The festival kicked off Friday night at the International Tennis Hall of Fame with Sarah Jarosz, Tim O'Brien and the evenings headliner Steve Martin with The Steep Canyon Rangers. I didn't feel like taking my camera for Friday's show so no photos of that! I actually wasn't sure I was going to attend that show as I tend to only like Steve Martin in small doses. But, I decided to check out his set. Martin was funny which being a comedian, is a good thing and did a bang up job musicially, which being a musician is a good thing! He kept the crowd laughing be it with song, "Atheists Don't Have No Songs" or with stage banter such as telling the audience the seat of his pants don't wrinkle because he has a 'steaming hot ass.' He closed his set with a terrific version of "Orange Blossem Special" before encoring with "King Tut" which had the audience on their feet singing along. Several people even did the dance ... I resisted the urge!
Levon Helm (pictured below) closed the festival this year to thunderous applause. The crowd cheered him on and shouted out words of adoration. He closed his set with the back to back punch of "The Weight" and "I Shall Be Released."
