The Weather Can't Stop Beau's Oktoberfest - Day Two

The second day of Beau’s Oktoberfest was looking like it could be a disaster, at least as far as the weather goes. The forecast was calling for heavy rain, never a good combination when there are thousands of people trouncing around a big open field. I’m sure there was heavy rain in the afternoon but I purposely timed my arrival for the first band and by then there was only a light mist which even that stopped before too long. The field however, was exactly as I expected. It was a giant pit of mud, in some places six inches deep. Good thing I planned ahead and wore old school rubber boots. My feet were dry and clean all night and I was able to enjoy my time at the festival!

The first band of the night was The Strumbellas. I have seen their name around town quite a bit but did not know much about them. In preparation for the concert I had listened to a couple of their albums and was very pleasantly surprised. Their live show did not disappoint either, they were a lot of fun. I will try to catch them again in a smaller intimate club, I bet they’d be even better.

Next up was Radio Radio, a french rap-pop band. I don’t spend a lot of time listening to French music, but as it turns out, I had downloaded a Radio Radio song as a free song of the week of iTunes a year or two ago. Seriously, the thing was so catchy I found myself singing along whenever it came on my iPod. I did check out a couple albums before seeing them live and their music is all fun dancy pop-rap, and their energy on stage matched their music. The crowd loved them, and they were able to brighten the mood of a large crowd standing in mud.

The final act of the night was Tokyo Police Club. I unfortunately had missed most of their set at Bluesfest due to bad weather/traffic so I was looking forward to seeing them at Beau’s. The weather had threatened to ruin their night again but by their time slot it was a clear night. I had supported the band and their new album through PledgeMusic (which I recommend more people check out!) and I just love their new album. It was great to see the band perform some of the new material live, and as usual the band was strong. It was a great cap to the night, and to the festival.

Ok Beau’s, you’ve won me over. My festival season no longer ends with the Folk Festival.