By Michael Lopez
Let me preface this by saying I am currently listening to Pennywise entertain the sun-drenched crowd with an amazingly profane set, as if they get paid an extra $50,000 for saying “fuck” over 200 times. They just ended a cover of a Minor Threat song by shouting “Pennywise,” just so the fans don’t forget who is playing.
During some recent downtime here at Schnepf Farms I was able to have a chat with members of Airborne Toxic Event. They were hanging out in the backstage V.I.P. area having a few drinks, taking in the crowd and fighting to find shade from the scorching sun.
During some recent downtime here at Schnepf Farms I was able to have a chat with members of Airborne Toxic Event. They were hanging out in the backstage/V.I.P. area having a few drinks, taking in the crowd and fighting to find shade from the sun.
They were incredibly affable and easy to approach. We riffed on playing festivals (Pemberton is extremely lavish), bands having feuds with other bands (The Kooks vs. The Fratellis), and playing Late Night with Conan O’Brien (a surreal and long experience). I couldn’t help but think of how easy going and down to earth these musicians were. We talked as normal human beings; just people talking with people, not some geeky music fan talking with rock stars. Our chat is pretty indicative of how things are going today at Edgefest. Everyone is getting along and there is an easygoing vibe in spite of this ridiculous late September heat. I can only hope that Airborne Toxic Event came away from our conversation as happy as I did. Not only do I now know that the members of Yeasayer play a pretty mean game of Hoop Shoot, I also know that some musicians are people too: humble, down to earth people.