The first day of FF 2010 and I was heading in looking at the sky and willing the clouds to break apart and go away. Little did I know I’d be praying for those clouds to come back by Saturday afternoon, but for Thursday night I was hoping that my rain gear would stay packed and I would manage to stay dry.

I wandered down food alley and made note of the vendors and any changes (meat pie stand was gone, the nut man returned after a 1 year absence, taco stand was new, along with the chien chaud – hot dogs? seriously? blegh) as I went to the main stage to try and find a spot to sit for the night. I was thinking that because I was on my own I’d be able to find a good spot to squeeze in to no problem… not so much. I parked myself back by the trees and some uneven ground that had me sitting tilted for most of the night, but I was unwilling to move out from cover as those clouds weren’t going away like I wanted them to.

Library Voices were the first act of the night, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Fairly poppy, upbeat music that was good enough to get me in the FF frame of mind. They weren’t my “stalker band” (more on that in a later post) of the weekend, but definitely some good energy that had me tapping along more than once.

I was in the beer gardens grabbing dinner and a drink for Natacha Atlas so I’ll move on to what was one of the big reasons I bought the tickets, Stars.

I last saw Stars at Mac Hall and was impressed by their stage presence / energy and the way they connected with the crowd. This time around I got none of that. Their big hits off Set Yourself on Fire sounded mechanical and seemed like they were playing them because they were expected, not because they wanted to. Their new songs (I didn’t know they released a new album a month ago) didn’t leave a lasting impression with me at all. Since they were a driving force behind me buying tickets I was more than a little let down with the end result. Maybe I was expecting too much because other people said they enjoyed them, but whatever the reason this was one of my least memorable shows of the entire weekend.

Fortunately for me, the Avett Brothers were next to help quickly eradicate any doubts I may have had about buying tickets. These guys were an amazing live show and have pumped out an incredible 12 albums (EP’s and 2 live discs included) in 10 years. I’m hoping the live music translates well to CD, and I may have to institute a plan of buy the most recent and work my way back until I find something I don’t like, because I can’t justify a 12 album purchase all at once off a single performance. I’m quite sad they weren’t part of any workshops on the weekend, but it was still a very satisfying end to Day 1 of the 2010 Folk Festival.

Oh, and those rain clouds that were threatening to dump rain on us all evening long? As soon as the Avett Brothers played their final notes I felt the first drops hit my raincoat as I turned and was walking towards the gates.