this year i invested in a waterproof poncho and rainpants which of course meant i wouldn't need them, as the weather forecast was one of the utmost beauty- so our hopes for the thursday storm was that it would pass over turin and flatten down the campgrounds in time for our arrival on friday. we red roofed it. the locals showed up as they always do, which makes for some interesting people watching. and we hit the sack to prepare for the morning rush.
friday, 8/31/07: it begins
i awoke for what would be my last shower of the next 4 days. it's times like these you try and absorb as much hot water and soap as you possibly can. while it's true you can stick your head under a campgrounds faucet and keep relatively sane, there's something about hot water that keeps the civilian mindset in check. and we'd be checking out of civility in mere minutes. we hit the price chopper and dollar store for some last minute supplies. hern thought twice and put back a ceramic crucifix after the checkout lady remarked how lovely it was and he stated his intent was to duct tape it to a pvc pipe next to a scarecrow and frankenstein head. he's a heathen, but even the heathyenest of heathens has their limits. with that, a line of cars headed up to turin. as luck would have it, the flashing lights in our rear view mirror were intended for a black volvo not in our caravan. the line getting into the lot we faced last year was gone, in it's place, rose a fit of dust and clear skies. sign of things to come. the unlucky black volvo pulled in a few spaces down from us and out came a screaming girl. the piggies had clearly harshed her mellow.
radio flyers galore and we walked to set up camp. mr. STEVE KENNY himself was right where i expected him to be! except the bastard set himself up on the corner of a grid right next to a water faucet. hugs and introductions to the insane inhabitants of "camp get.down" who filled our inboxes with about 100+ emails in 2 days including haikus of excitement and hospitality! i couldn't wait to meet these folks, but, "we ain't setting up on a corner! you're nuts!" so we moved back a little bit and started chopping in.
thursday, 8/30/07
they were kind enough to lend us another wagon and it was down to business! you know, i think after 8 years we've got this system down pat. the weather was gorgeous, i had already covered myself in sunscreen (have made this mistake before- the weekend gets difficult when your shoulders are purple) so the 11am set-up in direct sunlight was taken care of- and within an hour of so, the red light district was up and running. we were only waiting on a few folks. katmama and jack would be arriving a few hours later, and poor bachy wouldn't end up making it til manana. now there was the important time decision: to chill, to nap, or to party? make no mistake people- moe.down is a weekend of fun. but the nap is an important factor in this fun. and many times, the nap has saved many a glorious set of music for me. so, when you start debating the nap- my experience says- that is your gut telling you to go for it. because when you have a full day/night/day/night/day/night of music ahead of you, napping is good, folks.
oh, but when you've been drinking and baking in the hot sun since 7am, sometimes you need more than 2 hours of sleep… which is why i felt kinda bad about this… but it was fucking time for all the music to start… al and the transamericans, the roots, and ha ha the moose… and so when i went to fetch steve and he was passed out in his tent, i decided to get him the fuck up! STEVE KENNY! WAKE THE FUCK UP! THE MUSIC IS ABOUT TO START!!! "how long has he been sleeping?" i asked the other inhabitants of camp get.down… "like, 2 hours… we've been trying to get him up… he's out…" "2 hours?? that's fucking long enough… 2 HOURS IS LONG ENOUGH STEVE!!! GET THE FUCK UP! al and the transamericans, the roots, ha ha the fucking moose!!! MUSIC!!!", "lynn? is that you?" i heard a voice… well, that was good… and then slowly but surely… the beast awakened… steve came crawling out of the tent and actually, he pretty much immediately started dancing, grabbed a hot dog (no bun), and was ready to fucking party. damn yo. hardcore!
it should be noted at this point that i listened to most of the transamerican's set from our campsite as i saw them a couple of weeks before the .down at the lion's den, and i decided to eat and conserve some energy- but they sounded fucking awesome. and since snow ridge mowed down some of the taller grasses and stuff behind what was the area leading up to that back entrance to the main stage- the acoustics in our field actually increased, which was pretty awesome, cuz you could really hear a lot more music over there now- so that was rockin'.
