Continuing the journey backwards in time, Saturday May 3rd found us heading out to San Marcos for the Port Brewing/Lost Abbey 2nd Anniversary Party, and then to the Adams Avenue Roots fest. We got to Port Brewing at about 1pm, and the party was already well underway. The brewery was packed with people enjoying the excellent beers and elaborate spread of fresh-off-the-grill Mexican food. The highlights of the party, naturally, were the special-release beers – Cuvee de Tomme, barrel-aged and well balanced, is the kind of beer whose nuances rival excellent wines. The Second Anniversary IPA, offered on cask, was a hoppy delight. I think the cask mellowed out the flavors a little bit and gave the beer a more well-rounded character (for comparison, I’m looking forward to drinking the bottles we brought home!). One of my favorite parts of visiting the brewery is getting a sneak peak a future beers by checking out all of the labels on the barrels. These are barrels that used to hold bourbon, wine, and brandy, and now they’re lending flavor to the wonderful Lost Abbey beers – see how happy I am in the barrel room?
After the party, we spent the afternoon and evening enjoying the Adams Avenue Roots festival. This is the second time we’ve been to Roots fest, and it’s one of my favorite San Diego activities. It’s a free street fair, with yummy food (mmmmmm, churros!), fun vendors, and SEVEN stages of great music. We got to Adams Ave just in time for a “Song Swap” (several artists taking turns sharing songs) with Gregory Page, Curt Bouterse, and Shawn Rohlf. We were lucky enough to snag front row seats in the community center – turned concert venue, and I was able to get some good pictures:
It was just as much an instrument swap as a song swap – at some point, Gregory Page was playing on Shawn Rohlf’s guitar, and Curt Bouterse taught us the difference between a banjo and a banjer (I’m not sure what that is he’s playing in the picture above, I apparently wasn’t paying attention when he mentioned that). Live music really doesn’t get much better than this, and we decided to keep the fun going by stalking following Shawn Rohlf to his next performance. He played several of the same songs, but with a very different dynamic – amped, and with a great drummer to accompany him. Fun was had by all (it was in the beer tent, after all.)
After Shawn Rohlf redux, we saw Sara Petite, singing high-spirited old fashioned country music with a six-member supporting band. It was a lot of fun watching her play, and lots of people were dancing along to her set.
After Sara’s set, we headed off to get some dinner (and buy a bonsai tree…hope this one stays alive longer than its predecessors!) , and then headed to the park stage to watch Jalopy, who played dreamy gypsy music with haunting melodies. The evening ended with one last set by Gregory Page in the church sanctuary. Once again we were lucky enough to sit in the front row, and were excited to see Gregory Page invite his uncle to play drums for him and bring Steve Poltz onstage to perform with him. We first came across Gregory Page at our previous Roots fest visit, and we’ve seen him play several times around San Diego since then – he always puts on a great show, and always brings something new to his performances – stories, songs, bandmates – to make you love his music even more.
[...] I did. We saw Po’ Girl at the same church near Adams Avenue where we saw Gregory Page during Roots Fest. I first discovered Po’ Girl at Hear Music in Santa Monica last year, where I bought their [...]