The funky, jammy, L.A. based Underground Orchestra proved to be a good start to the music of the weekend before the chaos started. Anthony Rogers-Wright proved to be an entertaining bassist and just one component of this group. Sam Feldman plays the mandolin, which I love, so this group had an instant in.

This fall, Lotus releases their highly anticipated studio album, Hammerstrike, and steps out on their most ambitious tour yet. The months ahead will wrap up a huge year of growth for Lotus; a year that has positioned this instrumental post-rock outfit for a breakout 2009.

Relentlessly winding upwards along Berthoud Pass, my brain lights up like a pinball machine in action and BAM my thoughts of needing to extol some elder wisdom on my co-hort becomes apparent. The event we are quickly approaching entry into, is unlike most of the "festivals" she has attended in the past.

Due to a scheduling mishap by the Disco Biscuits, they had to play during Day 1, which made the festival's lineup suffer tremendously on Day 2 (pictures here). The festival's organizers compensated by making Day 2 free if one held any ticket stub from either Day 1 or any of the late night shows. That saved Day 2's attendance. We can't blame the festival's organizers for this one.

Sonic Bloom is a 3-day camping festival, connecting music, dance, art and human performance in an atmosphere designed to inspire open channels of creativity amongst everyone involved. Featuring bands such as Zilla and Lotus, groundbreaking DJ's like Bassnectar and Bluetech, and countless visual artists, participants and attendees of Sonic Bloom will together co-create a world of communal improvisation.

For those of us lucky enough not to be stranded outside the Fox Theatre Saturday night waving a pointer finger in the air over our head attempting to trade our way into another sold out show, Lotus brought a non-stop dance party.

Saturday

John Butler Trio