The Great Ganesha

So this last weekend, the RXGeek and I were jogging in the Golden Gate Park and realized that the one of the biggest bluegrass festivals in the country was going on in the park, right under our very noses! Well, we live half a block away, so I guess we have pretty long noses. Ok, let’s say the collective length of our noses…

Best of all, it was free! So, of course we had to go. We got home, showered, ate, took a nap, woke up, had some tea… Oh -er- the festival. Right. Ok, here we go.

Getting in, we saw all kinds of people:

Little ones.

And big ones.

A man with his best friend.

Here’s a closer look at his dog…

…who bears an eerie resemblance to this guy.

So we started the afternoon at the Porch Stage featuring Kemo Sabe. They have a kind of punk-bluegrass fusion sort of sound. Well, at least that’s the best I can do to describe it.

We then walked by Gillian Welch at the Banjo Stage.

She sang some pretty touching songs. See their effect for yourself.

Next, it was on to the Marx Meadow, where the Rooster Stage was and the crowd had gathered to hear Billy Bragg (as had we).

Here he is, the man himself.

An interesting guy. Quite left-leaning, he recently even wrote a book. He spoke more than he sang, mostly about politics, Bush, etc. It was fun. He had this couple in rapture.

Then it was on to the Banjo Stage again, to see Steve Earle and the Bluegrass Dukes.

Here’s all five of them (Steve Earle’s the guy in black facing away from the camera).

And then, it was time to go. We turned around to see the Park one last time at dusk. A pretty sight.

We even saw some more furry creatures at the tail-end of the day’s festivities…

Continues on to Day 2 here.