Summerthing

Oh, this is the start of something good
Don't you agree?
I haven't felt like this in so many moons

With the exception of the forgotten card, this weekend rocked. One of the highlights was Alice's Summerthing held at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. San Francisco was cloudy and a bit cool when we got there. It was perfect weather for shorts, if one prefers cold legs.

Gavin DeGraw led off the festivities. He played a fun set of songs that included "Follow Through", "Chariot", a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and his biggest hit, "I Don't Want To Be". While we listened to him, we would glance over at ordinary people attempting the trapeze provided by Trapeze Arts. It was mostly amusing, but sometimes disconcerting, especially when parents allowed their toddlers to swing unassisted on bars too big for their hands.

When Berlin took the stage, we went to have our body fat tested. Don't get me wrong. They have many good songs, including "Take My Breath Away", but we were curious. We could hear the band perfectly fine as we stood in the long line. For the record, according to the Futrex-5000, I have 16.1% body fat, which is considered "Good". I wonder about the accuracy of the test.

Besides listening to great music, there were many vendors at the concert. One was giving away advanced copies of Wild Animus, an interesting looking book I'm adding to my lengthy reading queue. Starbucks was serving frappuccino samples and an olive company was handing out free visors on an overcast day.

We made it back to our blanket in time to hear Five for Fighting finish their set. I loved John Ondrasik's vocals and the way he played the grand piano. The band performed "100 Years", "Superman" and a number of songs I wanted to recognize.

Smash Mouth was the headliner and to prove how cool they were, the sun decided to break through the clouds and shine upon us as they began performing. I briefly felt vindicated for wearing shorts, but then felt dumb again once the wind picked up. I might have been warmer if I had twenty-percent body fat. Either that or pants. They played songs from all four albums including "Then the Morning Comes" and "Can't Get Enough of You Baby", two of my favorites.

My heart cries out more baby
It feels so nice
I want your arms to wrap around me twice