We just got back from seeing Brandi Carlile at ZooTunes 2007. Really fun show, had a blast.
For those of you not familiar with the ZooTunes format, it is located in a meadow at the Woodland Park Zoo, located just north of downtown Seattle and west of University of Washington.
It is a two part first-come-first-served style. You buy a generic ticket, and when you arrive at the zoo you have two choices. You can pay to get into the zoo itself ($15) and get into the inner line, or you can not pay and be in the outer line. Concerts start at 6pm, inner lines enter the meadow around 5pm and stake out spots with blankets, picnic gear, and porta-chairs. Sometime later (5-10 minutes) they start letting the outer lines in, who naturally can't get quite as close to the stage.
There are two inner lines (north and south entrances to the meadow), and I believe three outer ones (main, west, and north zoo entrances).
While I worked at Microsoft and had the Prime discount the decision was easy, we pay a small fee to get into the zoo, I sit in line and read while my wife goes off to photograph animals. Now that I'm out of that cocoon and we're faced with the full fee, one of us pays the full zoo entrance and stakes the land claim in the meadow and the other joins as soon as possible.
It is obviously a family affair, like I say, you bring your blanket to make a hard claim to territory, or just set up with chairs (there's a height restriction of 24"! They've got sticks to measure you!) and other stuff and defend with sprawling legs. Sugared-up children are required, we had to rent one. Luckily there are vendors right outside the gate.
Back to Brandi. We saw her first when the Indigo Girls did their ZooTunes gig last year, and while I enjoyed her cameo I didn't get blown away. My wife had heard one of her songs on one of her stories (CSI: New Brunswick?) and had gotten her first CD, after I listened to it a couple times it became one of my favorites. We don't have her new CD yet, but that will be taken care of soon.
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