All Points West Festival Preview

So we were dropped off in Secaucus, New Jersey on Friday at 4 a.m. for a couple hours of sleep before we went to the All Points West festival in Jersey City to set up the Village Green. Even though Jack would not play until Sunday, the powers that be decided that it would be a good idea to have the VG there all 3 days. We were sent a car with a driver who was not from the area and got lost taking us back so that we arrived with only an hour to set up, so we were a bit crazed (and sweaty) throwing up 10 tents in the beating sun! The setting is very nice though, with the NYC skyline and the Statue of Liberty as the backdrop. I had great local volunteers from the Jersey Shore and NYC chapters, but we didn't have much foot traffic being a bit tucked away on the edge of the festival grounds. Plus people were not thinking about JJ, they had Radiohead on the brain, as RH were headlining Friday and Saturday night. Then about 4 p.m. a rain and windstorm came through that threatened to blow the whole Village Green into NY Harbor, so we quickly tore the whole thing down and packed it away. Which means, of course that we had to put it up again this morning....

Foot traffic for the Village Green on Saturday was not much better. On Sunday we move to a more central location, and the drawing for seats on the stage will pull in a lot of people.

We did get to see some good bands though, and saw Radiohead 2x. Other highlights for me were Kings of Leon and Sia.

Oh, and I unintentionally left my phone of the tour bus so that it went to Baltimore with the crew for the Virgin Festival. I hope it took some photos for me. My apologies to anyone who has called or texted me in the last 2 days - I won't have it back until tomorrow.

Elizabeth

South Jersey Sun

Last night we drove from Mansfield to South Jersey, arriving at 8 a.m. to bright sunny skies and plenty of humidity. The bus ride sleep wasn't too bad for me, as I got the tip to try a Tylenol PM before setting off. Sleep has been spotty because of many nights on the bus, but the food continues to be stellar so I really can't complain!

My volunteers were from the South Jersey Chapter of Surfrider and were very experienced booth volunteers, which was great for me. They added to the booth a petition to ban plastic bags from Ocean City, NJ, a concept/cause near and dear to my heart, and got almost 200 signatures. Once again, Jack came out to meet the volunteers and they were thrilled. At their request I asked him to sign a few Surfrider t-shirts for them to raffle and of course he was more than happy to oblige. Since I had Jack for a few minutes while signing I was able to update him on the folks in Minnesota working on forming a chapter as a result of his concert and he said that it made him feel really good to know that the concert brought them together.

Tonight we drive two hours north to be dropped off in Jersey City, across the river from NYC, to spend 3 days of Village Green at the All Points West Festival. The caterers, together with our bus, head to Baltimore for the Virgin Mobile Festival where Jack is playing before they come back to APW for Sunday's show (Jack is the headliner).


This morning I got a chance to talk to the guys from Rogue Wave and their manager, Rachel, about our Save Trestles campaign and they jumped right on board, knowing the fate of California's state parks is at stake. That's them in the photo. Thanks guys!

See ya all in a few days.

Elizabeth

Mansfield, Mass

Tonight was my first show in location with a Surfrider chapter, the Massachusetts chapter, which covers the whole coastline. I had three great volunteers and we got a chance to talk a bit about core volunteer training and other things we do in the San Diego chapter that might help their chapter. We talked to over 300 people, which was a good number for a venue of this size.
Of course, the tour would not be complete without a few days of rain and today it poured on us while we were setting up. Thankfully it cleared by doors and Jack came out to meet the volunteers, always a highlight. JC, the merchandise king and one of my busmates, was beside himself as he met Tom Brady and Giselle backstage, where they were hanging out. Kind of like me meeting Eddie Vedder at Bonnaroo (except he got his photo taken with them!) My only celebrity sighting this leg so far was Frodo backstage in Montreal.

I caught the biodiesel truck fueling up the semis and included a photo of it for all of you out there interested in the greening of Jack' tour.

And for an update from my volunteers in Minnesota, check out Graeme Thickens' blog entry. I am so stoked that they connected and are moving on this! http://graemethickins.typepad.com/graeme_blogs_here/2008/08/surfrider-mn-ch.html

Tonight we move on to Camden, New Jersey for another sold out show!

Elizabeth

Day Off in Beantown

Yesterday we had a day off in Boston before 5 show days in a row. The weather cooperated and it was warm and dry and not humid at all. I had been to Boston in 1993 for the collegiate national championships for cycling, but I didn't get to see much of the city that time. We did a bit of a walking tour, visited Paul Revere's grave and looked for ice cream. Also, Elissa, from Patagonia, joined the tour to represent Vote the Environment, and it's great to have her on board.

Elizabeth

Ooh la la Montreal!

Today we played the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal, which was set in a park across the St. Lawrence River. The lineup before Jack played was great, and included Rogue Wave, the Black Keys, MGMT and Gogo Bordello. I had 5 local Surfrider members from Montreal for volunteers and they were all fantastic: Caroline, who worked all day from 11:30 to 8:30 (superstar), Stephanie, Krista, Cathy and Gren, who worked in shifts. Thankfully, they all spoke French very well (Caroline is from France), as most people who visited the booth were French speakers. From the volunteers I found out about a standing wave on the St. Lawrence River that people surf (a naturally occurring standing wave), but the river is very polluted. We talked about ways to try to address pollution based on lessons we learned in fighting urban runoff and discharges in San Diego.

The venue was a bit smaller, but we still reached a lot of people. The people were really nice - I can't wait to come back to Montreal!

Elizabeth

Burl's Creek Takes Off

A big general admission crowd tonight. The new lineup includes Neil Halstead and Rogue Wave. Mason Jennings came back for one night and I talked to him about Trestles and he was happy to have his photo taken with my Save Trestles sign. At the show we had two tables which we manned with just two local, enthusiastic volunteers and we talked to more people than any domestic show so far! (over 400). Tonight we drive to Montreal and jump right out to build the Village Green as doors open to the public at 1 p.m. We are all exhausted from a long day with the prospect of another long day ahead of us, but it's great to be back with the crew bringing the message to the fans.

Elizabeth

Chillin' in Toronto

Hi Everyone, Elizabeth here. I re-joined the tour yesterday at the airport in Toronto and we made our way out to the Horseshoe Ranch in Oro, which is about an hour north, and closer to the venue. It was great to reconnect with everyone and get the different perspectives of the European leg of the tour. Today was a "tech day" during which everyone unpacked containers that came back from Europe and partially set up for the concert tomorrow. This is the first concert ever for this venue, which is basically a big field reminiscent of Bonnaroo. It seemed a little backwoods but the caterers were back at it, feeding us all very well with locally grown food, prepared with a gourmet flourish. For the Village Green crew it was a quiet day, just making sure everything made its way back. Tomorrow is a big day (27,000 tickets sold!) followed the next day by the Osheaga Festival in Montreal. Stay tuned!