hey now howdy..welcome back to horning's hideout in north plains, oregon for the final night of mirth & mischief with string cheese incident & friends..first off, SmugMug is my new home for pics..imagestation is shutting down, and i've been searching for a great photo site to share all my wacky photos with everyone, and i think i've found a new home..SmugMug has amazing customer service, and they've answered every email i've sent them over the past 3 days of the THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (i've had lots of questions..lol), and they've been really great..the most insane aspect of that is i haven't given them a dime yet..i'm on free trial, but i'm definitely going to become a paying member in two weeks..so, i'd be really interested in hearing what a bunch of you think about my migration to smugmug..ok, let's get down to biz..it's sunday, july 29, 2007..this could be the last string cheese incident for me till who knows when, since the band went on indefinite hiatus after their red rocks shows in august..oh, man, i hope they come back soon..real soon..the past 11 years have been an amazing adventure with the string cheese incident as the tour guides...they welcomed me into the family the MINUTE i met them in flagstaff on may 20, 1997, and their generousity continued all the way through, and i feel really honored & privileged to have participated in this wonderful experience..wow! wow! wow! i've met some of the greatest folks at shows, seen a whole lot of mindbending visual effects, heard some of the most engaging, crazy, unbeleivable music i've heard anywhere, danced myself into a total frenzy, laughed & cried, been totally inspired, and had more fun than a barrel of monkeys! what a blast!!! THANK YOU STRING CHEESE INCIDENT!!! WOOHOO..I LOVE YOU GUYS!
ok, let's get to the pics..we open w/ pre-show festivities..horning's hideout is a 24 hour 7 ring circus..the stilthoopers tower above the crowd, undulating, spinning round the wheel..there's one pic each of the great folks from conscious alliance which has run food drives at numerous string cheese shows for several years, and they've created beautiful posters to commemorate special shows along the way..next is the jellyfish booth, another fixture at string cheese shows going back to the old days, for sober cheeseheads to connect at shows.. first up musically today was ALO (animal liberation orchestra), another really fun & talented bunch of folks that have been playing music together since high school..they play fun soulful, funky music, and they really complemented string cheese this afternoon (i had the pleasure of hanging out w/ these guys a couple of summers ago up at the powderhorn ranch in colorado @ john greer's birthday bash..what a 3 day party that was!), and i was really looking forward to seeing them live again..i ended up down on the rail shooting some pics, and i was having a grand old time, until i realized that i'd forgotten to take my hearing aid out & put my earplugs in..yowsa..i've got pretty severe tinnitus (ringing in the ears 24/7) which drives me nuts..after i was on the rail for about 15 minutes (it wasn't terribly loud either) my ears started buzzin' like a banshee..yikes! i ran back to my backpack, and quickly inserted my earplugs, but i was buzzing bigtime, and it's continued right up till this day, so i'd like to encourage everybody to wear earplugs at live shows, cause tinnitus sure ain't fun, and i'm sure that mine was music induced from all the years of live music over the past 40 plus years..there's no cure either, so i'd like to encourage everybody to save your hearing..i never listened to my parents all those years, but i've recently discovered that they were right..MY BAD..ok, back to the fun..Billy Nershi from string cheese came out & played on a tune or two w/ ALO, then we were all treated to the wonderful Wizards & Faeries parade which entertained young & old alike, with all sorts of eye candy in the sky, and Mojow & The Vibration Army playing saxopella music circulating on the dance floor..a chinese dragon snaked its way through the crowd, stiltdancers & hoopers & costumed characters grooved in unison, and we were right & ready for what was to follow...STRING CHEESE INCIDENT! we all boogied hard, laughing & hugging, enjoying this precious moment..it was to be a really emotional show, reflective, exhilerating, inspiring, bittersweet..a full-throated wave of emotions hit me as memories of the past 11 years rolled into my consciousness..closing my eyes, i was floating down a deep canyon filled with special moments from my cheese adventures (55 live incidents...many of them of the EPIC variety)..a beautiful moment, and i was thanking my lucky stars that i had access to this amazing feeling, hitting me like a lightning bolt..then i danced as hard as i could, embracing the vibration that kept building from the collective circular energy in the crowd..what a best feeling..woohoo..near the end of the second set, billy made a little speech thanking everybody, and they started playing a lilting "farther" & andy carroll, the string cheese light wizard, hit us with a slideshow of many of us, as a way for the band to thank all of us for our dedication as fans & friends & for the support we've given them over the years, and that was such a delicious moment to be part of, to see some of my friends smiling faces from the weekend at horning's hideout flashing by on the screen, and tears were flowing from many eyes throughout the venue..i was cryin' a river, and smilin' from ear to ear..love & respect flowed from the stage to the fans, and back to the stage from all of us..folks started huggin' each other spontaneously, and we all melted..but wait..there's more..a clusterpluck w/ scott law, ALO, John Whoolilurie from Mojow & the Vibration Army, & we went round in circles as they played the billy preston classic, and then they took us "way back home"..the culmination of a fantastic weekend..HUGE THANKS TO STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, MADISON HOUSE, PEAK EXPERIENCE PRODUCTIONS (YEAH!!!), ALL THE LIGHTING CREW, SOUND CREW, ROADIES, TECHS, ALL THE FOLKS THAT MAKE THIS MAGIC HAPPEN, ALL THE GREAT CHEESE FREAKS THAT HAVE MADE THIS SO MUCH FUN, ALL THE VOLUNTEERS, THE TREMENDOUS MEDICAL STAFF, ALL THE FOLKS THAT COMBINED TO CREATE WONDERFUL ART & AMAZING INSTALLATIONS TO KEEP US AMUSED & ENTERTAINED AROUND THE CLOCK, THANKS TO ALL THE GREAT VENDORS OF FOOD & CRAFTS, THANKS TO ALL THE FOLKS THAT DID THE DIRTY WORK & KEPT THE LATRINES CLEAN (A BIG BONUS!), AND EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS TO BOB HORNING & HIS FAMILY FOR ALLOWING US THE PRIVILEGE OF PLAYING AT HORNING'S HIDEOUT THIS WEEKEND..BOB HAD TO JUMP THROUGH A BUNCH OF HOOPS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN, AND WE OWE HIM A BIG WUPPY DUPPY! YEAH BOB HORNING! so come on in & hope you enjoy..please send comments if you like..peace & love, joel...amdew1@aol.com...all images copyright 2,007 joel tarantal....FROMAGEAMUNDO!!!
joel172b
joel172b
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