the roots were awesome, and apparently one of their members was actually leaving the band that night- so it was actually really weird because they did a big send off. so it was kind of sad. the set kind of stopped in the middle to do a toast. but i gotta say, it was fucking awesome to have a real hip hop group rep at moe.down. not a group like- saayyy, i dunno--- um… fathead? yah, and if you were there you could have plainly seen- everyone totally dug it. as you'll read further on- moe. fans have a pretty diverse taste in music- it's not just hippie crap. rap, rock, metal, bluegrass- there's appreciation for music across the board. so it's cool that moe. invite bands from the full music spectrum to perform at the .down every year, and it's well appreciated.
then- ha ha the MOOSE! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE! dr. guano, jeff von kickass, and sledge, were fucking AWESOME! and by awesome, i mean they fucking sucked. holy crap they were awful! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE! every time i see them they get better. and by better i mean fuck those guys. MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!! i would totally beat up chuck in the name of freedom. "we don't need your applause!" FUCK YEAH!
and now… first set of moe.! this is when the aforementioned friday afternoon nap REALLY comes in handy. at some point we had gone back to the campsite and met up with steve, who was already in top notch shape and babbling about how he was going to sneak in 30 beers and be a hero. here's an account of what is probably a lost chunk of time that he has long since forgotten… somehow katmama, jack, and i decided to hang back and maybe it was cuz we weren't drinking in the beer tent or something so we ended up together? i can't recall, but steve was with us, and we headed inside. steve for some reason was determined to take us to find his cousin. which was great and all, but the path he was headed in was directly through the taper section and it's the friday night moe. set, so this is pretty packed right now and he's pretty shitfaced right now and moving rather quickly (see: running) and while we realized this is a bad move, we had to convince him of this- but first we had to catch up. after about 10 rows of chairs, we were about 5 feet directly in front of our first mic and 10 feet horizontally headed towards one, i managed to catch up and grab steve's arm, swing him around. "steve, where are you going?" "we have to find my cousin, i have beer!" "is your cousin a taper?" "no" "then we have to turn around, this is the taper section- let's walk around the soundboard, okay?" steve is totally cool and says "oh, okay" at which point some nerd (i am allowed to call him that, i used to be a taper) decided to start giving me shit even though i had obtained full control of this situation. "you can't walk through here" (i wish there were s's in that sentence, so i could write out a lithsp). "i'm taking care of it, dude", and then nerd goes, "turn off your headlamp!", then i MIGHT have said, "shut up, geek." cuz me and my headlamp just saved his ass from being bowled over- DOUCHE. anyways… so from that point, we went up and around the soundboard, and steve took off running down the hill to find his cousin while we hung. he found his cousin and his girlfriend- dragged them up to where we were- to hand them some bud lite- and i think they were a little disappointed as they were FRONT ROW CENTER… but they still loved him. oh, and apparently on his way back up, he fell over two girls, and apologized by getting up and doing air guitar… regardless- at some point in time, steve decided to go take a piss in the woods.
steve: i'm gonna go take a piss… in the woods!
lynn: okay… um… make sure you take your flashlight!
steve: good idea! (grabs and shows me flashlight)
annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd… that's the last i saw of steve on friday night.
so, as far as the music goes… friday night's moe. set- awesome way to kick off the weekend. the weather was great, the vibe was great, and the music was great. and i always love to hear 'bearsong'- thought they'd wait til mid-weekend to throw it in there, but who cares? 'opium' was a nice treat. speaking of which. HA. 'lylelovit', good surprise- always fun! good times on the hill. thoughts and hopes turned towards steve making it back to his tent alright… or at all.
saturday, 9/1/07
i woke up saturday morning with what i could only guess is similar to the excitement of a kid on xmas morning- i wouldn't know, i'm a jew. but a full day of crazy music was about to begin! at 1pm the meat puppets would ascend on snow ridge! and we heard perry farrell's satellite party soundcheck and they were fucking awesome already! holy crap! wtf! adding to the excitement, mr. marty racine arrived in our campsite and i slow-motion-ran toward him as if it were through a meadow (a dusty dusty meadow, avoiding ropes, tarps, and cords), holding my coffee. i didn't get to see marty enough this year, so i was psyched he came to moe.down. and before we knew it- i couldn't wait any longer- i frickin' rushed my ass over to the stage cuz the meat puppets were starting!!! went in, marty didn't want to go up front, but i did- but the bass was way too fucking loud down at the bottom of the hill, so i tried putting in my filters but it wasn't worth it. so i went back up to marty and walked right into pat and happy lopez and the 'cuse crew and got to chill with them for the set, so that was fucking sweet! i miss those guys and since the seapods disbanded, moe.down seems about the only time i get to see them nowadays. selah! oh, and i think around now bach showed up? or was he there when i woke up? i can't remember. this is what happens when you wait a month to write a review. or this is what happens at moe.down… you be the judge.
