Greg and I went south this weekend for the annual Monterey world music festival. This year's festival was given the title of "Global Consonances" and was supposed to "promote cultural awareness through music". It also, it turned out, helped promote patience through understanding that portable generators are often unreliable. But enough griping. I was happy to see that not only was there intercultural awareness being promoted, but interspecies awareness as well. Take, for example, the guy sitting in front of us. He was a fly. I don't know why he decided to sit in one of the folding chairs. Perhaps he wanted to show that we're all in this together. He showed extreme patience during the power outages that made the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble become unwillingly acoustic at several points during their show. He probably appreciated the fact that the accordian player looked (and sounded) like an extra from an Emir Kusturica film. He had to have enjoyed the frenetic Balkan wedding music that the Ensemble produced.
In addition to the fly, there were a number of caterpillars in attendance. They jostled for prime seats in the trees above us. This, unfortunately, often resulted in somebody losing his or her grip on a branch and tumbling onto the human audience. I narrowly missed having a bit of extra protein in my drink. Maybe they kept falling because they were dancing. Who knows?
The fly waited patiently for the second band (the dubiously monikered Lo'Jo) to begin. They started their set, but the power went out and stayed out. To add insult to injury, some woman sat down on the fly's chair, nearly squashing him. He made it to the edge of the chair and spent a couple of minutes deciding what to do. He finally resigned himself to the fact that he would have to sit somewhere else, and flew away.
After about an hour, which we spent putting more money in the meter and watching a large seal trounce a hapless fish while fending off seagulls, Lo'Jo resumed their set. A new generator had been brought from somewhere. One of the musicians had a cute little instrument that looked like the bastard offspring of a violin and a tambourine. He played it with a bow that resembled the letter "D". There were also Koras, violins, contrabass, drums, male and female vocals, and an assortment of keyboards. I hope the fly found another vantage point from which to take it all in.
Then of course there was Garmarna, and like the little dancing girl said: they rocked. The light was fading and it was getting cold. The fog was drifting in. The hurdy gurdy wailed in protest. More caterpillars lost their footing. Little girls danced. Old new-agers danced. Emma was wearing a superman shirt. Her vocals and stage presence were serene, in counterpoint to the less than serene antics of her bandmates. The descending darkness, lonesome flying birds, and encroaching fog provided a perfect backdrop. Further description is needless. Go buy their cds.

Speaking of cds: The Gaia "777 (1991-1997)", Joanne Shenandoah "s/t", Neko Case "Canadian Amp", Death In June "Discriminate", and Kemialliset Ystavat "Suurempi Pieni Palatsi"

Now: Jim O'Rourke "Tamper"