Music Festivals are as iconic to summer as popsicles and flip-flop tan lines. Those of us who are helpless music-worshippers are forced each season to succumb to our live-music addictions, needing to experience the bliss of feeling the bass thunder through our bones while we rub shoulders with sweaty strangers who are sharing these soon-to-be-made memories. Festivals satisfy our musical ADD afflictions by allowing us to capriciously cascade between several performances, in addition to the usual offering of endless other entertainment options. All of this comes at a price, however. This perfect summer scene would not be complete without forking out hard-earned wages, spending saved allowances, breaking piggy-banks, or stealing valuable coin collections. Throw in a lack of musical intimacy, cow-herding-like crowd control, and monopoly price-gouging on necessities like water, and you got yourself a typical festival!
This is why I was particularly intrigued by When You Awake’s “Free For All: A Hands-On Music Festival. Not only was admission based on “pay-what-you-can” donation, but festival patrons were encouraged to bring instruments and jam with performers! Little did I know, but I when I entered past the smiling greeter who un-obtrusively asked for donations, I was not about to write about some random music festival—I became an embedded participant observer of a musical revolution. Dramatic, I know, but after a spending a lifetime being subjected to the business models of the industry over-lords and confined to a dwindling bank-account that renders little opportunity for me to experience live-music as often I would like to, I simply can’t contain my excitement about this new model.