the meat puppets were great- everything you'd expect from them… actually, i was waiting for the weirdness- but that came later on. they did a lot of chill stuff, but it was all really cool. the material i was more familiar with came later on in the show, i was actually hoping to hear 'shine' and 'station', but alas, they didn't play either. i had the pleasure of seeing the meat puppets at the manhattan centre ballroom in '96, so when al announced at snoe.down that they would be playing at moe.down i actually shrieked out loud in glee. another example of a band you wouldn't expect to find at a typical fest, but were invited and rocked out! fucking awesome! love it!
moe.'s afternoon set was great, i had a blast, hung with marty for pretty much the whole thing, and i have to admit- i think we were sitting on the ground chilling for the entire time curt kirkwood was onstage for 'mexico', but we still enjoyed it all. it was an awesome afternoon set, everyone was feeling the good vibes, good weather, i'm digging 'shoot first' cuz chuck is da bomb. did i mention the dust? wow. i would have liked to have seen state radio, and i didn't. i don't remember why, i think i was containing myself for…
perry farrell's satellite party. holy fucking shit. i've been to every moe.down… i've seen a lot of bands… i have to say that perry farrell's satellite party has got to have been one of the most well received and most loved (and loved back) bands that has ever played at a moe.down. i know this is going to sound completely cheesy and hippie-like, but the love vibes going on back and forth between perry and us in the crowd were uber-tastical. go see this band if you have a chance, they rocked their asses off. it was an just all-out rockfest. he played some satellite party originals, some jane's addiction songs, some porno for pyros… and apparently that was perry's wife on stage? but i am not sure why they gave her a microphone, cuz i guess she sang a bit, but mostly she was dancing around in hot-pants and lifting her leg above her head. it was a talent showcase! GO SEE THIS BAND!
oh yeah, so at some point i went to the bathroom and of course ran right into a slew of people i knew cuz that's what happens at the bathroom line: live music beth (i lost you and didn't get to say goodbye)!!! annie!!!! and then kristin from camp get.down and was like, "hey, how's steve doing?" "oh, he just got back from the hospital". WHAAAT??? yes, that's right. steve kenny. just got back from the hospital. apparently steve puked so hard that he thought he hurt himself. (i had stopped by earlier in the day and he was doubled over in pain, not looking so good, like maybe he had pulled something puking... yummy!). so he went to the medical office and they thought maybe he had collapsed a lung. so then he went to the hospital. and the dr. asked him, "how many beers did you have, son?" "about 30, sir." "that's impressive." he was given a few bags of fluids and a pink piece of paper that said, "avoid alcohol" and "drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids". then steve and his friends went to wal-mart and a concerned utican called the police to report an escaped mental patient on the loose. go figure. all this footage (and more) can be seen, by visiting warren's myspace page (see: warren's chapter 2). steve kenny, ladies and gentlemen, steve kenny.
