The Shambhala festival officially started yesterday with two stages, The Rock Pit, and the Living Room opening. I worked in the HR office till 10, and after leaving my little box, headed over to the Rock Pit to try to squeeze in. No chance. It was jammed solid.
As it turns out, nearly all of the 10K ticket holders had passed through the gates on Tuesday and Wednesday, so with just two stages firing, naturally they were packed.
I did however find a few square metres to do a little jig down at the Living Room on the sandy banks of the Salmo River, one of the country's prettiest night clubs. With trippy organic light sculptures wrapped around ancient trees, and cozy nooks scattered throughout the space, it was the perfect spot to catch Nelson-based DJ's Shasta and Bald Ego before toddling off to bed for another early night, saving up my energy for tonight, which is shaping up to be an all-nighter. (Yeah, I know I should be staying up all night, every night, but I'm OLD, so give me a break.)
Today all six stages come online, so the crowd should disperse to the various options. I headed over to catch the opening of the Labrinth stage, allegedly the most "hippie" of all the stages, and to many, one of the core attractions of Shambhala (but ask anybody, and you'll get a different opinion as to which is their favourite). The opening was delayed for a bit, but the crowd that had gathered was entertained by a marching band (possibly East Van's Carnival Band in costume?) playing jazz standards like "Summer Time" and "16 Tons". Good stuff.
Alright. I gotta get to work. Gonna be a long hot afternoon. Hoping I don't bake my brain before tonight's festivities. Hoping to catch Joseph Martin, Subvert, LowRIDERz, Snail Rider, and Craig Mullin, to name but a few. Sadly, I have to split for home after tonight, so I'm going to miss Saturday and Sunday nights. Yeah, I know. But that's how the cookie rolls.