All things considered, you could say the Borderland Music and Art Festival inaugural kickoff was a rousing success.
The grounds looked great, people were in good spirits and the musical lineup was 3 stages deep, stacked with talent all day long.
What’s not to like?
Our one complaint was the ridiculous walk from the parking lot. It was way too far. When you charge $15 to park, ain’t no one wanting to hike two-miles to get to the damn gate. That certainly needs to be addressed in year two.
Some also complained of a long beer line, but we didn’t really see it except for the one line near the homespun stage which was a little slow on the pour.
But short of those two minor inconveniences, day one of the two-day festival was an absolute success.
Highlights:
- Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds got the nod to kick off the festival early. Unfortunately, a prior commitment kept us from getting there in time to see a few of the earlier sets, but as you can see from this short youtube clip, they didn’t disappoint!
Mandolinist Sam Bush Band brought his progressive bluegrass band to the stage mid-afternoon to a large crowd of excited Bluegrass fans. It’s not often we get to see such bluegrass icons on stage around Western New York :
Sam Roberts Band added some Canadian Rock:
Local favorites Ten Cent Howl hit the homespun stage twice on day one. The last set included this awesome Pink Floyd cover:
The Revivalists closed out the evening and did not disappoint. The 90-minute set included a mix of crowd favorites as well as a peek at the new album due out in November:
We’re heading out now for day 2. tickets are still available. See you there!
