Yesterday was sunny and balmy. Today, the heat has rolled in, along with some storm clouds that suggest by the time Lil Wayne hits the stage at 3:50 p.m., it could be a soggy, muddy mess.

But I’ll hang on to some optimism for now.

Shudder to Think and <<

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Andrew Bird are on the stages now and have each culled a couple thousand people,  but I’m waiting for the engaging power-pop-punk of Paramore in 30 minutes and the blissful harmonies from She & Him, coming onstage about 2:30 p.m..

Yesterday, Virgin Fest organizers estimated the crowd at about 25,000. That’s down about 10,000 from last year’s first night showing – but that one boasted The Police on the first area stop of its reunion tour.

My guess is tonight’s crowd will be slightly larger than Saturday’s showing. Lil Wayne’s inexplicable popularity will surely draw his die-hards, and the closing trio of Bob Dylan, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West, who will all perform between 6:30 and 10 p.m., scream diversity. And that’s not even counting Moby, who plays DJ in the dance tent for a couple of hours tonight, too.

Oh, BTW, yesterday I neglected to mention the efforts of Virgin Fest to teach concertgoers about the environment (look, if I had the choice between talking about choices of food or talking about disposing of the food, I’m going with the choices angle).

But really, it isn’t easy getting people to throw their trash in the proper receptacles, so VF organizers have people staked out at every garbage area to tell idiots such as myself whether my garbage belongs in the “landfill,” “compost” or “recycle” can.

That said…off to lunch and Paramore.

Posted by Melissa Ruggieri in • Entertainment • Music
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