Now, I'm not sure if there were any bands playing at this day-long festival, a "mega" event of sorts in which cachers all over congregate here and trade travel bugs, geo-coins, find new caches, make new friends and just have a good time. It is a big passion of mine, for sure and for a second I was actually going to go there.
But this blog is not about geocaching (although the thought has crossed my mind to actually start one, but I have enough problems getting this music one out every week), but music. And thus, we had our own "Woodstock".
And no, this one didn't have a lineup of bands...at least "live" ones, but it was a retreat of sorts. It didn't rain one drip, thus another comparison gone. It had 18 of my friends, and not half a million strong. But it was a great time, one that I have done for twenty-one years, give or take a year or two.
Yes, it was the annual camping trip, and although I could also start a blog about favorite beers, it's all about the music baby. Many of us shared our tunes some old, some new, some played to death, some old but never heard. And that's the splendor of it all.
Our "Woodstock" was actually another place in New York State's Catskill Mountains, Roscoe, which to be honest, is just a few exits on Route 17 from White Lake, where that legendary festival in 1969 took place, and was much closer than the actual town. And some of us set up camp on the Thursday before Memorial Day. Five of us the first day. And it was yours truly who played the deejay, as in years past. I had my "Roscoe Mix", which consisted of classic rock gems, a few pop oldies from the 60's and 70's, some from the eighties, and many recent ones featured in past blogs, as well as stuff on my current list. It lasted eight hours and was well received. It served as the backdrop for that first night of camping.
As others trickle in on Friday and Saturday, others shared their music. My friend John Corso is a big Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, and many of his playlist revolved around those too artists, as well as other faves such as the who. Another friend, Eddy Fhi, is a big Beatles fan but otherwise he and his friends are entrenched in classic rock stuff like "Free Bird", "Stairway To Heaven", plus some 80's metal and late 90's Nu Metal and rap rock.
And finally there's my friend Alan Corso. I guess you could consider him the "main act"; the rest of us were simply warm-ups. Alan has it all, much of it from the punk and new wave era from the late 1970's and early 1980's, but he featured many recent songs as well. It was at his playlists from his house bonfires and Jets tailgates that I had come up with some ideas of my own. "Take It As It Comes" by Vivian Girls, "Heart of Steel" by Yast, and "Red River" by The Launderettes, all top 20 hits in recent months on my blog, were played over the weekend. He even played a song by the duo Tennis that I had never heard of; it's glad to see that I am not the only one who "does research" when it comes to finding some cool new music. Django Django's "Shuggie" and Foxygen's "San Francisco", two songs featured in my blog a few years back, also got airplay over the weekend.
As for new stuff? The only one came from friend Anthony Josephs, who was anxious to try out his new Bluetooth-powered speaker synched to his smartphone. The song was Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again", which also happens to be the current Billboard #1 song for six weeks now. It enters my SNS 100 at #61 to become the top debut. Will it be another "Uptown Funk"? That remains to be seen, but its presence during the weekend helps launch it a bit.
Someday I do hope to go to a Woodstock-like festival (there's big festivals up at Hunter Mountain and down in Seaside Heights the first weekend in June, but alas, I do not plan on going), but for now, listening to everyone's musical tastes in a campsite in the wilderness while having a good time works for me.
LOGJAM: "Gimme All Your Love" by Alabama Shakes, which I played twice during the weekend, maintains its wide lead at #1 for its fourth week, well ahead of the #2 song "Dust" by Omnia Hegazy. But right behind is the sentimental "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran; that song keeps advancing up my chart for various reasons. But the top 13 is very competitive with the big movers being Elle King and Grace Potter. One song going though my head was "Cavalry Captain" by The Decemberists, which forces itself back up to #5. It pushes Florence + the Machine's "Ship to Wreck" down from #4 to #6 in spite of gaining.
New this week, aside from Wiz Khalifa, is "Life Underwater" by Flagship, a duo from Charlotte, North Carolina. It's a nice, uptempo guitar-driven alt-rock number. Lead singer Drake Margolnick's sound reminds me of Bono from U2 while his guitar work riff reminds me of Bush's comeback song "Afterlife" but the song in general if a much fuller sound to it. A nice one to check up on in the coming weeks.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
May 24,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"Gimme All
Your Love"
Album: Sound & Vision
(4 weeks at #1)
|
7 |
| 2 | 2 | Omnia Hegazy - Dust | 12 |
| 3 | 3 | Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud | 14 |
| 4 | 5 | Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - Outside | 6 |
| 5 | 6 | The Decemberists - Calvary Captain | 9 |
| 6 | 4 | Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck | 5 |
| 7 | 8 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Like a Mighty River | 6 |
| 8 | 9 | My Morning Jacket - Big Decisions | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | Mumford & Sons - Believe | 8 |
| 10 | 7 | Tennis - I'm Callin' | 10 |
| 11 | 15 | MS MR - Painted | 4 |
| 12 | 27 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Ex's and Oh's"
Album: Love Stuff
|
4 |
| 13 | 26 | MOVER OF THE WEEK:
"Alive
Tonight"
Album: Midnight
|
3 |
| 14 | 19 | Mark Ronson f. Kevin Parker - Daffodils | 10 |
| 15 | 11 | Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight | 15 |
| 16 | 12 | Kongos - I Want to Know | 11 |
| 17 | 17 | Launderettes - Red River | 17 |
| 18 | 18 | The Big Takeover - Dolphins | 14 |
| 19 | 14 | The Black Keys- Weight of Love | 16 |
| 20 | 23 | Awolnation - Hollow Moon | 9 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 101 | Night Riots - Contagious |
| 102 | 103 | The Adventures - Heavenly |
| 103 | 107 | A Silent Film - Tomorrow |
| 104 | Turbo Fruits - The Way I Want You | |
| 105 | X Ambassadors - Renegades | |
| 106 | 105 | Alternate Routes - Nobody Else |
| 107 | 106 | Surfer Blood - I Can't Explain |
| 108 | Foo Fighters - Congregation |
| 109 | 110 | Glass Animals - Hazey |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod. 