The spirit of recovery that had visited us in irregular patterns was again present by the time Saturday morning arrived. I sat in the courtyard of our apartment and traded stories with: Adam, the well-endowed girl from Jersey, and various members of our own circle. For some this day was the highlight of the weekend. The Dave Matthews Band was scheduled to play the main stage of the Fairgrounds. Ziggy Marley and The North Mississippi All-Stars were sharing time on the side-stage. Cowboy Mouth was to be opening for Dave Matthews. From what I had gathered they were a local band that Lorraine, Manfrini, Hacedic, and others had seen last night. The reviews they gave me were mixed. I was told they played a brand of Southern Rock that was reminiscent of Lynerd Skynerd. What sounded interesting was their physical set-up, however. The drummer was at the front of the stage and served much like a lead man.
Once we got to the Fairgrounds I knew that the next few hours would lack the cozy comfort of the Panic show two days earlier. The landscape was flooded with people of all shapes and sizes. Personal alarms then went off when I lost my group soon after we stepped out of the cab. Fortunately I later spotted Adam near the back of the venue. The whole group was sitting on a beach towel near a hanging Winnie the Poo totem. To see the familiar faces made me thankful. On the way over I had caught enough negative vibes to contemplate saying “To hell with it,” and going over to the second stage for the North Mississippi All-Stars. In the crowd there was a decent contingent of the 18-24 WWF target audience that is often attracted to successful bands like Dave Matthews. That was to be expected. It was people getting very touchy and copping attitudes whenever your path crossed theirs that aggravated me a bit. People were not taking too kindly to walking through areas where they had beach blankets already set up. Unfortunately that was the only tangible option. At one point I though a girl was going to punch me right in the balls, when I accidentally stepped on her hand. In reaction I made a quick move and almost fell clumsily over her boyfriend before correcting my defensive equilibrium. The only time I felt secure, was with my crew.
Earlier I had been drawn to the reggae beats of the second stage like a rat to the Pied Piper. There was a noticeable familiarity I could detect with those sounds. Although he played many covers from his father, there was still a certain uniqueness that I could sense from Ziggy Marley. Unfortunately I only stayed to take notice for a song or two. With Cowboy Mouth it was different. Although there was nothing about their performance to indicate that they had played poorly, they also did little for me to take notice. Their music seemed more along the lines of hard-rock yet without any sort of noticeable edge. This is probably why in my mind they faded into the background and served as little more than background chatter.
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