After countless hours devoted to Lotus Fest, Saturday night is finally over for me (Chelsea). And what an eventful two nights it’s been! I’ve met SO many wonderful people, made some great connections with the artists and heard new music that blew my mind. My absolute favorite was Dhoad Gypsies (after BBB, of course), and I was also a huge fan of MC Rai & Amazones. 17 Hippies were cool, and I’m still freaked out by March Fourth’s stilt walkers and clown-like people. Here’s how my night went down:

7:30 - 8:45 p.m. block: I head immediately  to Dhoad Gypsies and catch the beginning of the show. They weren’t to the awesome parts yet (just balancing water on Munshi’s head), so I strolled over to Amazones’ tent. They had different costumes on tonight, blue patterned (as opposed to last night’s cheetah print two-piece outfits), and were still easily able to hold the crowd’s attention. As usual, the drunk yuppies trying to belly dance turned me off, so I walked east on 6th street and heard Taj Weekes & Adowa. I saw too much tie-dye in that tent, so I went in the Bluebird to listen to Brina. They sounded really cool, but I wasn’t able to find a wireless signal so I left, which took me back to…Dhoad Gypsies! And we got to interview them! In Hindi! I didn’t even think I knew that much, but I was able to ask them the questions I wanted answers to, and I got understandable responses, too. It was such a beautiful moment in my journalism career, and I did teach Brian how to say “good job” in two ways - “shabaash” and “bahut achaa.” It was a proud moment for both of us. If you want to know more about DG, their Web site is www.dhoad.com .

9:15 - 10:30 p.m. block -  I found Brian, and we went to hear Chirgilchin, as we’d both heard good things about them. SO. COOL! I’d never heard anything remotely close to “throat singing,” and wowowowowow. I can’t even describe, but I’m going to see if I can upload a clip I recorded. They’re from the southern Siberian region, in the area of Tuva (not quite sure where that is). It was really neat-sounding, though. I also went back to hear MC Rai, but too many people were trying to belly-dance to his traditional Arab beats.

10:45 p.m. - I walked down Kirkwood, ultimately heading home, and I saw my friend Alex Stahler and his band (I think?) playing for the line outside of the Buskirk. There was a bassist, a guitarist, two banjos and a mandolin, and they were rockin’. Despite requests for “Stairway to Heaven” and “Freebird” and “Black Sabbath,” the five amateur musicians managed to earn a hefty amount of cash for street performances. It was also during this time that I met Valeria Sellao, a New York City native, who told me about her new restaurant opening up in late November-early December: Farm Bloomington. Together with chef Daniel Orr (who has traveled all over Europe, learning the different styles of cooking), Sellao’s restaurant will feature entirely locally-grown and produced foods. They’re also looking for blues & bluegrass bands to play in the band room they’re building downstairs (interestingly enough, I wrote about the very building they’re moving into last year, when the owners evicted several businesses at the very last minute).

Overall impression of Lotus 2007 - LOVED IT! I would definitely suggest that the Lotus planners bring some of the new bands this year back next year, and I have the tape recordings of them saying that they want to come back (for proof!). The only thing I would change is the intoxication level that Lotus patrons are allowed to achieve, and take that down about 6 notches. Not that I have anything against drinking, mind you; it’s  just not my cup of tea to go home every night smelling like a Bud Light. Mess with people’s minds a bit, and give them nonalcoholic beer. Then get the psych department grads out there to observe their behaviors. That’s just my suggestion.

In the new words of Brian, “shabaash!”

-CM

This is Brian Hettmansperger blogging live from Soma Coffee on Chelsea Merta’s username.

I know this is my first post of the evening, but I’ve been busy. Here’s the blow by blow.

7:25-I walk past the Buskirk and there is a big-ass line.  I must see what all the fuss is about. The Anat Cohen Quartet are playing inside. They play lounge style jazz and Anat plays both the clarinet and saxophone. The Buskirk is a great place to see a show (especially during Lotus) because you can actually SIT and enjoy the band. I was way up in the balcony and was memorized by how each member of the band fed off the other. Sometimes Anat would leave the stage completely and let the piano, stand-up bass, and drums do the talking. She’s a great clarinetist but she was at her best with the saxophone. I am a sucker for a sax.

8:15-I headed to the Classic Touch Limousine Tent to see Dhoad Gypsies. I caught a glimpse of them last night, and I made a note to myself to see them again. They were fabulous. At their core, they are a percussion band with at least 5 different drums on stage at a time. The best part of the show comes at the end when Munshi enters the stage. He is a showman in the classical sense.  From balancing a ceramic jug full of water on his head (I saw him empty it backstage, it must have weighed 15-20 lbs) to breathing fire, DG really know how to spark the crowd. Backstage afterwards, Chelsea interviewed him and the band in Hindi (she told me how to say “good job” in Hindi but I won’t attempt to spell it here) and talked to them for quite a while. Hindi? That’s only one of the languages Chelsea speaks. I am so glad she is blogging with me and look for her Lotus Festival story in The IDS Monday.

9:15-Chelsea and I head to First Presbyterian Church to check out Chirgilchin, or “the throat singers” as they’ve been dubbed by Lotus goers.  Chirgilchin hails from Tuva, which is from Asia. I have never seen or heard anything like it and was glad to be in an intimate setting with them. Basically, they specialize in creating multiple notes in their throats at the same time (imagine a bassoon and clarinet; now imagine those sounds emitting simultanously from the same mouth at the same time.  It was worth seeing for sure and if you want, they have workshops on throat singing in California (in the worldly sense, that aint so far, right?)

Ok, so long for now, Soma is closing I’m going to try to catch the end of 17 hippies and then just wander.

Peace,

Brian Hettmansperger