Review: W.E. Fest 2007 - Sunday
SUNDAY
When I awoke Sunday morning the only thing on my mind was finding that Orange Julius. Jim and I headed to the mall and called Jared to see if he wanted to come along. Jared was already en route to the mall too, and we met in the parking lot and headed into the mall possessed by the power of the Orange Julius. The stores weren't open until noon, but the mall itself was open, so we went in and looked at the directory. Much to our chagrin, Orange Julius was not listed. Disappointed, but not defeated, we decided to get breakfast and then head back to the hotel and use Jim's computer to see if we could find out where it was on-line.
Back at the hotel we found that there was indeed an OrangeJulius.com, and it showed the address for the store in Wilmington. A quick plug of the address into Google Maps brought up an address that appeared to be in the mall. Upon switching the map to satellite view, the arrow pointed to a parking spot on the exterior of the mall. According to Google Maps Orange Julius was a parking spot. I kid you not, look for yourself here. It's pretty funny...at least to me.
So back to the mall Jared and I went (Jim stayed behind as he was not feeling well). This time we walked to the food court and Eureka! Orange Julius!
There it was, part of a Dairy Queen in the mall (which is why we didn't see it listed on the directory). I felt like a junkie who was getting his first fix after far too long. My hands got sweaty, I was anxious, I needed the Orange Julius now!
Mmmm....sweet, sweet, nectar of the gods...there it was in my grubby hands, and I drank it like it was life saving water in desert. I expected the memory of the Orange Julius to taste better than the actual drink, but I am happy to report that it was just as good as I remember from my youth.
Of course Jared was even more excited than me to have an Orange Julius.
Sunday W.E. Fest had an afternoon acoustic showcase in the Soapbox's lounge. Scheduled to feature 3 acts, Anthony Fiumano must have gotten even sicker after his Saturday night set, as he cancelled. This allowed Sam Robinson, and Blake Rainey, the other 2 acts, to each do longer sets.
Just before Sam Robinson's set started a child pulled a chair up near the center of the stage and sat down. It was obvious the child new Sam. It was still funny though when Sam started his set saying that his songs contained NC-17 language, and then launched into a song that contained several colorful metaphors. His lyrics were highly entertaining, especially when singing about how the Snorks (remember that shitty 80's cartoon) are like Smurfs (another shitty 80's cartoon) , but they're not blue.
Blake Rainey, who normally plays as Blake Rainey & The Demons, only had his bassist (who was playing with a hand injury, no less) with him, so for this show it was Blake Rainey & The Demon. Injured or not, Blake and the Demon played one hell of a set of rootsy folk rock. Songs like, "99 beers" and "the dangerous winter", both which you can hear on their My Space page, just blew me away.
Sadly, that was the last picture I took during W.E. Fest, as the memory card I hard in my camera was smaller than I thought.
After dinner at a Mexican pub, along with several of my fellow New Jerseyites, it was back to the Soapbox for another night which included quite a bit of New Jersey music.
Highlights from Sunday night:
Olivia & the Housemates: This band was so much fun. Catchy, indie-pop that was not just ear candy because of the music, but lyrically too. Olivia & the Housemates features many of the same musicians as Donny Hue & The Colors (who played on the same stage just before them), but whereas Donny's music seemed a little more artsy and experimental, Olivia's music was just pure indie-pop at it's catchiest. Later that night I still had the chorus of, "the jealous type" rattling around in my head. Thankfully, the song appears on their new EP that I picked up after their set, so I'll be able to hear it as much as I like. It's not the only way I'll remember them though. Their EP had a stamp of their name on the back of it in thick red ink. Red ink that now permanently lines the inside of the pocket of the shorts I was wearing that night. It seemed like a good place to store the CD at the time. Now when I wear those shorts I'll always think of Olivia & the Housemates.
High Speed Chase: It's funny how due to a number of things, I had not seen High Speed Chase since my wedding two years ago, and therefore had to go all the way to North Carolina to see this Hoboken, NJ based band. High Speed Chase is a great hard rock band, and they always bring such incredible energy and intensity to every set. This night was no exception, playing many of their classic tunes like, "animal" and "face the blame". If there is any negative to their set, it's that they have been playing most of these songs for several years now. They did play one new song during what I heard of their set, but I'd love to hear more new stuff from them. It's possible they did play another new song or two at the end of their set, as I had to miss it because while High Speed Chase was playing upstairs, down in the lounge was another band from New Jersey I had not seen play live in quite some time.
Billy: How to even describe this band. Well musically they have guitar, banjo, bass, drums, and even some sax. Songs like the fan favorite, "rodeo" is pure country punk, other songs are mellower but have that same hook and vocal harmony that even at the late hour they went on made me bop my head and bounce along. Basically Billy equals fun.
I also caught part of the set from Lowry down in the lounge. I was a bit beat at that point and Jared and I headed back to Slice Of Life for some pizza, but I remember us both commenting that we'd like to catch their set again some time when we weren't tired and hungry, as it didn't sound bad at all. Note to the Soapbox, get a kitchen and some good eats!
