Observations on Riverfest

Little Rock's big Spring event, Riverfest, occurred over the Memorial Day weekend. Diane and I went down early to catch Nik and Sam, very cute, talented 17-year old twins from Dover, Ar. We had read a couple of positive blurbs on them and they lived up to the billing. Short skirts and cowboy boots , Nik played guitar and her lead vocals reminded me a bit of Lucinda Williams while Sam was dead on with the harmony and played banjo and guitar. She also had a mandolin but we bailed out to meet friends for dinner before she whipped it out. The girls have some style and a pretty tight band that included their Dad as the "last resort bass player". Diane opined that he probably wasn't going to let them hit the road in those hot little outfits unless he was the bass player.



After dinner, we gathered with a group of friends to see Heart. I'm a lukewarm Heart fan at best, but I must admit that they can still kick some major ass.



The crowd on Saturday was impressive in its size, and I could allow you to construe that statement in a couple of ways. There were many people there and there also seemed to be an inordinate number of very large people with many tattoos, intent on displaying their body art for fellow fans of ink. I'll remain neutral on the idea of tattoos, but I will say that I noted a disturbing pattern when it comes to body art:
It seems the larger the canvas, the less discerning the artist.

Granted, this perspective comes from one who associates regularly with skinny people, but my observation on at least one point seems to have been confirmed. I decided to have a little tofu Pad Thai at the River Market today, so I parked at the sub and walked across the Junction Bridge. I usually climb the steps but didn't want to work up a sweat, so I took the elevator up to the navigation span. Apparently left over from Riverfest, a temporary sign in the elevator stated "Capacity: 5 people including operator". The manufacturer's plate mounted on the opposite wall of the elevator stated, "Weight Limit 2500 lbs."

I'm glad that Riverfest had a boomin' Saturday, because Sunday was a total wash out. There are always some good musical acts, a few arrests and a lot of local culture, so we usually make it down for at least a few hours every year. It's cheap entertainment if you don't require too many $5.00 beers to wash down the corn dogs and giant turkey legs.