“I know literally nothing of these
bands.”
“You're kidding. You've never heard
of Mumford & Sons?”
“I've heard of them. I've never heard
them. I know DKM, seen them a few times. That's it though. I don't
even know who else is playing.”
“So you just came to have fun?”
“Yep.”
The Gentlemen of the Road tour stopped
over in Portland, Maine this past weekend. The traveling festival has
only four US dates on the schedule, none of the locations being those
you would expect to see on a cross-country tour with only four stops.
The tour (if you can call it as much) is headlined by Brit folksters
Mumford & Sons, and they are bringing around a merry bunch of
musicians to entertain people in unusual locales. Saturday's show was
no different, held on the side of a hill overlooking Casco Bay –
and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
“It's fucking hot out. I should have
worn less clothes.”
“You'd be arrested for indecent
exposure.”
“I'll be the judge of my own decency,
thank you.”
We walked up the long hill of what must
have been Congress Street to get to the Eastern Promenade, site of
the show. This is not an area that has seen many concerts, much less
the 15,000 attendees that would turn the hillside into a throbbing
mass once the amps were turned on. You wouldn't have been able to
tell, though. It was a pretty spectacular day, and I wish I had a
more apt adjective to describe it. Alcohol was present, as lines
began shortly into the first group's set (I still don't quite know
who performed and when) for the local brews available under tents. I
spent time praising the appropriate volume of staff until it became
clear that this volume of staff was anything but appropriate once the
show got fully underway. Good thing I picked up some small bottles of
wine for the walk.
“You know that's illegal.”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to drink all that
now?”
“No. We have a long walk ahead of
us.”
“Are you going to try to sneak those
in?”
“I imagine I'll be finished with them
by the time we get there.”
“I'm really glad you did this.”
“I'm really glad you chose CVS.”
Two stages were set up on the hill, and
though it probably would have made sense to rotate the bands on each
stage, only two played on the left. The right stage hosted most of
the other participants, but that didn't matter. The speakers were
loud enough that you could have heard the music clearly in the Old
Port. Not that it was overpowering to be close.
The overwhelming sentiment was that
people were here for “Mumford.” I spoke to no one who made the
trip to Maine for a supporting act, and I hadn't known that “Mumford”
were this popular. One woman from Pennsylvania couldn't contain her
excitement. A couple from Boston were going to see them in Providence
next. There were more people from Massachusetts than Maine, or so it
seemed from my admittedly limited interactions.
And the attendees were so friendly.
Everyone was here to simply have a good time. No stress, man. Just
enjoying the sunshine and the music and the vibes and the experience.
I also noticed an odd absence of the traditional sound-enhancing
mind-altering substances that pervade your usual festival scene. Not
to say the scent wasn't occasionally in the air.
“Where have you been?”
“I went to get beer. And wander.”
The atmosphere lent itself to the
activity. Wandering around took up a good portion of my day, as I was
not there to see a specific band and was not dying to watch an entire
set. It was one of the better people-watching and -interacting
experiences I've had lately. I was almost surprised at how goddamn
normal everyone seemed. Any notions you may have heading into these
concerts should be wiped. A review that came out today reported that
there were zero festival-related arrests made.
At the end of Mumford's set, they
invited what seemed like every musician from the day onto the stage
to perform a rendition of The Band's “The Weight” which
culminated in a fantastic fireworks display shot off from the main
stage. An unexpected end to a very unexpected adventure for sure.
“Where are you?”
“I'm in front of the house with
people on the balcony.”
“I have no idea what house that is. I
think you could be in front of any house. Come to the house with red
lights outside.”
“Yeah. This one has red lights.”
“I don't think I can see you.”
“Well there are red lights. And a lot
of other colored lights.”
“Those are Christmas lights.”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“We're standing by the ambulance now.”
“You seem to have a fascination with red lights.”
“Just get here. Can you see us? We need to go to the State for the DKM afterparty.”