Kicking off Langerado '08

I have to be blunt- last night was rough. Say what you will about everything being “part of the festival experience” but sitting in the pouring rain for four hours while trying to get to the camping spot is not fun. Trying to set up a tent in said pouring rain is not fun. And finding out you have to navigate your tent stakes around cow pies is DEFINITELY not fun.

But just when we had resigned ourselves to our wet misery, something truly awesome happened.

It stopped raining.

So now, to the festival we go.

Langerado had big aspirations this year. A packed line-up, new site and higher tickets sales have created some ridiculous buzz around jamheads and festival goers. Each of the stages looks like a mainstage (save for the smaller Green-A-Rado stage) and this is one of the most spread out Shakedown Streets I’ve seen.

Let’s get to the music already. We headed out around 8:30ish to try to catch the already-delayed Les Claypool set. We came up to the Swamp Stage last night to find some guy slapping this pipe-looking thing (I’m sorry but my ‘puter battery is running low and I don’t have time to look up the proper term.) ANYWAY the artist formerly known as Mike Silverman produced such manic, disturbingly awesome sounds that a lot of the people in the audience mistook him for Les Claypool.

Claypool, for that matter, played the best set I’ve seen him play. Dressed in a Herman-Munster-like flat top plastic mask, he rocked the forty-five minute set (set-list coming up).

However, it’s what he said before his last song that really set the tone of Langerado for me: “Just think Ferris Wheel thoughts,” he said, pointing to the ride to the right him.

With Ozomatli, Sam Bush, The Roots, The Beastie Boys and Umphrey’s McGee’s late night set coming my way today, staying positive shouldn't be too difficult.

Thank Les.