SUNDAY
When I awoke Sunday morning the only thing on my mind was finding that Orange Julius. Jim and I headed to the mall and called Jared to see if he wanted to come along. Jared was already en route to the mall too, and we met in the parking lot and headed into the mall possessed by the power of the Orange Julius. The stores weren't open until noon, but the mall itself was open, so we went in and looked at the directory. Much to our chagrin, Orange Julius was not listed. Disappointed, but not defeated, we decided to get breakfast and then head back to the hotel and use Jim's computer to see if we could find out where it was on-line.
Back at the hotel we found that there was indeed an OrangeJulius.com, and it showed the address for the store in Wilmington. A quick plug of the address into Google Maps brought up an address that appeared to be in the mall. Upon switching the map to satellite view, the arrow pointed to a parking spot on the exterior of the mall. According to Google Maps Orange Julius was a parking spot. I kid you not, look for yourself here. It's pretty funny...at least to me.
So back to the mall Jared and I went (Jim stayed behind as he was not feeling well). This time we walked to the food court and Eureka! Orange Julius!
There it was, part of a Dairy Queen in the mall (which is why we didn't see it listed on the directory). I felt like a junkie who was getting his first fix after far too long. My hands got sweaty, I was anxious, I needed the Orange Julius now!
Mmmm....sweet, sweet, nectar of the gods...there it was in my grubby hands, and I drank it like it was life saving water in desert. I expected the memory of the Orange Julius to taste better than the actual drink, but I am happy to report that it was just as good as I remember from my youth.
Of course Jared was even more excited than me to have an Orange Julius.
Sunday W.E. Fest had an afternoon acoustic showcase in the Soapbox's lounge. Scheduled to feature 3 acts, Anthony Fiumano must have gotten even sicker after his Saturday night set, as he cancelled. This allowed Sam Robinson, and Blake Rainey, the other 2 acts, to each do longer sets.
Just before Sam Robinson's set started a child pulled a chair up near the center of the stage and sat down. It was obvious the child new Sam. It was still funny though when Sam started his set saying that his songs contained NC-17 language, and then launched into a song that contained several colorful metaphors. His lyrics were highly entertaining, especially when singing about how the Snorks (remember that shitty 80's cartoon) are like Smurfs (another shitty 80's cartoon) , but they're not blue.
Blake Rainey, who normally plays as Blake Rainey & The Demons, only had his bassist (who was playing with a hand injury, no less) with him, so for this show it was Blake Rainey & The Demon. Injured or not, Blake and the Demon played one hell of a set of rootsy folk rock. Songs like, "99 beers" and "the dangerous winter", both which you can hear on their My Space page, just blew me away.
Sadly, that was the last picture I took during W.E. Fest, as the memory card I hard in my camera was smaller than I thought.
After dinner at a Mexican pub, along with several of my fellow New Jerseyites, it was back to the Soapbox for another night which included quite a bit of New Jersey music.
Highlights from Sunday night:
Olivia & the Housemates: This band was so much fun. Catchy, indie-pop that was not just ear candy because of the music, but lyrically too. Olivia & the Housemates features many of the same musicians as Donny Hue & The Colors (who played on the same stage just before them), but whereas Donny's music seemed a little more artsy and experimental, Olivia's music was just pure indie-pop at it's catchiest. Later that night I still had the chorus of, "the jealous type" rattling around in my head. Thankfully, the song appears on their new EP that I picked up after their set, so I'll be able to hear it as much as I like. It's not the only way I'll remember them though. Their EP had a stamp of their name on the back of it in thick red ink. Red ink that now permanently lines the inside of the pocket of the shorts I was wearing that night. It seemed like a good place to store the CD at the time. Now when I wear those shorts I'll always think of Olivia & the Housemates.
High Speed Chase: It's funny how due to a number of things, I had not seen High Speed Chase since my wedding two years ago, and therefore had to go all the way to North Carolina to see this Hoboken, NJ based band. High Speed Chase is a great hard rock band, and they always bring such incredible energy and intensity to every set. This night was no exception, playing many of their classic tunes like, "animal" and "face the blame". If there is any negative to their set, it's that they have been playing most of these songs for several years now. They did play one new song during what I heard of their set, but I'd love to hear more new stuff from them. It's possible they did play another new song or two at the end of their set, as I had to miss it because while High Speed Chase was playing upstairs, down in the lounge was another band from New Jersey I had not seen play live in quite some time.
Billy: How to even describe this band. Well musically they have guitar, banjo, bass, drums, and even some sax. Songs like the fan favorite, "rodeo" is pure country punk, other songs are mellower but have that same hook and vocal harmony that even at the late hour they went on made me bop my head and bounce along. Basically Billy equals fun.
I also caught part of the set from Lowry down in the lounge. I was a bit beat at that point and Jared and I headed back to Slice Of Life for some pizza, but I remember us both commenting that we'd like to catch their set again some time when we weren't tired and hungry, as it didn't sound bad at all. Note to the Soapbox, get a kitchen and some good eats!