I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 23, 2016] Darlingside

Although I had wanted to see five bands on this day, my main focus was Darlingside, a band who sings beautiful songs with wonderful harmonies.

Because we had the kids with us and they were feeling a little wilty from the heat, we spent some of their set walking around looking for shade.  This was less than optimal in terms of enjoying the set, but since the sound was really good, there was no denying how great they were.  Their harmonies were right on and even in a big opened air setting, they still sounded amazing.

What I didn’t expect was how funny and lighthearted they were. 

After tehir first song, Harris Paseltiner whooped and thanked us all for being there–it was a little loud compared to their mellow songs, but it was a really fun change of pace.

After a couple of songs we walked around to the back of the stage (for shade).  I watched a song from the side (couldn’t see anything as it was pretty crowded) and then we walked around behind the stage.  This gave an interesting perspective until a truck came by and we had to move out of the way of it.  The fact that it was a septic tank truck was kind of funny, made even more funny when after the song the band  acknowledged it from stage.

It was very hot on this day and Don Mitchell said the wet towels and clapping made him feel like a boxer, although none of them are the least bit athletic.  The fact that they were all dressed up (long sleeves for all) can’t have helped.

I learned the song “Go Back” is about Back to the Future.  They said that there used to be a “McFly” in the chorus but they took that out.  There was a funny introduction to their great song “Harrison Ford.”  And before their final song, Auyon Mukharji introduced all of the band members and their favorite citrus fruit.  (Orange, lime, a wedge of rind on the glass of a drink served by his favorite bartender with a non gender ambiguous name like Hank or Bob, and Mukharji’s personal story about asking for an orange and getting a lemon and not realizing it right away).

They played 8 amazing songs. (Here’s a few seconds of one). Great harmonies on display in every one.  And they switches instruments all the time.  There was an acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, banjo, violin, cello, mandolin, bass guitar and even a tiny drum on stage–a kick drum which someone played throughout most of the songs.

After the show was over, Sarah and the kids were looking at booths and I ran into Harris, who was super nice (and had just doused himself with a bottle of water) and then as we were walking to the other stage we ran into Auyon who was also super nice–festivals can be fun.  I intended to check out their meet and greet but we got rained out (more on that in Monday’s post).

Click here for some better photos and a stream of one song.

Setlist

The God Of Loss
Go Back
Good For You
The Ancestor
Harrison Ford
White Horses
Blow The House Down
My Gal, My Guy