greenville and mountain sports festival

(this is a repost to get us started....)

9 june 2008

drive down to greenville. only a little over an hour away. road-savvy van thinks this trip is cake. see ray & the crew; ed has hung posters for us; erica from spartanburg brings her very sweet peeps. spies among us opens (chuck and matthew's classical project). piano and vibraphone. very beautiful and original. music to fall asleep and dream by. matthew sticks around to play with sid. michael has another gig and cannot join; krum plays pared-down version of kit. marianne (krum's lady) is in town. the heat has lifted steph's verbal filter and she says a few things she ought not, from the stage, into the microphone. one references marianne. marianne is a champ. she fires back. says "steph goes to the tanning bed." touche. marianne is a champ.

the show is very sweet. sid loves use of silence in the musical palette. though every sid show is different, small intimate listening room provides most extreme ability to tell secrets. audience is loving and generous. thank you, ray.


10 june 2008

what to wear for mountain sports festival? no mountain sports clothes and steph feels playful. chuck has procured basketball uniforms for the boys. buys sweatbands for heads and wrists.

steph decides on roller skating! chuck rents skates from tarwheels rink. business even lets him rent for free w/ deposit because of nature of performance. steph dons shimmery blue tights and skating dress. predicts at least one fall.

stephaniesid has new intern! stephanie day of charlotte comes to town to learn some ropes. proves to be fast learner. comes to mountain sports fest for show and merchandise-selling.

mountain sports fest is inside west asheville racetrack in quaint village with food, spirits, vendors, lots of life. very well done. seepeoples playing when the stephs arrive. initially band's costumes are not revealed.... steph in jeans sings with seepeoples on radiohead's "national anthem" and seepeoples' "the way the world will fall." sid boys on their way in van. officials stop festival race while van drives over quarter of racetrack circle to back of stage for load-in.

big stage. still light out, but stage lights overhead for later. soundcheck is good. bonnaroo lineup is in effect! sid is six: chuck, steph, michael, krum, jon of jar-e, matthew of spies among us and eroteme, formerly of stephaniesid.

steph puts on skates. tan leather with orange wheels and stoppers. boys bring flair with differing shorts (jon floral, chuck and matthew athletic, krum multi-purpose, michael slinky sweatpants). show begins! new songs and big sound come out of speakers. steph spins on skates. chips tooth slightly on microphone. matthew summons angels. krum brings pain. michael kicks out groove and soul. chuck sculpts scrumptious key chords. jon croons harmonies and kills-me-softly with trombone. crowd dances. this is a band.

first set ends. eric usher of crispy cat, clad in coordinating basketball uniform, hands out band's favorite organic rockstar candy bar to crowd. is almost mauled. runs out of delectable treats more quickly than expected. mob is momentarily dejected. band plays "aeroplanes" as sky gets dark, stage lights flicker on. crowd dancing, or on blankets, spread out over festival village, looking for stars. music turns oceanic. band feels at home and buoyant. steph skates.

"the weakling" is second-to-last song. steph (battling allergies) asks chuck & jon to help sing high parts. all voices hold out. continues to feel damaged tooth with tongue, between verses. should be ok. need to google.

"bounce" is last song. magical. sweaty band sways in night breeze. crowd looks at stars, dances. gorgeous night.

packing up. marianne hoola-hoops. she's really really good. steph d gives report on cd sales. quite good. steph d also reports advances from male fest attendees. could be future problem. nice food vendor brings pad thai and a few forks. michael shuns germy forks (his m.o.) and leaves feast to ravenous remainder of band. steph skates victory lap. boys give rebel yell. krum, marianne, & steph d return home. rest of band to chuck and stephs for spirited game of cranium. team matthew/chuck wins.