My Big Music Fest Experience; Or, Celebrities Rubbing My Belly
There was a point at Big Music Fest this past weekend, where I was trekking through the pouring rain, quite literally soaked to the bone, and all I could think about was how awesome it was that Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers were on stage, performing One Headlight. In fact, that’s kind of a metaphor for the whole day. It didn’t matter what curve balls could possibly be thrown our way, because music always wins.
I was invited to attend Big Music Fest, in order to be one of their featured bloggers. At first, I thought it was a joke, because I would have gladly paid for the opportunity to see some of my favourites acts, such as the Counting Crows, the Wallflowers and Hedley. I giddily accepted the offer, sent the kids to Nana and Papa’s house and scooped my wife up for a, much needed, weekend getaway.
I really wanted to provide an unbiased review of the festival, but other than the rain, which they had no control over, I couldn’t really find any flaws. I guess if I had to pick a negative thing, the walk from the parking lot was kind of far, but I could definitely use the exercise. Otherwise, the bands were all amazing, I had an unbelievably good ‘steak on a bun’, and, I got to hang out with some of my favourite online personalities, like Trina from Life’s a Blog, Christella from Crawl the Line, Candace and Eric Alper, and their always inpiring 10 year old daughter, Hannah, from CallMeHannah.Ca.
The Big Music Fest Blog Crew
To save you the time of reading a million more paragraphs, I have decided to bullet form my highlights from the festival and will shoot some pictures down below as well.
* Seeing The Wallflowers live for the first time was a cool experience for me. One Headlight is one of the first songs I ever covered, so they have a place close to my heart.
* Being allowed in the photo pit for the first two songs of the Counting Crows set was an experience that I will never be able to put into proper words. To be within an arms reach of Adam Duritz during “Round Here” is something I will never forget.
* Mr. Jones. That is all.
* We had the opportunity to meet Hedley backstage and to say it was awkward would be an understatement. Imagine 20 teenage girls and one 34 year old dude waiting patiently for their arrival. Luckily for me, the guys had a sense of humour about it and we ended up taking a funny picture.
* While waiting backstage, the guys from Bleeker Ridge stopped by to sign autographs and take some photos. They were really cool guys and you could tell that they appreciate every single one of their fans, which is so important.
* Teenage girls crying everywhere. I’m pretty sure that I was the only one who didn’t cry after meeting Jacob and the Hedley crew. That includes my wife, who I have never seen so flustered in my entire life. Very adorable.
* Being in the photo pit for Hedley wasn’t as defining of a moment for me as the Counting Crows, but it was still incredibly amazing.
* My favourite part of the Hedley show was when Jacob mentioned that some band members had birthdays coming up and gave the fans 30 seconds to throw as much stuff as they wanted on to the stage. It was hilarious to see them dodging everything from pennies and sunglasses to chicken fingers and underwear.
I have to say thank you and give a huge kudos to everyone who made Big Music Fest the outstanding event that it was. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a collection of music that incredible, and all in one day. Whether it’s as a blogger or a spectator, we will definitely be back to Big Music Fest next year! Rock on!
Jacob Still Hasn’t Paid For The Lucky Belly Rub!