moe. saturday night set! well, despite the fact that i was screaming at perry, "FUCK moe., PLAY ANOTHER SET!!!" i did indeed want to see moe. play more on saturday. so, it was okay with me that they did. how on earth they were going to top the satellite party's set was beyond me though. perry came out and sang vocals on one song which was cool. the meat puppets had some fun with 'big world' though, and as predicted & in rob's words, they "got weird", but that's the meat puppets being the meat puppets. liquid acid's a helluva drug. i've always liked the 'mcbain-> george' combo, thumbs up. during the first set, we were up front, and we were hanging with some dude that kept screaming 'TIMMY TUCKER'! and swearing that they were going to play the "BEST 'TIMMY TUCKER' EVER tonight!!!" which was funny, and actually, not so annoying, cuz the guy was actually funny and we kind of engaged him in conversation rather than let it go on. and i'm not being sarcastic. like, this dude could have totally been an annoying fucking dick. but he was actually pretty amusing. i mean, if i were in the band and some dude were screaming that at me all night i might feel differently, and if he were a different personality type, he totally could have been an asshole- but he was pretty fun and we got into it. and we actually went into a deep discussion about it, cuz like, sure, we might hear timmy tonight, but really, i've heard some fucking amazing timmy's in my day, and odds are- while i'm always open minded to the possibilities- what are the odds that THIS 'TIMMY TUCKER' is going to be the best? well, it might be, because THIS DUDE is a part of it, and he just seemed so damn sure!!!! anyways. so during the 2nd set, they busted into 'TIMMY TUCKER' and well, we weren't standing next to that guy anymore, but we're sure he was going apeshit- actually- i think we could hear his head asplode at that point all the way up in back of the soundboard. so that was awesome. it was a great 'timmy tucker'… but the best? nah. as a matter of fact, a shuffle on my ipod kicked on 11/27/04 roseland yesterday and i was like- "now THIS 'TIMMY TUCKER'… THIS TIMMY IS UP THERE!!!!"
and it's at this part of the evening where hern took off to piss in the woods… and yes, he had his headlamp… but he didn't turn it on… and apparently slipped and fell on something wet and chunky…. and that's when a mighty roar came thundering down the mountain… "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"… and the legend of pukebutt was born. some say if you still listen closely you can hear him scooting across the ground and crying out, "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY????!!!" was it a meatball hero? was it a sausage pizza? it definitely wasn't from the veggie hut, folks. examine the pics for further details. next year maybe he'll bring 2 pairs of pants, cuz he was stuck wearing shorts for the rest of the weekend. honestly, i would have bought a new hoodie (he washed his) if i hadn't packed like 3 of everything. that's fuckin' nasty. i mean, if you gotta fall in puke, wouldn't you rather it's your own? i would think it's the lesser of two evils. oh, and 'spine' and 'spaz' were great… but pukebutt was awesome.
sunday i awoke to a note from marty, apparently i slept through his departure (sadness). and i missed the brakes, though the description of them on the program sounded good. but i needed some rest. i had a small swig of jameson (hardcore, right? what happened to me? the bottle of sauza i bought remained unopened the entire weekend!) and pretty much chilled most of the afternoon. then the camp get.down folks came by and we all celebrated katmama and hern's birfday's with bach on mandolin and the most amazing rum cake i've ever tasted- and katmama went all-out this year- she used dark rum. holy crap.
so amazing. i'm drooling right now thinking about it. i want more. drooooooooooool. oh, and steve read everyone his diagnosis.
i pretty much had no plans to see music until moon boot lover hit the stage at the beer tent at 7pm. cuz you know what? and i'm gonna say it. years ago i came to the conclusion that i really do not like mmw. there. i've blogged it. i like ONE of their studio albums (maybe two?). everything else tries my patience. and live? forget it. if i have to sit through another 45 minute salad dressing jar drum solo from billy fucking martin, i'm going to stab myself in the ears. i won't do it anymore. and so, i refuse to even walk over a hill for it. i'm done with them. and i'm glad to see that i'm not the only one. i know there are people who love them, that's fine, but finally finally there were people who said, "wow, never again." like, you keep trying, keep convincing yourself that you're gonna like them, cuz you liked combustication, but that was it! it's over! done! kaput!
now, peter priiiiiiiiiiiiiince! moon boot??? these guys are fun and they rock! old skool albany rock n' roll shit and i can dig it. so i was happy too.< >>however, by this time in the weekend the beer tent was so full of dust it was impossible for me to breathe in there, so i gave up and stood outside and got DOWN out there, it was all good, y'all! he's a blast. good stuff!
ahhh, sunday night moe. another big difference from last year? by sunday night, you could still stand on the mountain. last year it was just a giant slop of mud & chairs were a must (in fact, a muddy wookie handprint still exists on my blue chair). the weather was awesome still, everyone was still happy, and everything was just fucking great. i dig 'tubing the river styx'-> 'pit', 'meat' is always crazy. good time had by all.
