Ok, I have a few afterthoughts from the festival:
no pics???:: Nah, I was too busy working and enjoying myself to snap anything. Sowwy.
Learning, Scale & Volunteering:: Let me say that I've never participated in a volunteer event of this scale or magnitude (impact). But in participating I learned a WHOLE LOT about the efforts required to put together an event of this scale, and the whole Concert/Festival/Event planning thing. I have a lot more respect about the process, and I have a great deal of respect for the genre. And I'd love to learn more (HINT: this is why people say they get MORE out of volunteering than they put in. The fringe benefits).
We Gots to Do BETTER:: my people, I swear...even though the event went off well, there were some hiccups:
- lost children/parents? - tbere were 5+ lost kids that turned up, or parents that reported losing their children. Now don't get me wrong, these things happen, but for hours??? One toddler (about 2) was missing her parents for 2+ hours. I'm just saying....
- drunken/wanton behavior - it's a Community Festival meaning a family event. Why are adults engaging in drunken/wanton behavior so that they'd lose their kids in the first place? For that matter, sipping a lil something in front of your kids? Ok, maybe - but getting drunk? Hells naw.
- g-hetto shyt - I ain't even going there. It would take me too long to cover it.
- beef - can we have one community day without a fight?
- dramatic cunty-ism is so OVA:: have I mentioned lately how much I love that phrase? Anyway, again, it's a community festival for c-h-a-r-i-t-y. We can all do without excessive demands for freebies and attitudes. From everyone involved. For real.
the Artists:: overall, the talent was nice, although there were a few independent artists that definitely needed a "Hoe, Siddown" check. See g-hetto shyt, above. Alls I'm saying is, have ur stuff together before you perform in front of an audience, particularly an audience of ur folks, because ur folks are merciless. And keep ur thong in ur pants....lol.
Generally, the talent was good, particularly for this being a benefit concert. They were on time, professional, and the performances were excellent. Shoot, I caught the sound check, and felt like I could skip the show....lol.
the real "regular" dude:: the highlight of the day (for me) was Raheem DeVaughn, who I just want to show a WHOLE lot of love to. Now, when I say he was regular, I mean he was down to earth, like from up the block. He even ate our homemade chicken & grits with us for breakfast.....lol.
But the performance?! Off the damn chain, I mean dude had energy! I love artists who are still hungry, and who still have a connection to his fans/peoples, because they feed off the crowd's energy, and put that into the performance. He performed most of his album, and a few cuts I hadn't heard, and it was live (better than the album). Even interrupted the performance to quell a squabble in the crowd - talked to them brothers about unnecessary beef, like they were his mentees - then finished his set. It was excellent, and yet real - "regular". Diddle, diddy, er diddee dee, (what's his name this week?) 'ya heard? Regular ain't always a bad thing.
GIRL! I happened to find this page, and let me tell you ... U BETTAH PREACH about Raheem. Didn't dat boy put on a SHOW!!!! That fool had everybody take out their cells phones, then said, "Now, take my picture." I HOWLED!!! A dayum fool! I fell in love with him all over again.
That boy can put on a show.
you gotta love your folks...but it does get tiring when people always give them stuff for free. We put on a festival here every year for children where we give the children t-shirts and toys. Why were the parents demanding that we provide them t-shirts too? This is a free event for YOUR CHILD...buy your own t-shirt.