SAN FRANCISCO HARDLY, STRICTLY BLUEGRASS WOODSTOCK.

This is one of the best ones yet, and that's saying alot because they've all been GREAT. ELVIS COSTELLO, & the COWARD BROTHERS, RICHARD THOMPSON, HOT TUNA, ROBERT EARLE KEEN, KEVIN WELCH, KEIRNAN KANE & FAT KAPLIN, BILLY BRAGG,TODD SNIDER, IRIS DEMENT,DANNY BARNES, TIM OBRIEN, ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, KELLY WILLIS, EMMYLOU HARRIS, HAZEL DICKENS,SONGWRITERS CIRCLE W/ STEVE EARLE,BILLY BRAGG,GUY CLARK and VERLON THOMPSON,THE OPERA DUKES,and DALE ANN BRADLEY & COON CREEK are the ones I got to see/listen to. So many amazing artists, and it was just impossible to see/hear them all because of the overlap.
I suppose that's my biggest complaint about the HSBGF. With 5 Stages going simultaneously,you JUST CANT DO IT ALL! And, they are ALL WONDERFUL! It can really be a dilemma attempting to decide between all those good choices. Too much of a good thing can be heady but frustrating.
The biggest standouts for me were RICHARD THOMPSON,(who was D-tuning his guitar during a song creating a unique and beautiful sound. He can make a 6 string guitar sound like a 12 string..although it might have been a 12 string, from where I stood, it looked like a 6). KEVIN WELCH,KIERNAN KANE w/FAT KAPLIN,(personal favorites of mine always, these guys are just SO DAMN GOOD, period), TODD SNIDER (the first time I ever saw or heard him, so funny and brilliant), ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO,(I loved him in the 80's with RANK AND FILE, and I love him now more than ever).
ROBERT EARLE KEEN ended his set with one of my favorite story/songs "THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER" in a most spectacular manner with Banjo-Man Extraordinaire DANNY BARNES from the BAD LIVERS. (I still think that the storyline from ROAD should be made into a movie). The Festival take on THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER was extremely chargedup. BILLY BRAGG had a wonderful song about the BUSHWAR and I loved his thinking on the political chaos in the US and abroad.
Truth be told, I have to say they were/are ALL exceptional, and WARREN HELLMAN just has the most exquisite musical taste.

This was all occurring at the same time Fleet Week was taking place in San Francisco. All too many times the wonderful music was interrupted by the painfully loud Fighter Jets zooming overhead to remind us of the grim reality of the bUSH WAR in particular, and all wars in general. That was the bummer, although there was a highlight even to this.... The first time a group of rude, noisy Blue Angels came flying low and buzzing us, (on purpose I'm sure, to annoy us Peace Loving Hippies enjoying some incredible music about Love, Peace and TyeDye), the entire mass of people simultaneously flipped them off. I hope they saw that, even though I'm certain it didn't bother their conciousness in the least.
Mr. Horse was part of the Camera/Sound crew on the ROOSTER STAGE for both Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, that was the stage that had the best lineup of them all. I ran around to the other stages inbetween sets, trying to catch as much as I could. Five Stages all spread out gave me a nice walk/run workout as I attempted to cover as much ground and sound as possible before a wonderful act would once again commense on the ROOSTER Stage.
It was a fantastic 3 days and I wish it didn't all go so fast. I would love to live my entire life just like that, sans the Blue Angels or any ficticiously planned wars instigated by Terrorist "pretend" presidents causing so many human lives to be needlessly sacrificed and/or destroyed for no purpose. Nothing could be better or make me happier than that.
http://www.billybragg.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=323