What a summer.....whew....
Being the chocolatier to the rock gods does have its perks. If you saw our last blog post you know the music never stops and this last week I blew out all the stops and attended the Lockn Festival. Nestled in the Shenandoah Valley in Arrington Virginia I flew east and met up with a bunch of friends and made haste to this huge festival site. The line up was too perfect for me not to attend. Between Willie Nelson, The Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead guys, Tom Petty, and the Drive by Truckers--to name a few--I HAD to be there.
The flight was fine and my friends picked me up in Newark where we made a beeline south towards Virginia. These are the best kind of friends to have; the RV was packed full of food and beverage and ready to roll. 8 hours later we arrived on site in pitch dark in the wee hours where we were shuffled off into a field to await the opening of the gates. Until we rolled over the hill I didnt know what to expect but as dawn broke I got my first full glimpse of the site. It was HUGE. They were expecting over 30,000 people and they may have surpassed that over the 4 days.
Of course my handy tour laminate from Tom Petty didnt hurt so access to the stage was unhindered and easy. From the full blown disco renderings of Kool and the Gang on Thursday to the crescendo of the Allman brother Mountain Jam on Sunday night the music was phenomenal. The sound amazing for such a big venue and the food superb. The organizers of this event did well for it only being their second year attempting this. The in and out and flow of the bands was stupendous. With two stages side by side and start times between bands don to about 60 seconds it was almost impossible to leave your seat. There was such great energy emanating from the crowd and the stage that tearing yourself away to eat or use the facilities became a chore. Dancing reigned supreme and this chocolatier sweated off 10 full pounds in the 4 days in the 90 degree heat with 90% humidity. yes, it was kinda gross weather wise, but we do sacrifice for our fun.
I managed to take a few shots of the weekend and wanted to share them with you. They do not do it justice.