What’s your perfect weekend? Maybe it’s lounging on the couch in sweats and watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maybe it’s playing 36 holes of golf with your cronies. Maybe it’s rummaging through garage sales, thrift shops, and antique stores.
For me, the perfect weekend is filled with music, friends, and food. I got that in spades at this year’s Live Oak Music Festival, where I saw more than a dozen remarkable acts, witnessed plenty of impromptu campsite jams, and hung out with an amazing group of friends to taste wine and beer and create communal meals, all under the sleepy oak trees of Santa Barbara County.
Sure, I slept on a leaky air mattress, took communal showers in less-than-warm water, and somebody out there stole the tie-dyed T-shirt I made in the craft area (that is NOT the Live Oak way, jerk!), but I also saw the most amazing ’50s vintage trailers campsite, listened in to Joe Craven wax poetic to Old Man Luedecke over dinner backstage, and got my first Father’s Day card from my girlfriend’s son (Thanks, Jaden!).
I still marvel at the instant community that springs up every year at Live Oak. It seems to attract people like me whose perfect weekend is kicking back with friends old and new to listen to musicians—some I’ve heard, others not—and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow travelers. Till next year, Live Oak. Bravo!
Glen Starkey takes a beating and keeps on bleating. Keep up with him via twitter at twitter.com/glenstarkey, friend him at Myspace.com/glenstarkey, or contact him at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.Â
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This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2011.