Special Feature: Locally Grown 2
About this time last year, Jessie and i were grumbling all the way to Vegas. We were on our way to celebrate the combined birthdays of some dear friends with some college-style shenanigans, drinking, costumed theme nights, and general foolishness in a neon-lit adult playground in the desert, but we were ALSO missing Jack Johnson playing literally down the street from our home at Locally Grown 1. So this year, with the bill of Perla Batalla and Brett Dennen to lure us, we had our brown paper tickets nice and early. Vegas can wait (and it helps to have a newborn).
We arrived just in time to hear MC Claud Mann welcoming everyone, and Battle-of-the-Bands fourth place winners The Imaginative Clams took the stage as we found a good spot to sit in the elite (as designated by the colored bracelets and plastic chains) "Front Lawn" section. i gazed sadly backward at the row of faces that made up the front of the "Back Lawn" section with the Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" playing in my head over whatever Avant Garage or The Philosophy were sharing from the stage. And then it happened: Emy Reynolds began to play.
i didnt know that i'd come that night to hear Emy - alone, with just her guitar, the same way she won Battle of the Bands against four-, five-, and six-piece ensembles. With a carefully tuned voice that sounds like it may either cry or laugh at any moment and skillfully clean guitar-playing to match, she was part Jack and part Brett with just the right amount of Alanis. i jumped up and ordered the Battle disc, then filled my brand-new stainless-steel made-in-China Klean Kanteen bottle at the free water station (but forgot to get a raffle ticket for doing so...i hope whatsername enjoys my electric bikes).
The daylight dimmed, the plastic chains eventually came down, and my family and i ate, slept, danced, and sang while local favorite Perla Batalla lit up the stage with music, wit, and heartfelt storytelling. The highlight for me was the crowd-raising "Guantanamera" that she finished her set with. Brett Dennen brought a softer energy, though no less poignant with its dextrous guitar hooks, nimble vocals, and honest lyrics full of razor-sharp introspections and sensual imagery. Between songs there were jokes and light stories, but the climax was probably the impromptu hula-hooping in the middle of a song. It must be seen to be believed, so watch for that video soon. Brett closed the show down by inviting the youth volunteers and Battle bandmembers onstage for a sing-along of CSNY's "Teach Your Children". As we left, Mr. Mann told us that LG2 would fund Food for Thought Ojai's programs - to bring locally grown fruits and vegetables, nutrition education, and agricultural literacy to the children of the OUSD - for the next year. That feels really good, especially since for me "Healthy minds, bodies, and environment" are also key ingredients for the Peace i want to see in the world AND what i want for Noa.
In a year's time, Las Vegas will probably still be the most power-hungry city-in-the-sun with the fewest solar panels...an image that fits less and less with my values. Maybe i can get my friends to celebrate their birthdays the green way at LG3. Eat well, kids.
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Comments (7)
Fun writeup, evan!
Comment #1 Posted by: Tyler | August 27, 2007 11:18 PM
Awesome, evan, very thoughtful and a pleasant read!
Comment #2 Posted by: Lisa Snider | August 28, 2007 07:52 AM
thought i should paste what i'd written that night and posted on another link that is going extinct so Marty et. all knows how much I appreciated the night. amazing it was, kate
Ohhh Phenom...Just in from the Locally Grown 2 Concert and wow, what a magical night. It was like one of those scenes in a movie where you think "I wish I lived in that town". Truly it was.
Highlights for me were:
Perla Batalia signing "Hallelujah" with her daughter Eva and her husband Claude Mann accompanying. Her voice is so rich and soulful/soulfilled -- the kind of depth that only dual-culturism holds.
Brett Dennen sang to the glow-in-the-dark hoolahoop then invited it on stage to dance with him and might I say the man and his glowing hoolahoop could dance! Then Brett hoolahooping --he's not half bad! He sang all the favs and made his witty comments, so clever with words.
It's so different to see him now than a couple of years back in Ojai when he first caught my attention when I was shopping at Rainbow Bridge. All I heard was this amazing voice that could easily belong to an African American woman belting out gospel. I followed the voice and found this white as white can be carrot-topped young man who swayed and danced to the music he sang. He was unabashedly Brett and between the profoundness of his lyrics and the upbeat tempo of his chords I was hooked.
He's changed now in some ways and I will always prefer Brett on his acoustic guitar. I am glad more people are getting to see him but he doesn't need bigger sound or a bigger show. He's the type of pure grace talent that just has to open his mouth.
The air also couldn't have been more divine, (thank Zaca for laying low), and it was the perfect temperature. And surprise!! Because there was some available seating even those with the cheap seats had a chance to sit as close as they could.
Oh. One more thing....the woman (forgive me for now knowing her name) who did sign language all night was also simply amazing. How she kept it up and stayed so fresh is beyond me. She alone was worth the admission price. I also learned sign language for hoolahoop! :)
For me this was the most magical night I've had this summer. Thanks Food for Thought, Marty and everyone else!!
Posted by: kate | August 25, 2007 11:41 PM
Comment #3 Posted by: kate | August 28, 2007 11:54 AM
thanks for posting that, Kate...i read that post when i returned home from LG2, and meant to ask you to repost it here because it was so good! the sign language interpreter's name is Debbie Tygell. i'll add my thanks to Marty et al for a great night!
Comment #4 Posted by: evan | August 28, 2007 04:23 PM
thanks evan. so glad you made the magical night. babies passed around and yellow jackets buzzing and people dancing on the edges of the crowd. shared tamales and kids with carrots in their pigtails (part of the carrot choir). wonderful, delicious even.
Emy was truly amazing. She is so seasoned sounding for someone so young!
Debbie, the interpreter -- I got lost in her movements and dancing. My only wish is that there was a light on her because sometimes she was in a shadow.
Thanks for your post, made me happy to remember other facets of the evening.
Did you go to the after-party? I'm curious how that went though we were dragging ourselves home by the end of the concert.
Comment #5 Posted by: kate | August 29, 2007 01:13 PM
thanks evan. so glad you made the magical night. babies passed around and yellow jackets buzzing and people dancing on the edges of the crowd. shared tamales and kids with carrots in their pigtails (part of the carrot choir). wonderful, delicious even.
Emy was truly amazing. She is so seasoned sounding for someone so young!
Debbie, the interpreter -- I got lost in her movements and dancing. My only wish is that there was a light on her because sometimes she was in a shadow.
Thanks for your post, made me happy to remember other facets of the evening.
Did you go to the after-party? I'm curious how that went though we were dragging ourselves home by the end of the concert.
Comment #6 Posted by: kate | August 29, 2007 01:14 PM
kate, i agree that Debbie should have had a bit more light on her...i even mentioned that to my wife that night. i wonder if there were really any Deaf people there.
i didnt go to the afterparty...we were pretty tired ourselves. anyone else go? (it was a pricey extra ticket, if i remember correctly...probably Marty Fujita and a few others were there)
Comment #7 Posted by: evan | August 29, 2007 01:17 PM