i'm getting kind of sick of how much time the mayoral crap takes up, there's gotta be a faster way to get into the music- even though this year things got interesting. i think hodge pulled off the upset of the century by winning, what the fuck kind of moe.down is it where he can win? by this time, the whole point of him running is so we can boo (where have you all been?)! so the fact that he won was kind of retarded. anyways, so hodge won, and even MORE shocking- he gets onstage, grabs the squirrel, and resigns!!! NOW THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME! THAT--- I WILL GET BEHIND! GO HODGE!
anyways, i know this might cause some concern among citizens of moe.ville, but rest assured you will be looked after. in 2003 after a valiant but unfortunately unsuccessful run for mayor of moe.ville in 2002 (http://www.lynnguppy.com/mayor.htm- we did better than mcgovern, btw) i declared myself sheriff of moe.ville (the official declaration came in the form of a few thousand kickass blue stickers you might recall, "i can't believe how awesome i am: lynn's the sheriff: moe.ville 2003") if you check the fine print in the moe.ville town charter, there is probably some wording in there that has already (instantly) handed over power to me, lynnguppy: sheriff of moe.ville. so, fine citizens, there you have it, there is no need to worry. officially announced, right here in my myspace blog (how much more official can you get? even dennis kucinich has a myspace page), i'm in charge kiddies. stocks and a platform will be built in moe.ville town proper and thieves will be punished. also, i'd request that next year the fine people at ali kababs do not pre-mix the onions and peppers with the other ingredients as they did this year (they never did in the past), because onions and peppers give me really bad heartburn, so i didn't eat it this year. which was sad. and do you really want a sad sheriff? i'm the fucking sheriff!
moving on. 'blue jeans and pizza'… people keep creaming themselves over this song. i'm still not that into it. but then again, i never got into 'plane crash'. i think 'plane crash' jams hard and has moments. but never fell in love with it as a whole. blue jeans may have that same fate. it's a cute song. i wanna love it. it's not happening yet. do i feel guilt? pressure? yes. will that help it's cause? no. not at all. if it's gonna happen, it has to happen for realz, yo. 'rebubula', FUCK YEAH. can't go wrong, best sing along ever. and i gotta say it at least once- rob's fucking dreamy. BOOYA. 'akimbo'? HELLZ YEAH- FUCKING EVIL, MOTHERFUCKER! 'letter home', bring it on down, a sentimental classic, and definitely a great lead-in to the fireworks, which could only have been topped by rainbow singing a tribute to our great country.
overall, the music this year was awesome, the lineup was kickass, and again, i commend the band for once again bringing diversity to the festival that keeps my short attention span completely captivated. and the vibe from the crowd was also really positive and great this year too. granted i didn't take a sunday morning stroll through crack.ville aka wooksbehkistan, etc., but i fucking know what was going on there. regardless- IT WAS BROUGHT. FUCK YEAH.
monday, 9/3/07
breakdown. i demanded to be let into the main gate so i could get a coffee. the security guy wouldn't let me at first. i wouldn't take no for an answer. he told me that as soon as he was off duty he couldn't be held responsible for what happened (hint hint). i said when is that happening, i want a cup of coffee and a bag of ice. he said i dunno. the guy from the coffee co. came over and told him he was open and wanted to know where his customers were. security guy seemed confused and decided to just walk away. i brushed my teef, washed my face, used a clean giant bleachy counter to do so- and got my cup of coffee and bag of ice. HELLZ YEAH.
we will never go back to slim's diner. fuck them. every year we do it. this year was a fucking retarded mess. we waited over an hour for our food. we're usually pretty patient but this was absurd. fuck them. next year- i'm proposing the adirondack diner a little further down the road- does anyone have any other suggestions? i want some pannncakes.
i'm 8 for 8. thusly, i can fairly say, moe.down 8, turin, ny: 9.5 HUZZAHS! now--- what can we do to make it 10? let's subtract the strangefolk, the mmw, the guy with the jellyfish who stood right in front of me for the last minute of perry farrell's set… let's add: ween, cake, black crowes, beck, primus, elvis costello, dana monteith, peelander-z… and every show can use a little more old tp.
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