Comfest Addendum

Due to obligations at my job and later obligations to my weed ravaged yard – I only attended Comfest on Saturday. But what a Saturday it was (so if you don’t see your band, I didn’t see you). Made my first “twit” to give the coordinates of my blue blanket and as a consequence my company/crew was deep. I was right off the edge of the Off-Ramp tent and could hear those solid sounds drift on the Summer breeze. Not all was kosher, but being at Comfest never puts one in the mood to complain.

Pros:

Karate Coyote -- continue to get better, a nice way to arrive in the scalding sun. Watch Out Young World.

SHIN TOWER MUSIC !!! --were good enough to include three exclamation points.

Ginger Fetus - slow-burning psych warfare.

Hotel Eden - constructs some effervescent pop songs.

Flotation Walls – finally made that record, now tour.

The Lindsay – can’t get too angry about a missing in action follow-up when they sound this good live.

Jordan O’ Jordan – the consummate eccentric and troubadour storyteller.

Envelope – probably had the show of the weekend, but got cut off prematurely. Comfest owes him a huge apology, especially considering how much he’s done for this city.

Fried Fish Foodstuffs.

Columbus Pale Ale.

That the BYOB policy did not seem to apply to reefer or Bulleit Bourbon.

The Solar Stage. Shouldn’t all stages be solar by now?

Cons:

Just about every other band I saw this past weekend either wanted to be the Replacements/Wilco/Social Distortion/Radiohead or some gruesome combination of the four.

And just because you have horns and a keyboard player does not mean you’ve got the E Street Band behind you, so you’re not the Boss and/or the Arcade Fire. (There’s only one band this does not apply to – Nick Tolford and Company, but alas, I did not see them this weekend – plus, he’s more Wilson Pickett).

I felt claustrophobic in Goodale Park for the first time.

If you want me to buy your beer, at least set-up another tent.

Again – have a curated stage. And let Ron House pick every band.

The Burlesque show before Envelope’s set was possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen at Comfest. And likely the reason his set was abbreviated.

The Lindsay didn’t have a new album for sale.

The Bozo Stage is a joke. Who goes there?