Jewel, Cake Headline Now And Zen
Golden Gate Park event draws 12,000;
performers include Old 97's, Fleming & John.
SonicNet's Derek Carmean reports:
(A collection of exclusive photos from the Now and Zen
Festival also is available on SonicNet.)
SAN FRANCISCO 霠Multiplatinum pop-folkie Jewel and ironic
pop-rockers Cake headlined the second annual Now and Zen
Festival, which drew 12,000 to Golden Gate Park on a sunny
Sunday.
Cake garnered the most enthusiastic crowd response of the
day. They played their hit single "The Distance," (RealAudio
excerpt) and they got the crowd to sing the "Sheep go to
heaven/ Goats go to hell" chorus from their song "Sheep Go to
Heaven" (RealAudio excerpt).
Alt-country rockers Old 97's played the fastest, most
straightforward rock set of the day before making way for
Cake, leaving the stage with a homey "Y'all have fun today!"
By the time Jewel took the stage, many in the crowd had
headed for the gates. Die-hard fans who braved the heat
cheered as she sang these words from "Hands": "If I could
tell the world just one thing/ It would be we're all OK."
Jewel also reached into her bag of vocal
tricks to include a scat interlude in an
extended version of her breakthrough single "Who Will Save
Your Soul" (RealAudio excerpt).
Songwriting duo Fleming & John, known for their single "Ugly
Girl," impressed Elyse Farnham, 15, of Benicia, Calif. "I liked
the Fleming people, they were really sweet ... interacting with
everybody, waving to their fans and talking to them," she said.
Although the festival, sponsored by local CBS affiliate
KLLC-FM (known to its listeners as "Alice"), carried the slogan
"Achieve inner peace through your outer ear," the event clearly
was more now than Zen.
Outside, two protesters were more concerned about the Zen
tie-in. Kevin Farrer of Newark, Calif., aimed his bullhorn at the
ticket-holders line and said: "Everything circles around Jesus
Christ, not the Buddha, not Jewel!" His calls largely went
ignored. Farrer (sporting a T-shirt printed with the slogan "Save
the Gerbils, Ban Homosexuality") denied he was protesting the
festival itself, he was just looking for a crowd.
And a crowd there was. The show was sold out, and fans
carrying beach towels and babies filled the meadow and milled
around vendor booths that offered everything from tarot-card
readings to Internet communities to barbecued ribs.
The adventurous tried their hand at Alice's Mount Zen, a 25-foot
artificial rock-climbing wall. Others lined up for free astrological
readings, "mind readings," "soul cleansings" and skin-care
consultations.
Asked about the spiritual theme of the concert, attendee
Alexandra Maida, 15, of Benicia, Calif., replied, "Spiritual?"
Reminded of the "Now and Zen" title, she responded, "I didn't
find anything Zen about it. And I have practiced Zen."
Alice morning personality Sarah Clark wasn't pushing the Zen
connection too hard: "Well, I mean, it's just a theme," she said.
"It's really just the day's motif."
--
gender is just an excuse, relationship shouldn't just be an excuse,
love is often an excuse, although sometimes these excuses are all
we have to hold onto,
death is the reason and living is the celebration
- Beth Orton
--
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