michael franti & spearhead

(8/23)

When someone offers you a free concert... you should probably go to it...
(as long as its not country of course!)

The day before my birthday, Pat's buddy Nate called him up and asked if we wanted to go to the Michael Franti & Spearhead concert in Eugene for free... and being fairly familiar with his music from his days as a line cook, Pat excitedly agreed. I admittedly only knew a few songs, never having given any of them a serious listen, but it sounded like fun and a new experience so I was on board as well. What's not to like about a free show at an outdoor venue? The concert took place at the Eugene Cuthbert Ampitheater which turned out to be a really awesome space with a good set up. We even had VIP parking since Nate got the tickets from his work who were one of the sponsors, so we got right in, grabbed some dinner and beers, and found our seats. It was all open seating in the grass, and we scored some great seats.

[[ pictures from the michael franti & spearhead concert in eugene, oregon. ]]

The crowd was definitely really entertaining... lots of hippies, lots of kids, and a fair amount of retirees, as well as people our age. This one woman, who I am sure was a Eugene local, had her "third eye", super long dreadlocks, a sheer piece of fabric around her waist, and was dancing around to no music at all in tantric movements. We all had a lot of fun with that one.

The show was really good. He is one hell of a performer, and brought a lot of people, including kids, up on stage to be a part of the performance as well, which I thought was pretty cool. At one point he even had some people from the audience "playing with the band" while he snuck down in to the crowd and made his way to a small platform which was right in front of our seats. This allowed me to get some really good/close pictures without even really trying.

The only thing I did not 100% like about the show was that if you took out some of the politics, it could have literally been something you see at Disneyland, which is a little nicer than me and Pat are used to. Nate, on the other hand, was in heaven. I don't think I would personally pay $40 a ticket for it, but for free, it was a really good show and we had a lot of fun. Especially since it just happened to be the night before my birthday.