Welcome to the pond

I've had quite the bundle of excitement lately.

Last night, my parents and I went to the Cuthbert Ampitheater to see the band Los Lobos (you know, the guys the remade "La Bamba"). The opening band, Minus 5, was just strange. The lead singer's voice didn't really do it for me. Their lyrics didn't make a lot of sense, and their sound was country-rock, I think. A few of the songs near the end of their set sounded a little like punk rock. They had a really great drummer, though.

About forty minutes later, Los Lobos came out and played. They played straight til ten o'clock, and they rocked! Most of their songs were upbeat, with a boogie-rock sound. Some of the songs were sung in Spanish and featured accordion. A couple of the songs were slower and blues-based. I was really impressed with their stuff! They brought a ton of energy and made the crowd dance all night. I was even nodding my head and tapping my toes while sitting in my seat.

No, they did not play "La Bamba" but I hardly care because their original songs are so much better.

Ok, that was Thursday night. Today, after I got off work, my grandmother picked me up and we went to the Junction City Scandinavian Festival. I go every year, and I wasn't about to miss this year's festival. It was a perfect day to go! The weather was sunny but not too hot, there wasn't a huge crowd, and the food was very delicious. I had a piece of lefse to start with (which my grandmother and I both agree is not as good as her lefse), followed by lingonberry ice cream and, later, a Swedish pancake with lingonberries. Yummy!

I took quite a few pictures. I'm keeping over sixty of them. Most of the pictures feature the teenage and child dancers we saw at both stages. I tried my best to get some good action shots, and some of them are fairly good! I also took pictures of the various Scandinavian touches found around downtown Junction City for the Festival. Of course, these will all be posted on Flickr over the next week.

The action doesn't end there! Tonight my parents and I are going back to the Cuthbert to see blues legend Buddy Guy! I'm so excited for that. Buddy will be the first Rock and Roll Hall of Famer I've seen in person. Details about that concert will be posted later tonight.

After tonight, I'm just going to spend the weekend relaxing! I really need a break after all these events. But, still, I'm enjoying them a lot!