I love Summer time! I think everyone does(even a little)!

It reminds me of being a kid and not having a care in the world. Just me, my bike and some friends playing ALL DAY long! You remember that, don't you?

Well, I seemed to have gotten a bit older. And when you get older you DO have a few cares in the world, you might have to work, you may have kids, and a spouse to worry about. I figured out many years ago I can still play outside, get dirty and act like a kid as much as I want in the Summer, ya know how? I started going to music Festivals!

In High School I went to an all day outdoor music Festival in Boise, Idaho, it was a Ziggy Marley show. That one show changed me forever! I can still remember sitting in the grass, watching people laugh, dance, PLAY and sing, and all the while thinking I am "home"! After that I went to the Vans Warped Tour 3 years in a row. Can you say, complete opposite of Ziggy Marley? Well, yes it was the opposite, but I was (and still am a punk!) I have always had a conflict that way.... Now I could care less what "genre" of music I love. I like what moves me! Plain and simple, that's it! Now back to the Warped Tour. I got to see NOFX, Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Lagwagon, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Suicidal Tendencies, man I saw so much great music but I can't seem to remember the names of anymore!! (sorry!) People also were having a great time, it wasn't as mellow(I wasn't as mellow either...) but the friendships and the fun was being had in the same way!

These were my first tastes of Outdoor Music Fests. Like I said, I was 17 at Ziggy Marley and 16, 17 and 18 at the Warped Tour. That seems like another lifetime ago! The Warped Tour is still going strong and this year new kids and old punks alike will be able see some of the same bands I saw many years ago and a ton of new talent as well. I just hope they are as wild and crazy as I was then...

I moved to a beautiful little tourist town when I got out of High School. There I met all kinds of different people from everywhere. I met locals as well. I was a local in a way anyway, You see I was born in that tiny tourist town and spent many a vacation there and summers there too. But I didn't get to (unfortunately) LIVE my whole growing up life there. So by meeting these people from all over the world and then partying with them, you also start to exchange music. I loved (and still do) The Grateful Dead, and I happened to meet a guy who was the biggest Dead Head I had ever met! He started giving me tapes of shows by the armloads, some to borrow, some I got to keep, it was great! I also started listening to more "Jam" bands and Dj's. Before then my music collection had consisted of TONS of Nirvana, NIN, Beastie Boys, Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd. Then I got a cd from a girl I met. The cover was all scratched up and it wasn't anything I recognized. So I just sat it in my little "studio"(room) I was living in and never really thought twice about it. I happened to listen to it one day, and I kinda liked it, I didn't fall in love or anything, it was good though. She then asked me for her cd back, so I gave it to her, I finally really looked at who it was I had listened to, and I immediatley LOVED the band name... "it's Widespread Panic", she said, "what'd ya think?" I told her it was good. I never really got INTO them though till the next Summer.

The next Summer came and I was working at a new tourist attraction. I had a new place, my own, well sort of. Anyway I met a person who is still to this day one of my closest friends and like a brother to me. He was REALLY into Grateful Dead and also liked Widespread Panic. I was way into Leftover Salmon at this point, so we had a lot to talk about. We drank together! We partyed together (A lot!) and we realized how much we liked Panic. Widespread Panic was playing a show in Salt Lake City, and I was determined to go. Me and my new favorite friend got tickets! Within the next little while other friends got tickets too and we planned a trip to Salt Lake. I was headed to my first Panic show ever with a car full of Guys! Yep me and 4 dudes piled in my car with a ton of beer and other unmentionablles hittin' the highway!

I drove, not JUST because they were drunk the whole way, but because I had a license and I felt safer that way!

We arrived and I again had that "I am home" feeling. There was dancing, playing, laughter, hugs and so much life happening everywhere! The sun was shining SO bright and I still remember to this day the surge of happiness and good vibes that I FELT flowing through the air. Walking around with my eyes darting from one thig to the next, I felt like a kid in a candy store!. The "lot" was fun, the food was amazing, and the drum circles were great! We were sharing our beer we brought from Wyoming, good DANK, DARK beer, not crappy Utah beer! While we were doing this one of Utah's finest came outta nowhere and made us show him all of our beer in the back of my car. We were so mad, people were 'booing' all around us, but the officer didn't care! He had us carry the beer to a drain and made my friend DUMP all of his beers down the drain! I don't remember how much we had left but it was more than a "few" bottles! That put a damper on the afternoon but did NOT ruin my first Panic Show, in fact it made it that much funnier and unforgettable! I can say that now...

I want to keep writing about this first Magic show I attended but I can't seem to describe at all just how my heart and mind felt. I can tell you it changed the way I listened to music and made me realize just how much more was out there for me to find. I have since seen Widespread Panic evolve and morph into something that to me is "completely epic"!! Now, they are a bit older, more seasoned and they still jam out so hard and dirty! I love that Jimmy Herring is the puzzle piece that was missing for awhile. He is so damn good with this band, I am telling you, they are on fire, STILL after all these years! They know how to make your body, and soul meet and morph into one another, I always come out of a Panic show so happy and full of love and energy! My feet always hurt and I have no voice, but that is beside the point!

Needless to say WP sorta started me off on my musical journey. They were one of the first push's I got and now I haven't turned back. I just keep moving forward, finding new bands, DJ'S and performers that make me FEEL, make me MOVE. So thanks to them, I LOVE the Musical Journey I am still on....

Summer is fast approaching and I am trying to plan my schedule. I am going to Bonnaroo, hope this part of my plan does NOT change! I see me rockin' out at the Rothbury Festival, all the way over in Michigan, can I get any farther away from Oregon? String Cheese Incident will be playing, they haven't played together for a few years, I wonder what kind of show that one will be? Besides the energy being off the hook and all the hooper's I know that will be there in their magical circles of love, the band will have to play a most memorable show... I hope they are up for the challenge!

Then there is Burning Man... Can't say enough about this special place. You will have to go to see what I mean. Plain and simple, absolutely brilliant in every way you can imagine. I can't wait for this trip, it's THE highlight of my Summer for sure!

I want to attend Earth Dance as well. Seeing the line up for this years fest makes me want to be there even more. I love it there! Have you seen their website yet? You gotta check out the bands, just announced recently, WOW! Just on the MAin stage alone is:Galactic! STS9(Sound Tribe)!, Balkan Beat Box! March Fourth Marching Band! And so many others... Now for the other stages that are set up throughout this amazing outdoor space: Ganga Giri, The Goddess Alchemy Project, Lynx and Janover, Lafa Taylor, EOTO, Pnuma Trio, Blue Turtle Seduction, Bluetec, Random Rab.... I hope I have your attention by now! Go to the website, tix are still cheap and you can browse through all the wonderful things that go on in the Earthdance community!

I hope this helps make a decision on some music. Or it will just get you curious enough to go check out some of the stuff I mentioned, That is also ok, just as long as it makes you want to check out new, amazing, talented, and AWAKE, purely conscious individuals!

Happy Summer! Happy Travels! Lots of Love and Laughter are coming your way!

Much Love~

Melissa Magic