I got to Sessions Fest a little later than I planned after realizing I'd left the house without my phone. Co-dependency at its finest. The crowd slowly gathered at the park and I didn't hesitate to hit the Karl Strauss Stargazer IPA in the beer garden. I came stocked with my two-seater beach chair and a blanket and was happy to set up my post in the beer garden, where I pretty much stayed throughout the entire day.
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day, the cops and security were really cool and supportive of the event, and the music at the festival was also great, but the real highlight for me were the people who showed up. So many people came throughout the day, and though I had nothing to do with the event's preparation, to have so many people say such nice things throughout the day both about the event and about this blog was really nice. I ended up helping on the kegs for some of the afternoon, so thanks to anyone who bought beer and was patient with us as we tried to get the kegs right and allowed my cup to cup pours, it was my pleasure to serve you. The whole day made me really feel part of an amazing and supportive community.
When I take pictures, I usually only upload a few, but just this once, I've uploaded all of them, viewable here.
Most important, I can't stress enough that this event was put on by Sophie. Throughout the day, people asked me questions about the event and people seemed to be under the impression that "the city" had something to do with it. Not so. Sophie got the sponsors (Karl Strauss & SESAC), booked the bands, went through all the city's hoops for permitting (which, incidentally, make it easier to just not do an event because there are A LOT of hoops), hired the security, rented the port-a-potties, paid the insurance, paid the keg deposit, and paid for those cops to be there all day. On top of that, there's the stage, the soundboard, the sound engineers, the lighting, the amps, etc. While I'm sad Sophie has made the decision not to have Sessions Fest again, she really deserves some massive credit for the amazing event, and hopefully the community steps up and takes the reins on similar events in the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And to Scott, Josh, and everyone else involved, it was a pleasure.
God, the Emmy Awards are making this post sound like a goddamn acceptance speech. Enough of all that, here are the pictures.
The Corvinas
Free SESAC nuts
Wild Weekend
Nick, Fifty On Their Heels
The Punkboard was represented, too
Red Pony Clock
Al Guerra, 91X Loudspeaker Host
May*Star
Andrew, Swedish Models
Some punk rock poseur (Just kidding. Happy Birthday, Adam!)
MC Flow
Flow's "Incredible" Fans
The Atoms
Fifty on Their HeelsSadly, when Habitat Sound System and Pizza! (formerly the New Motherfuckers) played, we were busiest in the garden, so I didn't get the chance to take pics of them but they sounded great from behind the taps.
The night ended right around 10 pm and the cops and security were kind to allow us to give out the remainder of the beers and go a little past 10. I stayed a bit but headed off to my next destination- to see The Vision of A Dying World at the Beauty Bar.
Incidentally, I lost my ring. It's silver with tiny little sapphires in it. It was a birthday present from my dad and means more to me sentimentally than it could to anyone else monetarily, so if anyone happened to find it, please let me know.
