Basilica Block Party has become some what of tradition. For the last three summers my friends and I have gone to the “historic grounds of the Basilica” as they always say on Cities 97 building up to this special weekend. For two nights artists–some big names, others not as well-known–take three stages. BBP goers anxiously await the line-up each April, and Cities 97 never disappoints. This year my friends and I decided to go to Night Two. We ended up staying at the Sun Country Airline Stage the whole night, because we wanted good spots for Ingrid Michaelson and Train.
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| A Few of the Artists at the 2014 Basilica Block Party |
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| Alpha Rev |
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| Caroline Smith |
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| Alpha Rev (why is his guitar so small?) |
In our time in the crowd of the Sun Country Airline Stage I was reminded of a few things:
- The actual amount of people with curly hair becomes more apparent with rain and humidity. (Thankfully it didn’t rain during the concert, just before, and my anti-humidity hairspray worked pretty well that night.)
- People are rude. It’s not like I needed to go to a concert to learn this, but I thought I would throw it out there. Some people are just so rude.
- Short people are at a great disadvantage in crowds.
- You are not always going to be able to see the artist you paid to see and not just hear.
- Standing in virtually the same place for 5.5 hours does a number on the body. I’m talking back pain, sore knees, sore feet, slight-dehydration.
- Other people taking selfies/snapchats is distracting. I’m not just talking about people in the crowd. Pat Monahan of Train invited some girls up on the stage during “Mermaid”, and the girls basically danced around and tried to take selfies with him. He made it pretty humorous by expressing how frightened he was.
Ingrid took the stage with a loud, slightly sarcastic persona. She introduced “You and I” by saying she didn’t like being called “cute”, as she often was for this song. It’s funny because from some of her earlier stuff I imagined her to have a much different stage presence. I pictured a quieter, calm singer who spent her time drinking tea and writing songs in quaint coffee shops. But Ingrid was playful and sassy, the kind of person that people would take notice of when she walked into the room–and not just because she is a famous singer.
And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star,
One without a permanent scar?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself?
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
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| Pat Monahan |
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| Pat taking Selfies with people’s phones |
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| Bachelorette Party? |
Taylor Lee Design 