OJ All Day, Saturday, June 22, 2009

Let's see. OJ All Day, day 2. There was so much going on...haircuts, massages, tattoos, crafts, clothes and, oh yeah, music.

It's all a bit of a blur a this point, I must admit. Because I was so focused on my own show I didn't take any photos on Friday, but Saturday I brought out the camera and thought I would do my best to document all the acts. I did get shots of everyone while they were playing, with the exception of Thomas Patrick Maguire, who played while I was getting a massage...(but I did get a nice shot of TPM out front to make up for that).

I said to a few folks that the OJ Fest is sort of like a biosphere of creativity. Maybe I thought of that because of all those plants that were for sale over in the corner. But anyway, it was great to spend a weekend in a place where art and ideas were overflowing everywhere. By the way, did anyone stop to talk to the Communist lady who had a table? Also, I kind of felt bad for the bookselling people because they seemed lonely off in their corner.

There were some new groups I heard who were really good. I mentioned Bugs in the Dark in my other post. I'd never heard New York Howl play before and they were pretty cool too. Tons of energy and good playing all around. The moment of the day that stood out, though, was when the head honcho of the Brooklyn Lyceum tried to get New York Howl's bass player, T-Bone, to turn down. At first he just spoke to her directly but then she threatened to leave the stage, and so NY Howl's leader guy intervened, and Brooklyn Lyceum guy started explaining through the microphone, to everyone in the audience, that he needed her to turn down and that he was the guy running the place. Somehow NY Howl guy managed to smooth things over or it seemed that way, but I think T-Bone and BL guy just receded into their individual corners. NY Howl guy said something like "If you ever have problems with loudness talk to me about it, not to T-Bone. Cause she'll let her rattlesnakes out on you."

The only problem with OJ is that you can't see it all! Because of the overlapping schedule, there was lots of running up and down stairs and inevitably you felt like you were missing something great on the other stage (but I guess that's not the worst problem to have).

OJ All Day is a great example of how people can make their own entertainment, plus it's one of the more positive and fun events of the year. Thanks again Matt and Nan and everyone else who helped out.