As last-minute weekend plans, Hubby stumbled across a “rock and reggae” concert at Spring Lake Winery in Lockport NY. He was just looking for a wine tasting, but when he mentioned this little festival, I puked rainbows!! 😄
Everyone was directed in through a dirt road. Which turned into a brutal mud road the night before the event, so I was pretty glad we brought Hubby’s truck. And then, to get from the parking lot to the festival site, you had to walk through their vineyard. Which was really cool except for the gash I got in the side of my foot from a stabby piece of grass.
It was a lot of fun. Food & drink prices weren’t absurd. We had brunch (Chimche? I think it was called) and dinner (Italian Beef) at Ms Judi’s International Food Truck; both were super good, as was (mama) Loose Cannon‘s Hippie Bread (Hubby bought 3 slices!! lol)! The event also included a few lawn games (giant Jenga & Kan Jam being the ones I saw), and the freedom to wander their trail by the lake & through some trees (my back was bothering me too much to adventure off on it, but I really wanted to).
They also offered hot air balloon rides for a little while. They were a little bit pricey in my opinion, considering they were stationery (only went up & down), but I’m sure I’m just cheap & it really wasn’t a bad price, lol! ($20 / person). Still a super cool thing to see, and quite a few people went up in it too!
Starting with my favorite band of the show…
Ballyhoo! Before the show even started, we were scoping out their merch stand & chatting with their merch dude (wish I remembered his name!) We ended up buying him drinks cuz he was pretty cool. The band itself was, in my opinion, the best act that night. Fun, ska-punk inspired music, & lots of audience interaction. After their set, Hubby wanted to go meet them, so we did. Apparently the lead singer is also a huge Green Day fan, & they played a song off Insomniac during their set, & I even had my 21CB tote bag with me, & it matched one of his tattoos!! LOL (Sorry, I geeked out a little there!) So… he took that awesome pic of us at the beginning of this post. And it was awesome. I’m sold on Ballyhoo. Rock on, gentlemen! lol
Tropidelic was pretty fun, too. They were my second favorite act.
Badfish comes in third, tying with these last couple of bands. I seen them years ago, & I wasn’t impressed; nothing’s really changed. They cover Sublime’s music really well, but I just never vibe any enthusiasm except for the trombone player, & he has enough to do lol. They were the final act of the evening, of course, & it was nice ending the night singing along to Sublime.
Keith James, a cool local dude who was apparently on The Voice, was really good, despite the tiny audience. He did, like, rock covers of Backstreet Boys & TLC. He’s got a great voice, & I wish more people would’ve seen his set!
Besides Badfish, Handsome Jack was the only band name I recognized before the show. And I have no clue why, except that he’s local. I wasn’t really feelin’ most of their seemingly more rock influenced songs, but they were alright. The chick at their merch stand was cool!
To finish the event, starting at the end of Badfish’s encore, the winery blew off fireworks in a clearing outside the vineyard. It was a perfect end to the evening!
SKA LIVES!!
It was a really awesome day, especially for the $25 ticket price. I love the vibe of ska shows – the people are always super awesome!! Spring Lake Winery was a great host for this type of event, & I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them from now on, lol!
What concerts have you been to this summer? Let’s chat in the comments!
And don’t forget to check out the new items popping up in my shop!!!
zen BLITZ 