We love Fat Freddy’s Drop, a New Zealand band. They never tour the U.S. and we went to great lengths to see them live in Europe. (go to https://marshaschmidt.com/2022/12/06/july-9-19-europe-fat-freddy/ to read the story). We assumed that if we were living in New Zealand we would have more opportunities to see them. But that has not been the case so far. So when we received an announcement that they would be playing the Rhythm & Alps Festival on the South Island, we decided, well why not? This music festival, a three-day extravaganza of music, camping and partying takes place in a grazing field outside of Wanaka, a picturesque resort town bordering Lake Wanaka in the Southern Alps. Wanaka is known for skiing in winter and summers on the lake.
The music festival was okay. There were several stages, the main stage, a DJ stage and others dedicated to smaller acts. Rather than sitting in the field all day, we bought seats in a tent near the main stage so Matt would have a place to sit, and we would be out of the brutal Southern sun. FFD was the headliner, so we had to wait for five bands to play before they came on. That was painful. We did discover one band we really liked. But the other four? Yikes! One was a New Zealand woman who apparently has hit it big in Nashville. No clue who she is but people seemed excited.
One of the bands, My Baby, was really good so I walked down into the crowd toward the stage to get a closer look and feel.
I stopped and focused on the band. I was swaying and clapping as she sang a blues song when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a few yards in front of me a young man, maybe in his early 20’s, facing me and dancing with his beer and making gestures like, “great band, huh?” I realized that he was trying to engage with me. I was not interested in engaging with him and his beer. I stepped out of his view. He was not deterred. He stepped into my field of view again gesturing. I stepped farther to the side. Then his girlfriend stood next to me and started dancing and smiling at me as if I was dancing with her. I most assuredly was not. I had the normal East Coast reaction to someone getting in my space. I was ticked off and ready to snap, “I’m trying to watch here!” But I refrained. As I did with him, I stepped away from her, but unable to take a hint, she followed. I started to wonder if they thought “hey, look at the grandma getting down at the festival.” As soon as I thought it, her boyfriend starting recording with his phone. Yes, he was going to record his girlfriend dancing with the old lady at the festival. Generation to generation we can all enjoy peace and love and music and all that crap. I ignored both of them as best I could. To say I was irritated is not saying enough. I finally had to walk away unable to enjoy the moment with My Baby. I am sure a video of me ignoring this girl is floating around somewhere on social media.
And that my friends is the problem with festivals. The music is secondary to socializing and drinking. If you are there to actually hear the music, you have a problem because your experience is going to be impacted by everyone who is only there for the party. And yes, I know I used to be one of those young folks there for the party. But after decades of festivals, I find it tedious now. Been there and done that. I loved seeing Fat Freddy’s Drop, but I think I am going to skip the festival circuit from now on. Matt’s prediction is that this will hold until they play another festival. It will be tedious, but I will go.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 