As mentioned previously, aside from beer the main reason I wanted to go to the Old Dominion Beer Festival was to see Last Train Home one of my current favorite bands. I had been watching the weather report for days and things looked as gloomy as they possibly could. On Friday, the weather reporters were predicting a 70% chance of rain for Saturday, the day I planned on going. I had been waiting a full year for this so rain or shine, I was going to see LTH. Not that I couldn’t see them any other time of the year because they do play in my area about once a month. But the added benefit of being extremely close to home and of course the beer, this had to happen. So I went to over to Wal-Mart and purchased a heavy duty camping poncho to ensure I would make it.
To my surprise, Saturday morning was showing no apparent signs of rain. So I grabbed my son and ventured over with my neighbor Ken and his son to catch Sarah Borges at the noon showing, the opening act. I was familiar with at least two songs off of her release from last year, “Daniel Lee” and “Mellow Doubt” which made my list of Best Alternative Songs of 2005. So this was a really great opportunity to get to hear her and the band, The Broken Singles, first hand. After letting my son get his wiggles out on the moon bounces and hearing “Daniel Lee” from a distance, Ken and I grabbed a brew and walked closer to the stage. The next hour was twang-infused rock bliss. My expecations were high but I didn’t know the group was this good. Being early in the day, there weren’t many folks there but those that were by the stage seemed to be fans. Halfway through the set, Sarah came out to greet fans by the merch booth where I got the opportunity to say hello. I had already been won over at this point as the bands newest and potentially greatest fan. After a brief chat and a purchase an autographed copy of Silver City my heart was truly warmed. Hopefully, they’ll return next year and be granted an even better billing. Regardless, I’ve got a new band to follow and a great new disc for my collection.
After the first show, Ken and I brought the kids home hoping the weather would hold long enough to return to catch Last Train Home in the late afternoon. It did just that and we returned this time sans kids in true rocker form. Again arming ourselves with nectar of the gods we made our way to the stage to catch LTH. For a while, I didn’t think it was even going to rain. But sure enough, about halfway through LTH’s set it started pouring. My day had already been made with the true satisfaction of the Sarah Borges show but still I was disappointed that I might be seeing the last of LTH. So we all huddled underneath the beer tents hoping for the rain to slow. It was coming down hard. About half an hour later, the rain slowed down and the band came back to finish their set. I have to give Last Train Home full credit for having the cajones to come back on in the rain and do so. They truly have a passion for pleasing their fans.
Robbie Fulks and the Waco Brothers were supposed to come on later on in the night but were no shows. Whoever made that decision should be placed in exile. There was no excuse. The rain had slowed enough to make it worth while. If it weren’t for the mudpeople who spontaneously started doing mudslides in the middle of the beer tents, the rest of the night would have been a dud.
All in all, a big thumbs up for Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles and Last Train Home, a halleluia for being smart enough to bring my new poncho, and lastly a big nanny nanny boo boo to Robbie Fulks and Waco Brothers for being too baby to play in the rain. Last but not least, thanks to my beautiful wife (who didn’t want to go anywhere near the beer fest) for letting me enjoy myself and here’s to hoping I’ll make it again next year (in addition to SXSW, wink-wink).
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About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.