangers showed up. Chris and Sean had each had a beer with them, and there was no alcohol allowed in the festival. The rangers looked like they were about to lead them away, and the crowd started booing. Chris and Sean just poured out their beers into the grass, but the rangers still weren't satisfied. Apparently since they started playing, no one was getting on the bus now ^^
They asked them to move down farther away from the bus line, so they wouldn't block it. At this point, my dad who had been patiently waiting, said that we really had to go, so unfortunately we left Nickel Creek and Newport behind. ANyone stick around and know how long they played there for?
I'm not gonna be forgetting this day ANYTIME soon.