Gathering of the Vibes '06

The next morning we left Buffalo and headed towards Gathering of the Vibes near Albany, NY, or so Sauce and I thought. After two hours of driving we realized we certainly had headed in the wrong direction. We pulled off in the middle of no where at a gas station; picked up road soadies, filled the tank and looked at a map. We hauled ass, we wanted our 5 hour road trip to be over. Ironically, we had left at the same time as the band, went two hours out of our way, and pulled in right behind them. We rolled into VIP sign in, got our passes and parked backstage. We got some dinner, some beers and went to snoop around. Sauce and I relaxed after a long ride, we met up with close friends of the band Kenny and Sharon and chilled at their luxurious camp site. Then, we went out to see Deep Banana Blackout; we were jamming when I randomly heard someone call my name from behind. Cathy Lapp, Dirty Dave and Cathy's best pal were standing right behind me in general admission. It was wild, I would later run into them at the late night Tea Leaf Green set, where they would jump fence in the middle of the show. Next on stage was Assembly of Dust, during this time we went backstage and got a ride from main stage to the other side of the field via golf cart. Here, the boy's equipment was loaded and set up on stage. I hung out on stage until sound check, taking in the scene. It was wild to be higher than everyone else and behind them, to watch the whole crowd groove together to AoD. Not long after Tea Leaf Green began their sound check two boys appeared, Charlie and Fred. They started asking me questions about the band, they wanted to meet them. So after chatting for a little I introduced them to Sauce and soon Ben Chambers, Bass, came out to meet them. The boys told Sauce and Ben about their horrible road trip dilemma on the way to the festival. A policeman pulled them over and gave them citations and took all their marijuana. Having had a similar experience Ben invited the two boys, both in high school and huge TLG fans, onto "the Digger" where the boys chatted with Josh, Trevor and Ben. Josh talked to the boys about guitars, how he plays and little tips. Trevor asked the boys what song they wanted to hear and they both agreed on Morning Sun, which was played early in the set. The energy of this late night show was amazing. Tons of people watching, listening, cheering the band on...this was by far one of the most enjoyable nights of summer. After the show Sauce and I went back to my car, collected items to set up camp and did just that. The next morning we woke up to Alan walking by, laughing at our private camp site, right in the middle of the concert venue..."have a nice sleep guys?". It began to rain and had gotten chilly, so we went back to my car where I slipped into some jeans and then walked around the festival, taking in the scene. We later went back to Kenny and Sharon's camp site where we drank wine and beer early in the morning and sat quietly next to their tent. We thought that Kenny and Sharon were sleeping, we were jealous, we wanted to sleep. An hour later the pair stroll in, laughing at their unexpected company. They then made us a luscious breakfast of bagels and locks, we sat and chatted for a couple hours until I forced Sauce to go see G. Love and the Special Sauce. Lets put it this way, Sauce used to like G. Love until he stage flirted with all the girls in the front row. Soon after we left Gathering of the Vibes and continued on.

Thursday in the Square - Tea Leaf Green, Buffalo, NY 8/17/06

My first return to Buffalo, NY since I had graduated from St. Bonaventure University in May. Normally, I wouldn't have made this trip but it was a special occasion. Sauce, who wasn't on tour during the summer, was flying to the East Coast for his friends', Mike and Ang's, wedding. We made plans to meet up in Buffalo, six months after we had met. I was excited. Tea Leaf Green was playing a free show for Thursdays in the Square which is a live concert series that the City of Buffalo puts forth to promote city entertainment. It was a great reunion of all kids. I met up with my pal Parker and Gak from SBU and got all set up for the show, we were enjoying our beers when Sauce came walking through with Mike, Ang, Tatiana and Fat Ass. We danced and had a great time as the boys opened for Donna the Buffalo. After their show my pal Jenny showed up just as we were piling onto "the Digger" and all got reacquainted. Sauce had surprised his lifelong pals, who were totally thrilled to see him. We went back to the hotel and partied, Josh and Ben were kind and let Sauce and I stay in their room, and so the romance began.

DMB at Randall's Island, NYC 8/6/06

This day is also known as the day I met Macky Macky. I had been in the city all weekend for my best pal's graduation/birthday celebration. I spent Friday and Saturday out in Breezy Point, Brooklyn partying on the beach, taking booze cruises around the Hudson and catching up with some of my closest college buddies. Right before I had left I realized that Dave Matthews was playing at Randall's Island the same weekend. My infamous partner in crime Kate Madigan and my other pal Nicole had already bought tickets to this one day fest. It sure was a jam packed day, Bela Fleck, David Gray, Slightly Stoopid, Dave Matthews Band and Tea Leaf Green. At this point in the summer I was broke, so I called a friend for a favor. I couldn't handle knowing that I would be in the same city at the same time as two of my best pals and my favorite band...so I did what any ordinary girl would do and tried to find a ticket. I called Sauce. Saturday afternoon I got a call. I was already half in the bag. Sauce confirmed that there was a ticket waiting for me at Will Call and I was in. Excited, I thanked him lots and called my girlfriends and arranged a meeting. The next day, Sunday, I took the subway all the way from Brooklyn to the closest stop to Randall's Island, which I forget. Then I took a bus which dropped me right at Will Call. I got in line, waited, and finally gave my name at the window, they didn't have my ticket. My dumb ass was in the wrong line and the lady informed me to go to "Artist's Guests" window, a mistake I would never make again in life. Everyone in line heard the lady at the window, then the murmuring started..."I wish I was a guest of a band." "we should hang with her." for some reason I was embarrassed. I grabbed my ticket and split, fast. After walking around the place for 20 minutes I finally found my posse. We sat on the grassy noels, passing time and giggling until Tea Leaf Green started the day off. It was Nicole's first TLG show, the poor thing had to put up with all of our antics - those who dig any band make it obvious, as did we and the gentleman behind us - Macky. The show was a great little dose of TLG, classic Moonshine, One Reason, Two Chairs and set closer and Jammy winning tune Taught To Be Proud. Afterwards I spoke to the guys, thanked them for my ticket...where Ben C proceeded to make fun of my rather horse voice. One would think I would have been embarrassed...but not in the least. The other bands played, it was fun, I ended up with a VIP bracelet which got me backstage for a little. I then split to go hang with my friends, we drank beers and ate pineapple with strangers in the parking lot. We later left, and ventured back to Nicole's pad, we got lost for hours. But nothing could hinder the perfect experience...all in all it was a fabulous day all thanks to Sauce.

Purpose

Hello- As you can read from my profile, my name is Jessica. I am an aspiring videographer. Upon graduating from St. Bonaventure University I decided that I wanted to seriously film musicians, primarily those who rock. There are many people out there who want to do the same, and from what I have experienced I can understand why. Honestly, many of the kindest people I know are those I have met on the road. The reputation of music really rings true, in the sense, that those who follow music are kind hearted souls. Anyways, the reason for beginning this stream of posts, really, is to share my stories. People close to me are always saying I should post my tales so they can follow my travels. So following in the steps of my great pal Matthew "Light Sully, Navillus" Sullivan and Pete Townshend (who made me realize blogging was brilliant) I will share with you the experiences I have while galavanting around the United States filming or seeing music. Unfortunatly, I have started this a little late, so I will quickly update those who are interested on all trips post graduation, May 2006.