I could probably be the most productive person in the world if I spent all the time that I sit in airports to do something constructive. Instead, I choose to wander around taking every escalator, going into every store and smell testing every fragrance of cologne and perfume in the “duty free” stores. I’ve decided, after finding that my flight has been delayed for another hour, that I will buck my traditional airport norm and try to get started on writing a decent recap of my weekend in Florida attending the Langerado Music Festival.

I was the first in my group of friends to arrive and was thus forced to entertain myself for the first evening. I did so by heading to the festival grounds in hopes of catching a few shows before I headed to the Culture Room to see the Drive By Truckers. I got to there just in time to catch the end of Buckethead’s set. In the little bit I heard, I realize his music isn’t something I would ever purchase or listen to on my own. He’s an incredibly talented guitar player and his costume is amusing I guess, but nothing terribly awesome was noticed in my brief encounter with the band. I did bump into him later, sans KFC bucket on his head, but still wearing his mask.

The Benevento Russo Duo was great. I’d seen them before when they played the terrace in Madison. These guys are starting to really make a name for themselves. If you’ve never heard of the band they combine drums and keyboards to create some really great jazz and funk grooves. I was told by the guys that they recorded a few songs with Trey from Phish for his upcoming solo album, and also cut a few other tracks. Maybe they’ll provide the much needed spark in his lackluster solo outings thus far.

Let me talk a little bit about Ft. Lauderdale. Our hotel was conveniently located a couple of miles from the festival, but was about 40 minutes from the venues where the late night shows were being held. The result of this horrible distance meant $60 cab rides each way and ultimately the deciding factor in my decision to only go to one of the late night performances. This is also where my first adventure into hitch hiking came to be. I was too afraid to walk back to the hotel along the bike trail that took me to the festival that morning, mostly because the “beware of alligators” sign kind of resonated with me. After waiting for well over an hour for a cab I resigned myself to approaching a guy carrying a case of beer and asking him if he was going in the direction of the music venue. Lucky for me, he was, and drove me the 40 minutes into the downtown area and dropped me off right at the front door of the venue. The guy plays in a band called Lost My Love, but their site appears to now be non music related.

The late night performance that I did catch was fantastic. The Culture Room is a half inside, half outside venue, and it was filled to capacity with Whiskey loving music fans eagerly awaiting the Drive By Truckers to take the stage and debut some of their new songs off of their upcoming album, A Blessing and a Curse. Tearing through new and old material the band put on a solid two hour performance that left the majority of those in attendance half deaf and sweaty, but fully satisfied. This was the first time I had ever seen this band, but I’ve been a long time fan of their albums. I was fortunate enough to speak with Patterson Hood prior to the show and from our conversation it’s real easy to tell that he not only performs music, but also really is a music fan as well. We talked at length about our mutual admiration of the new Centro-Matic album and our love for the In The Reins collaboration between Iron and Wine and Calexico.

I paid a cab driver to take me back to our hotel for the nice price of $60, which sealed the fate for my attendance at the Mofro and Conspirator shows at the same venue the following two evenings.

Please stay tuned for the remaining recap and photos from my weekend at the Langerado Music Festival.