Festival at Sandpoint 2009 - A look back

...and the heavens opened up before us, parting the clouds, for the angels sang on high...

...or at least that's how it felt. For a freakish two weeks we had incredibly unusual cool weather. Gone were the "I could have fried an egg on the sidewalk days" to "Dear Lord, can anybody spare a parka!" Not kidding. The norm of mid-90s to low 100 degree temperatures gave way to nightly lows in the 40s. Plus, given the atmospheric conversion, or is it inversion, daily downpours gave rise to the parting of the Red Sea/Lake Pend Oreille. Okay, enough with the Biblical asides.

Seriously, seemed like daily a deluge would soak us right before show time, then dry for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately, Dyno, our Festival imperial leader, put it mildly when she stated, "It definitely put a damper on this year's festival." For three weeks I had Dyno Wahl on my Tuesday radio show to talk about our premier music fest, then to wrap it a couple of days after it finished.

Festival at Sandpoint 2009 saw great acts like Poco, Boz Scaggs, Blues Traveler, and Clint Black. The Festival is fourteen main performances on eight separate days over a two week period. This year several other musical talents also graced the stage and War Memorial Field to add a more local flava' than the event has had in recent years. For instance, on the Finale Sunday the Festival also has, for the price of an admission ticket, a wonderful wine tasting, during which a couple of different local musical talents played their stuff, much to our delight.

I was there every night but one, either doing my volunteer thing, or helping my friend Gary Peitz with his booth from Dish Home Cooking, and on the last day, having done so for the last few years, putting on the Finale Winemakers Dinner. Last year we had twenty vintners presenting; this year we added five more. So, the dinner served a total of over 70 people.

Another epic sight are the Ospreys that swoop and soar above the crowd. The tall lights meant to illuminate the field for night games also provides nests for several of these raptors. One wonders if they enjoy the music, or do the many people make them agitated enough to do their nightly aerial acrobatics? Certainly there are often crowds there. Maybe it is a mix of both, with this or that Osprey flying to the tunes, while others are protecting their nests with ever vigilant flight.

Getting back to the weather, it seemed like every night, after a brief rain, we would watch the ominous clouds approach, then part and clear above us, only to form again past us and continue with their cats and dogs ways.

So, those who might have come locally or in neighboring communities like Spokane or Coeur d'Alene would look out their windows and see the clouds, and many opted not to attend this year. While ticket sales don't make up the total of revenue needed to operate such a renowned event, it is an important part, as Dyno explained: "While this year was by anyone's yardstick a success, we were down about twelve percent. That may not sound like much, but twelve percent for us is around $60,000. That hurts. So, now that the music is over, we all take about two weeks off, then start the fund raising for next year." The horde of personnel that man the fest are mostly volunteers, but the sponsors and donations are a large part of the total revenue. So, even if we were in the red this year, that was an anomaly. Dyno and her team had already lowered projections given the state of the economy, but things are already looking up for next year.

Setup is mainly done by the army of volunteers. Memorial Field is transformed into a great music venue. This takes about a week prior and after the actual concerts. The tent goes up, hundreds and hundreds of plants are brought in, decorating is days long, and chairs, tables, and signs, along with uncountable other parts and parcels make what appears to be a permanent fixture.

It wasn't always like this. Look back at pictures from a quarter century ago, and the Festival was a weekend concert event where the Spokane Symphony came to town for a few hundred local listeners. Then some local acts got involved. Things kind of changed once Willie Nelson played here. Now, it is a world-class act.

For me, as a simple observer, the Festival seemed like a great success, given the rain and economy. The herds of people seemed as good as previous years, and I absolutely loved every night.

Some of the acts stood out as memory-makers. I especially loved Jonatha Brooke, the Subdudes, and Boz Scaggs was like listening to a CD. Given that his band has been together for half my lifetime, their perfection was a treat. The rain also provided a repeat of last year. The Spokesman Review reported, 'Donavon Frankenreiter is already legendary in Sandpoint because of his performance last year. His set was cut short by thunderstorms, but he then jumped out in the audience and played acoustically, as if around a big campfire, and then ended up at Eichardt’s Pub, where he played for hours.' I was at that concert last year, and after leaving went downtown driving on First Avenue then Cedar looking to see where the party was. In front of Eichardt's was a mulling crowd, so we decided to go elsewhere, not knowing who was playing inside. It was just too crowded for us. Oh, brother! This story has become kind of an urban myth, in that Sandpoint only has around 9,000 people, and listening to the stories, you would guess that 10,000 were at Eichardt's that night.

The way it really goes is that they don't cancel because of rain. Truth is the Festival will have any group willing to continue playing unless there is thunder and lightning. So, last year Donavon had the light show, this year it just sprinkled. The fans were intrepid though. At opening bell there are always crowds looking to get in and stake out their favored places with blankets and such, most right in front of the stage. One of the funniest things to watch in Sandpoint is to see the first 100, who are handed numbers for entry, race across the field to throw down the blankets, claiming this or that space as their own. We were so sure, given the soggy field and all, that someone would lose their footing and do some kind of America's Funniest Home Videos kind of flip. Watched every day, and it never happened, but the racers evoked giggles nonetheless.

2009 was a good year for music in North Idaho, and the Festival at Sandpoint did what it does best. It placed smiles on young and old alike, brought a few visitors into town with their accompanying dollars, and lifted spirits for two magical weeks along the shores of the Pend Oreille.

Festival at Sandpoint