On Sunday, most of the city slinked out of bed with a “careless whisper” and just enough gas left in the tank for one more day. Fans flocked to the Louisville village where they could hair-the-dog at the Kentucky Bourbon tent with some Woodford Reserve and then roll over Starboard Stage where Moon Taxi was gearing up to go.

Saturday was the day that the looming threat of rain finally hit the festival.  A strong downpour from noon to four postponed the entire day back an hour, however, it didn’t shut down the event or cancel any performances. In fact, it provided a nice cloud canopy of protection from the sun for most of the day. Dedicated fans that stood in the rain for an hour waiting for the gates to open were rewarded with an impromptu acoustic performance by My Morning Jacket when they were finally allowed in.

Fore·cas·tle (f’ok_sol) n. ~ A superstructure at the bow of a ship where the crew is housed. Hard at work in the unruly sea, it is a place workers gather to unwind after a hard day of labor. Simply put, it is a place where people come together.

Out of over 200 live acts I was fortunate to catch this past year, here are 10 of my favorites:

A man in the will-call line commented that he flew in from North Carolina to catch this show. Another girl drove for at least 30 hours from Connecticut to Morrison, Colorado, ticket in hand, to see one of the greatest forces in music play one of the most amazing venues on the circuit.

My Morning Jacket decided to record their latest release, Circuital (May 31st) in a Louisville, Kentucky gymnasium, in stark contrast to the Manhattan studio environment that 2008’s Evil Urges spawned from.

It was 7am and the sun was already beating down relentlessly on my tent, so much for sleeping in.  In an “I don’t want to wake up now” haze, I attempted to claw my way out of the sealed vessel in search of cooler air.  As I emerged, hair sticking straight up and out, I could hear a few people stirring around me, but most were just snoring.  Our neighbors had finally passed out and were resting up for round two, the line for the port-a-potties was already exceeding thirty folks, and the showers… two-hour wait.  As people walked by our camp you could just see clouds of dir

The Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama this past weekend has officially cemented itself among the heavy-hitting top-notch summer festivals of the year, both in terms of musical content and festavarian (read: festival-goers) satisfaction.